We have watched a film called “Art and Copy”, which discusses about the advertising industry in America. I have always thought that advertising was just about selling the product, but after watching “Art and Copy”, I have learned that there is so much more than just selling a product. I have learned that there is a lot of work that goes into advertising, especially in the art field of advertising. In the advertising industry, one would have to give the product a look that would be appealing to the consumers. It is very important to have lateral thinking, or the ability to think outside the box, when it comes to advertising.
Some ad campaigns of the big name brands were discussed in the film. Volkswagen was one of those brands. Before their ad campaigns, Volkswagen was not a very popular car. People would think that this particular car brand is “ugly”, and it’s too small. However, the poster ad campaigns for Volkswagen made the brand into a big name during its time. These poster ads were very simple, mostly having the car on a white background. It was the text, however, that really sold the car brand. The text themselves were simple as well, with quotes like, “Nobody’s perfect” and “Think small”. Even though they were simple, it was straight to the point. That is the reason why the Volkswagen ad campaigns were such a success. This goes to show that sometimes in the advertising agency, the ad campaigns would be very successful if they are simple. The main idea of producing and ad campaign is that the message is being read and made clearly.
Wells Rich Greene, an advertising agency, helped produce ads for Braniff Airways. Mary Wells, the founder of Wells Rich Greene, used an idea that was previously scrapped. She took the tissue that had the idea and said “Let’s do it”. Mary Wells also had the idea of painting the planes in bright colors, and have the uniform in bright colors as well. So the ad agency brought their idea to Braniff Airways, and it was automatically approved. Their target audience was for everyone, mainly because there was already too many ads that seem like they were aimed at those who are in the military. This is probably a reason why Mary wanted to change the color of the planes and uniforms. She wanted to stay away from making dull ads and instead wanted to create a fun atmosphere. Braniff Airways and Wells Rich Greene liked the idea of including everyone and making a fun experience for their passengers.
Lateral thinking, or the ability to think outside the box, help create a successful marketing experience because it shows their consumers something that they may not have seen before or probably even thought about. You cannot show the something that has already been done because it would be boring. This is where entertainment comes to play because naturally people love to be entertained. So if consumers are entertained enough by the ad campaigns, they will most likely by the product. Charlie Moss, who is the creative director for Wells Rich Greene, said that in order to be a successful creative ad person, you must have the skills of both a salesperson and an entertainer. Therefore, you must have the ability to sell products in an entertaining way that would make the consumers want to those products.
Before watching “Art and Copy”, I always thought that advertisement was just a marketing experience. I thought that it was about just selling the product with commercials and ad campaigns. Of course, ad agencies would need artists in order to actually create the ad campaigns and posters. I, however, never really thought about advertisement as an art expression. Probably it is because I always saw advertisement as just selling products and nothing more. Art expression, to me, would be something like poetry, fine arts, or music. In my honest opinion, art expression is defined as expressing oneself through the arts. I did not feel like advertisement was where one can express him of herself artistically. I thought that one would just be assigned to create something for a product. So, I never put advertisement in the category of art expression.
After watching “Art and Copy”, I have learned that advertisement is indeed a mixture of both marketing experience and art expression. Yes, advertisement is selling a product, but it is also expressing oneself through ad campaigns. One can express themselves through their advertisements. Whether they are simple or complex, they can show the artists’ expression and how they feel about the products. For example, Mary Wells used marketing experience and art expression to sell Braniff Airways. She wanted the overall look of Braniff Airways to be bright and colorful in order to express the idea of a fun experience at Braniff Airways. She wanted to stay away from the dull colors because she felt it would not read clearly. Just like Charlie Moss said, you have to be both a salesperson and an entertainer in order to be a successful creative ad person. This is an important advice to keep in mind.
I would recommend “Art and Copy” for anyone who is thinking of going into an ad agency and be the artist that creates the ad campaigns. There is a lot more to advertisement than one might actually think. It is worth noting that lateral thinking is a big part of advertising industry because you have to be able to think outside the box. It is also important to remember that the advertisement industry is in fact a mixture of marketing experience and art expression. I have learned a lot for this documentary, and it is worth recommending.
