BLOODY HELL, LISHY SLAMS M&C SAATCHI'S AUSTRALIAN TOURISM CAMPAIGN
A note for the CB Blog from Andy Lish, who created the "Australia in a different light" campaign for the Australian Tourist Commission via Whybin TBWA, Sydney:
The reason I emailed is to point out how ironic it is that M&C Saatchi blasted my campaign and yet, (as I'm sure you read in Thursday's Media section in the Australian) the "bloody Hell" campaign has proved to be a huge flop in the key Asian market. Asia makes up a large percentage of tourist numbers to Australia. The China market, in which the campaign also flopped and failed to increase numbers (in fact lost way) is the biggest single emerging market. All those cashed up Chinese Bogans.
I feel it would be fair and nicely naughty to compare the current performance of their campaign with the results for the same period whilst my campaign was running. The figures wont lie.
This way, the nay sayers and jealous competitors-hell-bent-on-mischief will have to eat plenty of humble pie.
Fondest regards always.
Lishy
posted by CB @ 1:06 PM
31 Comments:
Bloody hell. Get over it Lishy. It's a bloody good campaign.
2.15pm...get real. if you think that campaign is 'bloody good' you must be the suit or creative at M&C who came up with that bollocks.
This coming from a man who uses an ironic 'fashionable' illustration instead of a photograph.
Walk away quietly. You're not doing yourself any favours mate.
Funny thing is Lishy, I've actually heard of the Bloody Hell campaign, your campaign must have been quite touristy and naff because nobody I know can remember it in sunny London - a destination presumably top of the tourism hitlist.
This stinks of a petty feud between creative people that should know better. Lishy, I really respect you and your body of work and i'm probably not the only one who does. You are one of the great creative minds of this region with a room full of metal to back it up. But to engage on petty arguments on who did what, when and how succesfully, is, frankly, juvenile. Sometimes a dignified silence says a lot more than a public spat. As a grown-up creative you should know this. That said, good luck and hope to see more of your great work popping out somewhere soon.
Yes it is a classic example of a client advertising to themselves. The approach has no relevance here in Japan or across the ditch in China.
Wake up Lishy. Since when have the merits of an ad or campaign been based on effectiveness?
Christ, you've been around long enough to know : this is advertising - where as long as your ad is obscure enough to impress an award jury of art directors who couldn't string a sentence together between the lot of them, it's judged as a winner. Whether it works or not is a different (and irrelevant) issue. (Please note, art direcors, that last sentence is a thing called sarcasm.)
That being said, with the possible exception of the Ritchie Benaud commercial, I don't think your campaign was up to your usual high standard.
Balanced against that, the 'Where the bloody hell are you' campaign isn't exactly a high water mark for Australian advertising either. I suspect it quite probably baffled the Asians - who aren't exactly known for their sense of humour (if you don't count the stuffing cockroaches down your underpants 'Endurance' type TV shows).
Anyhow, what's with the illustration of Lishy, Lynchy? I'd like to see a photo to check the rumours that he's looking more and more like Rod Stewart every day as he ages (dis)gracefully.
Love to you all.
Lishy wasn't as young as he looks in the picture when he did that campaign. He's right though it was better and worked better than the cringe making 'where the bloody hell are you'.
I think it's pretty interesting Lynchy, that articles on this blog just suddenly go 'missing'. Like the Plush/Hungry Man article that was put up this weekend, but was obviously instructed to be removed.
Obviously some comments touched a nerve, and the parties don't want any open discussion. I wonder why?
You can legally get away with bad-mouthing companies like Plush by the strategic use of the word 'allegedly.'
For example.
"Plush are allegedly destroying the Australian production industry."
There is no comparisson between the Bloody Awful campaign and the 'In a different light' campaign. Whether you judge them against each other on creative or effectiveness merits, Lishy's campaign wins on every level. It was based on insight, was beautifully written and directed and most importantly worked a lot better in getting tourists here than m&c's recent effort.
I received numerous calls from mates in London who absolutely loved the Ritchie Beneau spot during the cricket - it was a major talking point in at the boozer during the ashes. I also received calls from mates in Singapore asking "What the bloody hell is that shit" more recently.
