TO LIVE AND TO LOVE: LOCKDOWN UNLOCKED

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It’s funny how all the drama around Brexit seems like a distant memory. It’s not even a year since Britain left the EU, and ironically, it needs the EU’s help now more than ever. Since the whole world is facing an invisible possibly invincible enemy, on a scale not seen for over a hundred years. Everyone’s way of life has changed whether they like it or not thanks to the Corona pandemic. 

Here in the UK, we’ve been in lockdown for about 5 weeks now. It’s the first time in most people’s lifetimes that the whole nation has pretty much come to a standstill. All together and all at once. 

Everything’s shut besides the essential stores. And like so many other industries around the world, advertising has been hit with what feels like slamming on the emergency brakes while cruising along in an automated Tesla. 

It's the most drastic change to everyone’s freedom.

That’s never been experienced here or most countries around the world. Plus, as we all know, most people don’t like change, finding it hard to adapt to it. However, we’ve always seen change as a good thing. There have been times in our careers, and life in general, where change has been forced upon us, and it’s always led to better things. We believe this is another one of those moments.

That’s why lockdown isn’t about being knocked down.

We’ve always risen to the challenge that change brings, and this is probably the biggest yet. Since we’ve been freelancing, the last seven years have been great to us, having been lucky to be booked for approximately 93% of it. In those years, our time off has been because we chose to take holidays. We needed them. Though when you’re a freelancer holidays are twice as expensive, as you’re not getting paid for it like full-time staff are. 

For us, taking a break from it all is important. Other freelance creatives often get in touch to ask how we do it, but we know we’ll get work when we’re back.

Now for the first time since 2013, creative briefs have been cut short. The phone hasn’t rung. It’s dead out there. Eerily quiet. 

It’s also the first-ever time we’ve been forced to take time off work. With the 6th week of lockdown approaching, that will be 6 weeks off. But most probably 12 weeks in reality. A total of 3 months without work. One quarter of the year written off without insurance. But we don’t see it like this. To us, it’s a chance to take 2 years of holidays all at the same time, though we’re not jetting off to any exotic beach. We can’t. All borders are shut. 

This is our chance to have a sabbatical. We’ve earned it.

To do all the things we’ve now got time for. As well as giving time to do nothing too, it’s healthy for mental health. We’re taking inspiration from the likes of Austrian design guru ‘Stefan Sagmeister’ who takes one year off after every seven working years. There’s power in time off.

During the last few weeks, we’ve seen countless ideas and initiatives by creatives around the world – self-initiated films of hope, positivity, staying in… free concepts and designs for struggling brands and high street shops, NHS social funding projects through walks and haircuts, solving briefs via group zoom sessions, etc. While big brands the world over have revealed their philanthropic strategies to help all key workers with tonnes of freebies. All well and good, but we decided to take a different approach.

Choosing to use this time to live and to love. It’s our time to do more.

As we’ve not had the luxury of so much time like this in forever, how could we make the most of it as we’ve never used it before? And do things that we wouldn’t usually do.

In times like this, it’s even more important to ask yourself ‘why’. So rather than do another ad idea or a selfless self-promotion piece we thought a lot about living and loving, from family to our neighbours and wider society. It’s our time to give. To discover new things. A time to support others that need it most. More time spent with family. A time to make home, feel like home. A time to apply ourselves differently. Learn more about ourselves and the world around us. So, we are going about doing just that.

