manny villar’s “opo” tv ad

manny villar’s kurot sa puso “panata” tv ad

truth from villar’s ad agency on “scroll”, the plagiarized tv ad from an argentina tv ad

Ad agency defends Villar ‘Scroll’ ad

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abs-cbnNEWS.com | 04/07/2010 10:55 AM

MANILA, Philippines – The ad agency of Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Sen. Manny Villar on Wednesday defended its “Scroll” TV ad, which has been widely compared to the “Truth (Upside Down)” political ad of Argentinian candidate Lopez Murphy in 2006. 

In a statement, TBWA\Philippines admitted that it adapted the Villar ad from the Argentinian politician’s ad. The agency said it belongs to a worldwide network of ad agencies and that many of its ideas for ads have been adapted in several countries. Among its ideas are ads for adidas, Pedigree, Absolut, Apple and Nivea.

“The fact is, many ideas of the local agency have been adapted in many countries in our network, the most recent of which is the work it had done for Absolut vodka. That’s how powerful ideas become even more powerful,” the agency said.

It added: “While the ad format was adapted from The Truth ad by TBWA\Argentina, the message is genuinely Manny Villar’s. And it hopes to inspire a country deeply steeped in hopelessness, negativity and cynicism.”

The agency said that while the local adaptation of the Murphy ad has generated positive feedback, other sectors have used the ad to attack the Villar campaign.

“From the outset, the adapted format was made known to our Client. The agency did not conceal the truth. That’s the truth. And nothing but the truth,” it said.

source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/04/07/10/ad-agency-defends-villar-scroll-ad

 

there are few truths that came out from the above.

• one is that as we had guessed, Santiago/Puno/Mangada/TBWA is the ad agency of  manny villar in the philippines.  (read here: did the manny villar campaign plagiarize a Cannes Lions award winning argentina tv ad?)
• villar knew it came from argentina. apparently, they had told villar about it. so we can assume villar approved of the plagiarism

 

that is it. there are other things but not all of the truth came out.

• we do not know if it was plagiarized or not. the ad agency did not confirm that they paid royalties or that they secured the permission of the argentina client to use the ad here in the philippines.
• it’s not enough that the ad is within the network, they need to ask for and be given permission to use the ad in the country. it is not for  the ad agency to give permission for its use, it’s the client’s. in this case it is the presidential candidate in argentina.

 

on other matters:

• the ad agency mentioned they have  ads they developed in the country has been used in other countries.  that is true BUT these are the same client in different countries.  for example, absolut argentina and TBWA argentina (or any other country) can use an ad developed by TBWA philippines for absulot philippines. it does not happen that another client of TBWA argentina, let us say adidas argentina will use an ad developed by TBWA philippines for absolut philippines.  ad agencies who will allow things like these will be fired by the clients.   

until the next villar tv ad, then.

did the manny villar campaign plagiarize a Cannes Lions award winning argentina tv ad?

the above villar tv ad is a plagiarized version of the argentina tv ad, below. it copies the main creative handle. 

the ad from aregentina is from SAVAGLIO/TBWA aregentina and the local ad agency of villar is reported to be Santiago/Puno/Mangada/TBWA. it’s possible the local ad agency paid royalties to the argentina ad agency or permission was given for use in the philippines.

ad agencies belonging to the same netwrok do share their work with each other through corporate reels and that could have been how the local agency new about the argentina tv ad. there are other ways to know about this ad – the argentina tv ad is an award winning tv ad and that also gives it a lot of exposure among the international ad agencies. being award winning also gives it a lot of exposure to the public like the internet or youtube.

sharing the ad with other agencies in the same network does not necessarily result to it being used in other countries. advertising ideas and concepts are owned by the clients, not the ad agencies. clients pay the ad agencies to write and produce advertising for them, the output is always owned by the client.

if an ad agency network like TBWA philippines would want to use an idea coming from another branch like TBWA Argentina,  the philippine ad agency through the aregentina agency will need to ask the permission of the argentina client.

however, it is very unusual that a client who owns the original advertising will agree to allow another client of the agency network to use the work done for them.

it is also very unusual that the creatives of the local ad agency like TBWA philippines will want to use the creative idea from another ad agency. the  very core of being a creative in the creative department of an ad agency is that you are creative. being creative means being original. there is a lot of pride in their work and abilities.

this whole thing is confusing to us. TBWA philippines, if it is the ad agency of villar, has a reputation of being one of the most creative in the philippine ad industry. we are puzzled why they needed to copy from another even if it belongs to the same ad agency network.  

information from youtube:

This excellent political advertisement, it won the silver lion in the Cannes Lions Contest 2006.

