There is a blurring line in creativity says Emeka Okeke
MD/Group CEO of Media Fuse Dentsu Aegis Network, Mr. Emeka Okeke has said that there is a blurring line in creativity as it concerns advertising and creative works in Africa.
Speaking recently to MARKETING EDGE, Okeke who was a member of the judging panel at the just concluded 38th edition of the Loeries Awards, said that in terms of categorization, it had become difficult to distinguish between full service Ad agencies’ creativity and Media Innovation.
He said: “I see the blurring lines between full service Ad agencies creativity as a category and Media Innovation as a category, because we had situations (during judging) where a lot of entries that made their way to the ‘media innovation’ category actually had nothing to do with the media. The reason that those entries found their way there was because they were outstanding creatives.
“Some of those works were debated and disqualified because we were looking for outstanding use of the media different from conventional use of the various media platforms. So what you have is a blurring line between creative art and use of the media in an innovative manner. You also find big-time activation jobs making their way into media innovation categories to further blur the lines of distinction. With this kind of development, one begins to ask oneself what the category is actually about: are we talking about creativity, activation or media innovation?”
Okeke was also thrilled over the evolution of creative works found in media from across Africa and the Middle-East. He added that he was struck at how quickly the world had transformed in terms of media.
“From most of the entries, classical TV and radio commercial entries were quite few. Most of the entries were digital which portrayed how those creative ideas were used in the digital space. Ambience media was there, but overall, it was much less of traditional TV. Rather than have traditional TV entries, we had a preponderance of snackable video contents and campaigns that featured on V.O.D. platforms like YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and private blogs as opposed to classical commercials that featured on classical television channels. For me, this is a complete paradigm shift from what obtains in our own environment today; and quite instructive, as it re-enforces my faith in convergence planning and the role of story-telling in today’s communication planning,” he said.
He, however, expressed disappointment at the fact that not many Nigerian entries were presented at the awards, adding that he believed there was a gap the Nigerian advertising industry can fill in Africa. He further said: “I was looking forward to seeing some media entries from Africa’s most populous country. You will understand too that I’m also coming from the media side of the business in Nigeria. Even though my co-panelists didn’t ask me directly, I felt short of words. I was just hoping that none of them would ask me why Nigerian entries were not competing for the Loeries.”
Nevertheless, Okeke attributed the low participation of Nigerian agencies to lack of proper awareness, saying that many Nigerian media agencies do not have so much awareness of the Loeries. He stressed that many agencies didn’t have adequate information on what it took to qualify for the Loeries.
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