Here’s some of the missions we’ve unlocked during the lockdown: 

  • Volunteering for the Government by delivering foods and medicine to the local community

  • Buying essentials and doing chores for the wider family, keeping them safe by going out for them

  • Making weekly food door drops to most at-risk neighbours

  • Painting, Decorating, DIYing while keeping a social distance

  • Regular calls with elders in the family and the wider family network

  • Houseparty video sessions with mates overseas

  • Drive-By Birthday celebrations for the lonely

  • Learning about family histories and other stories

  • Getting reacquainted with nature, talking to plants, caring for flowers, attracting the bees - cultivating a mini ecosystem

  • Becoming curry connoisseurs, learning through video calls then delivering

  • Experimenters in all food, tastes and drinks

  • Clocking up enough hours on the bike to cycle around an entire country

  • Teaching little ones via Zoom, through stories and discovery sessions

  • Walks discovering new neighbourhood sights and new neighbours

  • Shed making, sanding, polishing, gutter cleaning and tree cutting

  • Mentoring junior creative teams over Zoom calls

  • Preparing a rent-free studio flat for NHS workers

  • Yoga flexing, new poses, new achievements, new calmness

  • Home-made barbers, learning brave new skills

  • Getting arty with thread, colours, charcoal and models

  • Photographing lockdown views, loneliness and desolate scenes

  • Writing short stories

  • Spotting social distance rule-breakers around the neighbourhood  

  • Self-made projects to feed the creative side

The list will surely continue to grow over the coming weeks because all this kind of stuff is important to us. Learning about new skills, new subjects, topics, people, thoughts and conversations, all of which will feed into what we love to do. Being creative.

We’re not about being the jack of all trades, but instead, hopefully, masters of some more.

If you need some help during this lockdown period, from having some food or meds delivered to needing a drive-by Birthday celebration, give us a call. Or if you’ve got a creative challenge that needs some urgent attention, we’ll happily give it some love during our sabbatical.

In fact, we’ve decided to donate 5% of our collective earnings (any work we get between now and end of June) towards ‘Concern Worldwide’, to help get emergency healthcare to the world’s poorest communities.

Stay safe.

asiancreatives@gmail.com

When's the last time you earned someone's attention?

Being a freelance team that loves getting around, we've seen a trend in the briefs we're getting - 'This has to be an earned idea that will make news'. However, we've also noticed most agencies don't grasp earned thinking, as they go to their go to solution of doing what they've always done - nothing wrong with that. But for some reason making news outside the industry isn’t on their radar. So, we thought let’s share our two pennies worth, for what it’s worth.

What is ‘earned’ media anyway?

If you’re following X,Y and Z brands, people, stars, cats… on social, and you’re not being paid to do it, then they’ve earned your attention for free.

Earned is about people paying attention without paying for it.  

How it was and still is: Media used to be all about paid. It’s still there but not as effective as it once was, before people had a million other choices to give their attention to.

Paid media’s like buying people’s votes. Buying it is boring. It’s lazy, it’s predictable and a well-trodden track, because it’s easy and formulaic. Creating ideas where earned media is simply a fortunate by-product by chance, if it happens at all. 

And it shouldn’t be like this, not now.

Earned deserves respect because it’s earned on purpose, not just by chance.

People have evolved. How we consume has evolved.

We must earn their attention, not presume as they’re sat in front of the TV or behind the paper that we have their attention. Not when their mobile or tablet is at hand too. You know this, because we all do it.

These days, the power is in the hands of the people, quite literally. To be informed by whom they choose. That’s why earned matters. We must earn the audience’s time with what they want to share on their channels. After all, they’re media outlets in their own right, with thousands or millions of followers and fans instantly notified whenever they do something, go somewhere or share anything. 

That’s the rise of the influencer, though if you’re paying for them to share anything, that’s not organic or earned, it’s paid too. You’re just a sponsor. 

There’s nothing wrong with that, but pride, joy and reward only truly comes from earning eyes, ears, hearts and minds as opposed to just buying them. Knowing that people have sought out your film, stunt, story, sculpture, song, clip… whatever, as it’s affected them culturally, personally.

That’s something we learned at Edelman Deportivo. A smart nimble creative PR agency that’s sole focus is earned in everything they do. It was a steep and fast learning curve, like sitting in a speeding rollercoaster going sky high driven by intelligence, strategy and creativity, all for earned attention.

Earned is about culture first. Not brand first.