Category: Public Awareness Messages
Title: TRUTH
Advertiser: RECREAR
Product or Service: POLITICAL MESSAGE
Entrant Company, City: SAVAGLIO\TBWA, Buenos Aires
Country: ARGENTINA
Advertising Agency, City: SAVAGLIO\TBWA, Buenos Aires
Country: ARG This excellent political advertisement, it won the silver lion in the Cannes Lions Contest 2006.

Category: Public Awareness Messages
Title: TRUTH
Advertiser: RECREAR
Product or Service: POLITICAL MESSAGE
Entrant Company, City: SAVAGLIO\TBWA, Buenos Aires
Country: ARGENTINA
Advertising Agency, City: SAVAGLIO\TBWA, Buenos Aires
Country: ARGENTINA
Creative Director: Ernesto Savaglio
Copywriter: Ernesto Savaglio – Alexis Alvarez
Art Director: Pablo Carrera
Agency Producer: Eduardo Suárez
Production Company, City: AWARDS CINE, Buenos Aires
Country: ARGENTINA
Director: Jojó/Bosco
Producer: Fernando Rambo Damiano
Editor: Awards Cine
Music: Fernando Sorín
Account Supervisor: Ricardo Martino/Diego Campos Galante

gilbert teodoro set to do last minute push for a win, here is why it will fail

gilbert teodoro, the standard bearer of the admin/(supposed) dominant political party LAKAS-KAMPI-CMD know that he is losing this election campaign. he has not moved up in any significant way in the polls, being stuck at a very far fourth in the rankings and getting at best 7% while the front runners are at a staggering 36% for aquino and 34% for villar. it is bad enough that the two front runners are way ahead of everybody, on top of teodoro is estrada who is in the range of 15% , showing strength at that level and even gaining slightly.

the question that teodoro’s campaign needs to answer is this – for him to win, where will he get the votes from? the weakest of the three front runners, erap estrada is not exactly weak. among the presidentiables, estrada is the candidate that has the most experience and time as an elected government official not to mention he was actually elected president once before. teodoro compared to erap looks puny.  if teodoro can’t get pat estrada, how does he expect to get past villar and aquino, the two most popular presidentiables in this campaign?

it is interesting that an article appeared at the PDI yesterday where the teodoro campaign seem to be preparing for what the writer calls a “battle of the bulge” – a last minute, well last few weeks campaign to get teodoro elected. in marketing, it is called a marketing blitz. in a political campaign it’s most likely called a “failed election bid”.

we will be using that article as a pick up point for this post.

The ruling coalition, which enjoys a headlock on 70 percent of local government positions, is pinning its hopes on superior resources and widespread party machinery to swing the tide of battle.

Banking on these advantages, it plans to assert its superiority with carefully synchronized offensives timed at the start of the campaign for local positions on March 26.

this is what party officials call the “political machinery”. it’s supposed to be potent that only the admin/ruling party has a monopoly on. all the party officials, including teodoro are saying that is what will make him win this election. they conveniently forget that in the last senatorial elections, they said the same thing about the potency of THE machinery. the results – almost all the admin/ruling party senatorial best lost in that election while almost all the opposition senatorial bets won the election.

the results of that election was so bad for the admin/ruling party that pichay who spent the most in advertising during that time did not get elected while trillanes who was in jail, unable to campaign and practically had zero advertising money won the election.

the opposition won that election mainly on the basis of the people exercising a protest vote where they elected the opponents of arroyo’s candidates. arroyo at that time was very unpopular and the people have had enough of her so much so that they even said they do not want her candidates to win.

after the election, LAKAS party officials admitted the machinery did not deliver. apparently the local candidates and officials of LAKAS abandoned the admin senatorial candidates when they felt the people were going against them.

the situation then compared to now is about the same – arroyo is unpopular and in fact probably even more unpopular than before. everyone knows teodoro is arroyo’s candidate and based on surveys, voters said they will not elect the candidate that arroyo is endorsing.

we think it’s foolish to rely on the “machinery” to get teodoro elected. the machinery is a myth.

The opening salvo of this make-or-break offensive will be new TV commercials targeting the youth on Monday.

