Goafest 2010: "Advertising that is engaging, memorable and authentic is timeless," Tim Mellors

On the second day of Goafest 2010, Grey Group's Tim Mellors spoke on what makes advertising "famous and effective"

As the second day at Goafest 2010 progressed with much fun and frolic on the beach, the scheduled seminars were a gentle reminder of the more serious tasks at hand. In the late afternoon, Tim Mellors, vice-chairman and chief creative officer, Grey Group took the stage for his presentation on famous and effective advertising.

Beginning on a jocular note, Mellors soon moved to the staid side of things, as he declared that creativity is still the basis of good advertising.

"I have spent all my life being a creative man. What makes famous and effective advertising is still creative," he said. According to Mellors, famous and effective advertising has to be engaging, memorable, and most importantly, authentic.

"When advertising is engaging, memorable and authentic, it is timeless," he said.

Going back to the early days of his career, he used the example of a Volkswagen Beetle commercial, which according to Mellors, is one of the greatest commercials ever, in spite of being 50 years old. Citing the example of another Volkswagen ad, he said, "Fun can obviously change things for the better."

Mellors emphasised the importance of consumer engagement, using the examples of a couple of Coke commercials. "Who else but Coke could be shamelessly able to say, 'Where will happiness strike next'? It is because they understand the people they are selling their product to," he explained.

Mellors continued to showcase numerous other commercials of Toshiba, British Heart Foundation and Samaritans, to drive home the point that famous and effective advertising needs to be simple and powerful.

"The power of communication is the power of a simple idea well told," he remarked.

According to him, while famous and effective advertising used to be mass medium; it now plays in any medium. To highlight the point, he used the example of an initiative by a local radio station, Radio Tango.

Ending his session, Mellors said that he believes good work should speak for itself.

Mellors was of the view that authenticity has not changed in his career spanning four decades.

"Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss," he quoted classic rock band The Who, as he signed off.