The earned mindset’s objective is different to a traditional approach. It’s not all about getting new consumers, but all about fanship. Since the long-term fan is a long-term strategy. Fans are in it for the long run. Any die-hard football fan is living proof of that.

Focusing on the long-term fan affects everything you do because when you have a captive audience, you’ve got to continue to be captivating.

Have a Break Have a KitKat gave everyone permission to take time out for themselves, showing it cared enough about people and their lives. But as it’s just a chocolate, it was ok, a break in the day with chocolate makes anyone feel better. This was earned before earned became a thing. And it’s been a thing for over 50 years. It’s the same with Volvo putting safety first.

For us,the earned mindset is the key to turning any brief into something powerful. Multiplying the gold nugget of insight with what will earn attention. Simples.

It’s our priority to earn people’s time and attention, as neither are free.

If we give them something that interests them enough to want to spend time with us, then we’re winning. 

That’s why it’s imperative to build trust. And the brands who are doing it well, who are shaping culture, are the same ones you are loyal to because they seem to genuinely care. No coincidence there. Nike’s ‘Dream Crazy’ inspired by Colin Kaepernick is a brilliant example of this. 

That’s why earned isn’t just another media channel. It’s the creative edge.

The right blend of PR and creativity, and an understanding that to get real traction, we must drive for longer, passing the first thoughts to discover a truth that’s bigger, more intriguing and shareable.

Since two thirds of the population consider themselves to be belief-driven buyers today, brands are trying to ensure their audience feel something for them. They’re trying to create work that’s a reaction to the world we live in, trying to be the publisher and curator of cultural content, but without understanding why they need permission or authenticity to do it. Now, it’s not enough just to jump on a bandwagon and ride the trend wave. Because it’s transparent if you do.

As an industry that influences culture, we must earn the right to influence and create it. Only then will it be seen as genuine and not some commercial advantage of a moment, event or hot topic. And not something reborn from advertising’s history books.

It’s not just about making ads anymore, you’ve got to make news. 

Our goal has always been to make stuff that was disruptive and effective, but also created news and possibly new behaviours. Things that people loved and would share, that ambition has never changed.

News can be in many forms, from new products and experiences to intellectual property or surprising partnerships. May be user generated content or a hack, why not? And with the earned mindset, it will be something we’ve not even thought of yet.

As long as the idea is truly insightful, cultural and relevant to the audience, the brand will have earned a right to be there, to be experienced and to be talked about.

Today, we know that when an idea has an earned core, it’s the launch pad for a brand to blast off in any direction. This earned culturally relevant approach is taking the lead - all those Lions in recent years prove it. 

But if you’re not taking the lead, you’re not capturing the attention you want and need. You’re just creating something people don’t want to invest time, effort, emotion or money in. 

This was our two pennies worth, hope we earned your attention.

Anuj Shah - Global editor-in-chief

Who gives a shit?

10,000 messages a day. The minute you wake up to the moment you rest your head it’s brands, products, family, friends, posts, chats, gifs, pings, tweets, feeds, walls, commercials, posters, tunes, videos… for this, that and the other. TEN THOUSAND. And they all want a piece of you.

A huge amount of information for anyone to take in.
No surprise no one cares, no one can pay attention to each one. If you tried, you’d have 8.64 seconds per message and it would take all day. No wonder attention spans are shrinking.

And as they do, so is advertising’s ability to engage with people. When it should be the opposite. People are dodging ads or simply not taking any notice anymore. Most advertising is grey wallpaper to your life, much like the overcast sky or the well-trodden pavement. It’s like advertising can’t be bothered to impress anymore. As if it’s approaching retirement, shying away from daring excitement now digital and data have turned up to the party. We’re sure this isn’t the case, but besides the 5% of mind-blowing work that gets everyone talking at Cannes, the rest is mind-numbingly boring.