I don't think defending your name in this industry is a 'petty arguement' or 'juvenile'. M&C's unnecessary blasting of the 'in a different light' campaign was highly unprofessional...
Good on you Andy.
9:09 - If you've never heard of the "In A Different Light" ads then you probably shoouldn't be on this blog.
Go away.
And your alleged mates in London are probably ignorant mac rats like yourself.
Lishy here.
To the person who wrote that a "dignified silence" is better. Thank you. You are right.
To the person who wrote that "they'd heard of the Bloody Hell campaign" That is beacuse it was hyped up by the spin doctors, who are probably, as we speak, desperately trying to figure out a way of putting an upspin on the recent articles. Anyway, I digress.
Nimber 1. If you havent seen the campaign, how can you comment?
Number 2. The campaign was written for and ran in markets around the world. There is little point running an ad on Australian TV asking Australians to come to Australia, now is there?
Number 3. I don't know which agency is paying you for your powers of mental reasoning, but whoever they are, I'd be looking for a bit of a refund.
See you.
It looks like the old guy who prefers a cartoon image has been festering away on a major scale. Chill bro! At your age you could go any second.
Of course if the Asian market was so important to Aussie tourism we would probably develop campaigns that would translate into Chinese or Korean or whatever, not use double-meanings or Australian-isms. "Where the bloody hell are you?" probably transaltes in Korean to "Do you know where the closest Dog BBQ is you bastard!?"
From B&T: Masato Takamatsu of the Japan Tourism Marketing Company says Tourism Australia should revamp its current marketing campaign, saying it is not effective in Japan.
Maybe he had to use a cartoon because he's now transparent because his skin is so thin.
Seriously Lish,
I hope i don't turn out as bitter and twisted as you. So what if someone canned your campaign; just move on mate.
The question is has anyone ever done a great campaign for australia. Lishy came close, but someone has to nail it.
I'm amused that 'Lishy' agrees that a dignified silence is preferable to a destructive rant, then continues to bag 'Bloody Hell.'
Jesus. Move on.
Where the bloody hell is Nobby?
Give Lishy a job mate.
M&C bags Lishy. Lishy then bags M&C. And so the anonymous blogs continue. Grow up the lot of you. It is seriously embarrassing.
Can I just say how ironic it is to entrust a country's premier image campaign to a man who descibes the occupants of its largest single market 'cashed up chinese bogans.'
Just a quick point. Strategically Lishy's campaign was spot on. I worked on the brief in Asia and it was aimed at tourists that had been to Australia before, thought they had seen it all and there was nothing left to do. A different light showed there was more to Australia than the Sydney Opera House, Uluru, and the Great Barrier Reef. Rock on Lishy.
8:51
If you'd spend any amount of time working on the market in China you would realise that the term "cashed up chinese boguns" is very accurate indeed.
Relax, and ask your doctor to take the pointy stick out of your arse.
I actually think he was being ironic, 8:51, you twit.
To the great DK Lillee chant
nobbbbbbbbbbbbbbbby
nobbbbbbbbbbbbbbbby
nobbbbbbbbbbbbbbbby
nobbbbbbbbbbbbbbbby
Make him your Jeff Thompson
You're drunk again, Lishy.
I don’t have a particular interest in either campaign, but the Japanese tourism guy’s comments are ironic (4.21pm). Take a look at their current slogan, running on buses around Sydney, and see what you think:
Japan has it!
Inspiring, isn’t it? Sure resonates with me. And so flexible. Whatever it is I want, Japan has it. Skiing? Japan has it! Weird game shows? Japan has it! The Great Barrier Reef? Well, okay, Japan doesn’t have that.
And while we’re judging the quality of Japanese tourism efforts, a quick browse on the visitjapan.jp website leads us to this link for English speakers:
http://www.japanwelcomesyou.com/
Excellence. I’m sure it all researched brilliantly in Japan.
Swish Family Lish....
Where the bloody hell are you lishy? off stealing bananas again!!! In your mates big coat.!!!
Swish family lish.....where the bloody hell are you???
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