It began as any other project, deadline was short, I managed to put together something quickly, it was funny in a way but far from genius. We shot it, put it on air and concentrated on the next brief. But a few months later, my TV set was on at home and I saw some vox populi kind of interview with 5-6 kids in dowtown. The street correspondent asked them if they could quote some advertisement. They immediately began to sing my song. All of them. I was shocked. Of course my first reaction was pride but then I began to lament if the lyrics were good enough. I suddenly pictured thousands of 10-year-olds singing my song in a huge arena and I was threatened. How could I possibly come up with any more creative ideas when the responsibility is so huge?
20 years passed and this fear has turned out to be my biggest motivation to stay in communication. I am still amazed by the great feeling I get when a good concept comes to my mind. And I could never cope with the proportion of ideas that are either killed or just forgotten if I wasn't sure that those few great ones I produced influenced culture in a positive way.
Last time I was in a situation to talk to young ad people, I began with this piece of advice: don't present anything that you wouldn't want your children to grow up on. Now, as branded communication has a much broader meaning than before, it is especially important that ideas, words, designs and interactive experiences do not demolish consumers' mental capability but improve it.
The brain of the next generation is largely shaped by branded content. So marketing communication people, please be aware of your responsibility.
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