agencyfaqs!
Advertising

What drives public service campaigns – conscience, money or awards?

agencyfaqs! tries to find out the motivation factor for advertising agencies to work for public service campaigns even for 'little' or ‘no’ money

The public service campaign category has been quite a happy hunting ground for Indian agencies. Whether it's Mudra Delhi winning a Silver at the AME Awards (advertising and marketing effectiveness) of the New York Festivals 2005 for its 'Save Water' campaign, or rmg david's 'Nest' campaign for WWF winning a couple of awards at the ABBYs, One Show Pencil, Young Guns, and London International, there are enough examples of locally produced public service campaigns charming the local/international jury.

While award-winning entries deserve to be congratulated, there are quite a few industry insiders who feel that some of these adverts are produced with the objective of grabbing a few awards, and have little to do with the effectiveness of the commercial.

agencyfaqs! decided to investigate and sought comments from senior industry professionals.

MG Parmeswaran, executive director, FCB Ulka, remarks rather candidly, “In terms of creativity, quite a few public service campaigns are extraordinary. But I am afraid that the only motive for the agency concerned is to get an award.”

“The level of obsession”, he adds, “is so high that the campaign is often created first, and then the NGO is brought in. In many cases, the poor NGO has no role to play in the brief, creation, or the release of the ad.”

Concurs Rajul Dhaimade, creative director, Everest Brand Solutions. She says, “We are aware of many instances when public service campaigns have been made just for the sake of proving creative superiority. According to me, a public service campaign cannot be a success by just evoking emotions, unless it makes people act on the message.”

Even Mukesh Anand, associate creative director, social rural division, RK Swamy BBDO, acknowledges the existence of the 'awards obsession' in the industry. “I am sure that it is a common practice to make public service ads for awards. But personally, I haven’t come across any such instance.”

He is also quick to clarify that producing public service campaigns for awards is not practiced at RK Swamy/BBDO at all. He says, “We never even bother sending entries for the awards in the public service category.” Incidentally, RK Swamy/BBDO bagged a Silver for its tuberculosis control programme at the Mirchi Kaan awards.

However, not every ad-men feel that there is a correlation between awards and public service campaigns. As Josy Paul, national creative head, rmg david, says, “I don’t really want to be judgmental about awards. The issues in public service are so big that every drop counts. At least, the ads make a difference to people in some or the other way. It’s a different issue that we have been fortunate enough that some of our works have been able to win recognition worldwide. And, at the end of the day, even if the agency benefits by way of awards, it’s fine with me. I don’t see anything wrong in this.”

“WWF is not just a client for us. We see it as a cause,” he adds.

Kumar Subramanium, vice-president, client servicing, O&M, agrees with Paul. He says, “I don’t think there is any single treatment for public service campaigns. There may be a few cases where agencies have made campaigns to showcase their creativity. I do not see anything wrong in this as long as the objectives of the campaign are achieved.” O&M’s pulse polio immunization campaign won a Silver Effie in 2003.

So, if it’s not for awards/recognition, is money the motivating factor behind public service campaigns?

“It varies from agency to agency,” comments Paul. “According to me, there is no money in public service, that’s why it is called ‘public service’ in the first place. It is a charitable job.”

Sanjai Srivastava, vice president, Lowe, offers a different take on this issue. “Public service campaigns aren’t charitable anymore. Today, the agency and the NGO share a professional relationship, which also brings in accountability. Agencies today look at public service clients, as any other brand.”

Anand of RK Swamy/BBDO is also of the opinion that the agency-NGO relationship is like any other agency-client relationship. He says, “Social advertising is definitely not charitable. The only difference is that the fees charged by the agency are minimal, and also the production budget is very limited. There are a few instances, where celebrities work for free.”

He cites the example of Vivek Oberoi, who did the TB commercial for free for RK Swamy/BBDO.

Paul of rmg david concludes, “At times, the agency spends its own money to fund a social service campaign. But an advertising agency can only be good at communication, and not funding. This is where large corporates need to come in.”

© 2005 agencyfaqs!

Have news to share? Write to us atnewsteam@afaqs.com