Teodoro’s spokesperson, former Press Secretary Mike Toledo, said the commercials would be aired with frequencies rivaling those of the front-runners, Senators Benigno S. Aquino III of the Liberal Party and Manuel Villar of the Nacionalista Party. Between them, they have spent close to P2 billion, dominating the airwaves, according to the media firm AGB Nielsen.

Teodoro’s ads will zero in on the target segment that the coalition hopes will swing the tide of battle to his side, the youth ranging in age from 18 to 39, who constitute 52 percent of the 50 million voters registered, according to Toledo.

Teodoro has been doing well in mock elections in schools recently. Campaign strategists have selected this key segment to focus on, Toledo says.

political campaigns seem to have a love affair with the youth vote. all of them seem to think that is the key to their success. villar, aquino and villanueva aired tv  ads targeting them. but if you look at the movements of villar’s ratings, it is not the ad that targeted the youth that earned him a lot of points, it’s the other ads that he aired.

aquino with his rap tv ad meant for the youth got mixed  reviews with people liking it and others throwing up hearing aquino do a rap in the tv ad. they abruptly pulled off that ad. villanueva aired one too but that did not help him either.

teodoro did not seem to learn the lessons the other presidentiables learned – they will air an ad targeting the “youth” on monday.  we now think this obsession with youth ad is probably the fault of the admen hired by the campaigns for their ad needs. all of them seem to be saying the same mantra.

maybe teodoro will find the secret weapon in ads for the youth and can get him to win the election. it is good in theory, forgetting for the moment the failures of the other presidentiables, but we think teodoro’s thinking is fatally  flawed.

the critical failure in the ad that will be aired on monday for the youth is the demographics definition – “age from 18 to 39“. the age range is too wide and probably covers at least two distinct groups or even three. the psyche, needs and  attitudes of the 18 year old, a first time voter is very different from a 25 year old who probably has a young family already to someone who is 30 years old who has a not so young family. for sure a 37 to 39 year old is extremely different from an 18 year old, to a 23 year old and a 30 year old.

it is hard for us to understand and we think it is not possible to have an ad meant for the “youth” that will be effective in convincing this wide and un-alike age grouping of 18 to 35 years old.

the admen who sold the idea to the teodoro campaign spoke badly in thinking that an age range as wide as that is a proper segmentation of the target audience. we do not think you will find any adman who will agree to that kind of segmentation.

target audience definition is the very first critical step in developing an effective tv ad. get the definition wrong, or even weak and the ad fails. it will confuse the creative team as it gives them too wide a range with very dissimilar traits and characteristics.

we await this new ad of teodoro. it is supposed to be a miracle tv ad for him. given the potential flaw of the thinking, it will either be a miracle ad or a miracle dud.  we will probably see a WAWAM! on monday.

