I went to the AAAA’s Jay Chiat Awards and workshop yesterday and was thoroughly inspired. The theme for the event “Inspire, Provoke, Celebrate,” though I loathe 3 verb lines, was apt and delivered. Many smart people and an impressive array of agencies were in attendance, but the shop whose planning prowess really impressed was JWT.
Their work for “Teach India” out of Mumbai and the “Schick Quattro” from NY was market-changing. Great strategy and great work gets consumers to feel something, then do something. If the works gets loads of new people to do something it expands the market, which is the holy grail.
The Teach India work inspired a nation in which 1 in 3 of the world’s illiterate children reside to spend 2 hours a week teaching children to read. The insights used to break the logjam of illiteracy were brilliant, as were the ads. As for Schick, creating a language through which women were willing to communicate about shaving their nether regions, was the challenge. The branding idea penned by JWT’s Jason DeTurris “transform your topiary” was not only fun and inspirational to the creatives, it sold some serious razors – an 11.5% increase. Shuffling market share is nice, growing markets is really nice. Peace!