ASCII Art: Digital words and pictures

Ah, social media. So many articles written about it, so many different points of view, from so many experts who hail from so many different disciplines.

It reminds me of an old Indian parable that I once stumbled across on Wikipedia. The story goes like this: An elephant arrives in a village, and a group of blind men go to check out the new attraction in town. Not being able to see the elephant, they try to get an idea of what it’s like by touching it with their hands.

The first blind man grabs the elephant’s tail and proclaims that an elephant is in fact very similar to a rope. The second man touches the elephant’s belly and argues that an elephant is just like a wall. The third strokes the elephant’s leg and insists without doubt that an elephant is like a tree. And so on.

So, we’re left with a group of argumentative chaps and one badly groped elephant.

While they’re standing there arguing, a passing sage (there’s always one) tells our group of blind men that they’re all in fact right. An elephant can be compared to many different things, depending on which part you touch.

While the parable ends with the men agreeing to respect their different perspectives, if you read it more cynically, the outtake of the story is that touching just one part of the elephant won’t tell you much about the whole animal.

If you’re wondering what this over-fondled pachyderm has to do with social media, consider this. PR people see the word-of-mouth being generated on social media, and say “social media is PR.” Media folks see it as another type of channel – it’s called social “media” after all. Digital boffins note that social media is a digital phenomenon, which puts it firmly into their area of expertise.

As the old saying goes, if all you’ve got is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail.

However, no matter which discipline we come from, there’s a tendency for us all to fall into the same trap as the blind guys, by describing social media purely from our own frames of reference.

Clearly, a more holistic approach is needed, one that requires us to see this complex beast from a number of different angles. Without an all-seeing sage to guide us (and beware anyone who claims to have all the answers), we all need to get in there and fondle that elephant from as many angles as possible.

While we’re on the topic of groping, there is another school of opinion that needs to be touched on. Some believe that you don’t need to understand social media in order to use it. You don’t have to be an electrician to turn on a light switch, right? This is true if you’re an end-user, but if you’re working on a social campaign, you’re the one doing the wiring, so it pays to know what you’re working with.

Ultimately, whether you’re working on campaigns that use social media, or you’re developing ongoing social media programmes, it pays to have a wider perspective of the issue. And that means loving the whole elephant.

It’s been quite a month. We’re still ten days out from the end of February, and we’ve seen – in no particular order – the digital generation toppling Egypt’s autocratic regime, the collapse of Borders (the bookshop, not the lines in the sand), and the surprise announcement of a new Radiohead album.

And, in case you missed it, twelve days ago there was the Super Bowl.

You would be forgiven for missing it, given that NFL is about as popular in these parts as a tax audit. Understandable really, it’s a whole bunch of beefy guys in tights and shoulder pads, looking like helmet-wearing refugees from an 80s music video. For the 5 billion or so of us who aren’t American, the whole idea is pretty weird.

But as a stage for big brands to frock up and put on their best advertising performance for the world (and not just the rest of the industry), there’s nothing like it. You’ve got one of the world’s largest TV audiences, the most expensive media buys on the planet, and a traditional of top-shelf creative made especially for the big event.

So, where was the noise in Hong Kong? Where were the big industry parties? Where were the dodgy web streams* of the US coverage, so that we could see America’s finest pitch their brands to the world? Who was sending DVDs of YouTube rips** of the ads to their clients? Why wasn’t Hong Kong’s advertising set discussing it on Twitter for days afterwards?

Naturally, there was excellent coverage in your favourite industry publication (shameless crawl to the proprietors of this blog.) But where was the excitement?

Of course, it’s easier to find reasons why this didn’t happen. Let’s trot out the one you’d most expect – that NFL and/or American style advertising isn’t relevant for a Hong Kong audience, so there’s no reason for us to pay attention. Complete piffle, of course, because you’d hope that advertising professionals would be supremely interested in high-profile ads, no matter where they came from.

Then there’s the argument that the ads were released early on the Internet, so the hype around the day itself wasn’t huge. But if HK agency land was watching these previews intently, it was also doing it silently.

And then, there’s the other explanation. That many people in ad land out here don’t actually know about the tradition of Super Bowl advertising, which is a crying shame if true. Whether the ads themselves are good, bad or ugly, it doesn’t matter. It’s the event that matters.

At least, there’s Facebook. Volkswagen’s Passat ad with the pint-sized Darth Vader seems to be doing the rounds locally on social networks, which is a small victory for those who agree that more of us out here should be interested in some of the world’s most watched advertising.

There’s still a while to go until Super Bowl XLVI which, I am reliably informed by Wikipedia, is likely to be played on February 5 next year. Plenty of time for Hong Kong’s agency folk to school up on it. Next year, we should all let ourselves be bowled over.

* I am not in anyway advocating internet piracy of other people’s IP. Just asking a question, that’s all.

** Not. Advocating. Piracy. Puh-leeze, people.

It’s that time of year. As entry deadlines for the major award shows loom closer, agency creatives are madly nipping and tucking their award entry videos to perfection.Some of these videos will showcase stunning creative work. Some will feature rubbish. And some of them will look so epic, the video itself will outshine the work being showcased.

Think of this last type as the Avatar of award videos – big-budget orgies of animation and special effects that would make James Cameron proud. (Next thing you know, they’ll be shot in 3D.)

As the old joke goes, “if there was an award for award entry videos, this would get gold.”

You often can’t help but marvel at these masterpieces of visual hyperbole, even when the work they depict is about as good as Cameron’s first film, Piranha 2: Flying Killers.

Of course, the best campaigns don’t need to be tarted up with all-singing, all-dancing entry videos in order to shine. The work speaks for itself, and so should the results.

But let’s not be too unkind to the people who overcook an award video. For one, we work in a business where our job is to make things look good. You’d expect agencies to take pride in the work they submit to awards.

Perhaps there’s another reason for the bells and whistles, and that’s because the fundamental structure of most award videos is the same. You know the spiel: “the client had a problem, we had a great idea, it was a huge success.”

Like Titanic, you know how the story of an award video is going to end before you watch it. So, you can forgive some for thinking that a bit of eye candy will help sell their ideas better.

Of course, an amazing video won’t save a mediocre idea from being terminated Schwarzennegger-style by the grizzled veterans who judge them. But it seems a shame that such great craftsmanship has to go to waste. And given that award shows are all so painfully serious, it’s surely time someone added some levity to proceedings.

So, perhaps it’s time for an award that’s dedicated to the craft of award entry videos. It’s a chance for the creative industry to crack out a few beers, watch some eye candy, and generally not take ourselves too seriously.

Thing is, we’d need someone to judge it. Calling James Cameron.