Is it because people are caring less and less about the messages they’re exposed to? We don’t think so. Do marketeers care enough about the consumer’s time to provide entertaining information? Not as much as they used to. Or is it that there is too many uncreative people running agencies by spread sheets, who merely think creative-looking types hanging around the open plan office is more important than having truly creative newsworthy ideas leaving the building? Hmmm.

Right now, it’s all about a quick fix, reactive solutions to problems. Depth and substance is lacking from much of the work out in the world. Just as long as something makes it out there in the public domain with the off chance someone might consider paying attention to it, click on it or even like it, well that’s good enough. But since less than 100 of these messages make it through our instinctive ad blockers, well everything else has pretty much been a waste of time, money and energy for everyone involved. That’s 9,900 messages that get an automatic ‘computer says no’ every day.

That’s far too many wasted opportunities to create great work that inspires, entertains and gets talked about. For whatever reason, there are some industry folk who are scared of dreaming and afraid of aiming for greatness. They’ve lost their spark, now clock-watching and micro managing to only care about reaching the predetermined targets such as the 1% sales increase.

It’s fine if they don’t want to dream. Leave it to the ones who do, people like us. We are the dreamers, the creators, explorers and inventors. These days, we’re planners too. Well, we give a shit.

The industry calls us creatives, it’s the only way to put us in a box. However we like to think, you’ve guessed it, out of the box. Free to explore the world at large. Having flexibility to work with agencies one week and directly with the client the next. It’s always exciting, different and it’s how work works today. Being free means we can be anywhere and part of anything. Modern day nomads and travellers, seeking out unique insights into lives and cultures the world over. Seeing the bigger picture while keeping our eyes on popular culture, from the Far East to the west coast, and noting every subculture in between. Moving with the times, learning, evolving, adapting. Taking it all in to bring it out in new formed connections.

There’s more freedom being freelance. See more, experience more, do more. Free is in the name. Freelance feels noble and adventurous, and it should, as it’s meaning is derived from a medieval mercenary that would offer his combat skills and weapons to the highest bidder. He cared about executing his brief to the best of his ability in the time given. This is us. Blood, sweat and tears of paper are all part of it.

Some say being freelance means we don’t need to care about anything. Not the client agency relationship, last minute deadlines, working past 6pm, or whether the final result answers the brief and achieves results. They couldn’t be more wrong. To care about the job at hand is imperative, but for us, also second nature. We care more than we would if we were permanent, as we’re not part of agency politics, we’re not weighed down by routine, we don’t know the agency client history, all of which means we are not blinkered, but free to give it our all every time.

We’ve got the best of all worlds. Time off when we want to, time to rest, it’s the recharge we all need. Then we’re best placed to deliver that work, the energy, a new passion, new ideas, focus without prejudice. Venturing to new territories where we can mine for the extraordinary without distraction, without walls, barriers and red tape. Working in our non-traditional way, working with no agenda, no people fear, political Bermuda triangles where the work gets lost.

Being freelance, we’re often dropped in at the last minute. So keeping up to date on the industry and what’s happening outside is crucial. Ensuring our ability to stay nimble, moving quickly to make a difference, since we don't have the luxury of a 30-day plan, we hit the ground running. Answering the brief, delivering on deliverables or making our own. We’re results-orientated so it’s all about the work. Nothing else matters but the coffee machine.

For us, freelance has always been a journey beyond the comfort zone and past tried and tested formulas. Every client and brand becomes our baby. This means we become the surrogates, caring and nurturing it until it’s launched into the big wide world. And being two surrogate Asian males in this industry and in this day in age… you can’t get more pro-diversity than that.

No matter the size of project, the agency, the entire team involved, we’re open to sharing thoughts and opinions. Sharing is caring as they say. Collaboration is essential to problem solving. Whatever the challenge may be, we’re committed to making a real difference.

If you need a team that gives a shit don’t call the A-Team, call asiancreatives. Cue the music - bhangra style.

Anuj Shah - Global editor-in-chief