read PDI article here: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100322-260115/Lakas-Kampi-coalition-plans-decisive-Battle-of-the-Bulge

~~~mindscape landmark~~~
carlo arvisu

aquino not only lost momentum, he lost the agenda – now set to lose the election

we have seen the poll numbers change and the changes are not good for noynoy aquino. his ratings are falling and villar whose ratings in previous polls were either holding or slightly rising has finally caught up with aquino and now in a statistical tie.

we attribute aquino’s fall on bad advertising decisions and fatal advertising blunders. (click here to read articles on the topic: why aquino will lose the election). we think what happened is that aquino has lost his momentum due to the fatal blunder of not doing anything in advertising after they aired the first ad . he used to be at the top fo the polls, clearly dominant with the 2nd placer, villar very far down the ladder but not anymore. not doing anything new and allowing a gap in the ads allowed villar to build his base and grab the agenda.

villar has grabbed the momentum away from aquino. in marketing and in elections, that is a very dangerous thing to happen, most specially at this time when we are just less than 3 months away. in these things, momentum sometimes matter more than actual numbers.

the aquino campaign has responded with more pointed and focused efforts on the message of corruption. this is a good effort but we do not think this is enough. we also think this latest effort sorely lacks the strategic thinking that was sorely missed in the fatal blunders they have made in advertising.

meanwhile, villar as of today released new ads, at least we heard this on the radio where villar talks about something personal – his brother died because they had money to buy medicines. this is a brilliant ad. 

it has drama, it is personal and it talks very eloquently of a national issue – poverty, high cost of medicines and bad health care system.   what the villar campaign is doing is that they are defining the agenda for this campaign. aquino used to do this at the start but from doing nothing, it has conceded this initiative and allowed villar to take the lead in defining the agenda and the messages.

once again, aquino’s advertising team was caught flat footed. and once again, they were too slow to react and did not have enough strategic thinking skills in doing something about it.

we think the aquino campaign is in trouble.

~~  a mindscape landmark – carlo arvisu ~~

bad advertising decisions will cause noynoy aquino to lose this election

if noynoy aquino loses this election, it will be because of the bad advertising decisions the aquino campaign has made. if  aquino loses, villar will win who on the other hand would be winning the election because of excellent advertising decisions.

first, we have been a fan of aquino’s tv ads. (read here: https://2010presidentiables.wordpress.com/category/noynoy-aquino-tv-ads/). we think the first ad, hindi ka nag-iisa as the first aquino ad was perfect in setting the tone and direction of the aquino campaign. there was a lull after that first ad, then they released a new ad “Hindi ako magnanakaw” which on its own as well we thought was a very good ad. this ad defined aquino in a more specific manner, something very appropriate coming from the first ad.

as individual ads, they were very good ads. but from a campaign stand point and most specially from a political campaign point of view, what they did may have been big failures. it is this sentence in the paragraph, above that spells the failure in the aquino campaign – “there was a lull after that first ad”.

noynoy aquino will not lose this election due to the ads he has released, he will lose it due to the ads the campaign did not release at those times when it mattered. we think the failure of the ad campaign of aquino was on the error of “not doing anything” or abstention.

aquino at the polls from the very start was very impressive. in the first SWS poll where respondents were asked the top three people who will be good enough to be replace arroyo, aquino got a very impressive 60%, september 2009.

other polls that followed from SWS and pulse asia that asked specifically for presidential preferences (as opposed to 3 who can best replace arroyo) placed aquino as the dominant front runner at 44% to 47% with villar a  very far  2nd spot in some cases not even half of aquino’s ratings.  recent polls from SWS and Pulse Asia, however puts villar now at a statistical tie with aquino. villar’s kept going up while aquino softened and finally broke down in the latest poll.

what happened during that period from the start to that time that villar caught up with aquino? villar sustained his high spending in media and in fact at some point even increased spending  and he kept changing his ads to talk about various issues and messages. aquino on the other stayed put and did not move an inch. aquino continued to air nothing but  his initial “hindi ka nag-iisa” ad through those weeks when villar kept changing his messages. all that aquino did was he edited down the 2 minute ad into 30 second spots. he did not change his message on the air.

and that is what we think had hurt aquino – his ad campaign’s decision not to evolve and not to do anything versus an aggressive opponent in villar who not only outspent aquino by a mile, villar kept changing his messages or brand positioning.

a good description – nakatulog sa pansitan ang ad agency ni aquino.

while the ad agencies may apply mass consumer marketing principles in their advertising of the candidates, one principle that does not work in political ads is not changing messages. most mass consumer products will not change their ads and strategies for a time. that does not apply to political ads.

what the aquino campaign did not understand is that politics is a very different kind to that mass consumer products advertising.  in the arena of politics, issues and therefor thinking change rapidly and they can change often. consumer habits and attitudes may not change for mass consumer products for quite sometime (you shampoo your hair the same way for years), but not in politics.

national and political issues pop up very often, possible even in just a few days time. timely response to that change is of utmost importance to candidates who want to win an election, specially those running for president, a national position.

also, ad campaigns have a build up effect in politics. political ads more than mass consumer advertising shape the political minds of voters. with many national issues being put into the table, new ones introduced, old ones die out, the whole is always a composite of what has been put there.

that is what villar was able to achieve and something aquino failed at. villar with his changing messages was successful at implanting various messages on many issues in the minds of the voters that eventually formed into a strong composite whole. aquino with his sparse media weights (compared to villar) and few messages was unable to form any meaningful mass in the minds of the voters.  

the net effect of that is that villar was slowly converting aquino supporters. without a meaningful fight from aquino, they were easy target for villar’s messages, thus the conversion.

we think it is very clear – if aquino loses the election, it will be the fault of his advertising campaign that never was. aquino will lose this election by default in advertising.

~~  a mindscape landmark – carlo arvisu ~~

(click here to read articles on the topic: why aquino will lose the election)

please read the latest: noynoy aquino to lose the election due to advertising blunders