Writing down the concept of this particular TV ad might have made it seem like a bearable commercial, however, watching the awkward acting, the bad setting and monotonous camera angles made me, like many Nepalis, sigh in despair. The general consensus is that Nepal’s advertisement industry lacks quality content and creativity. Further, it also doesn’t help that majority of Nepali audience have also become accustomed to the high quality of Indian advertisements. They have left such an impression on us that even if we were to randomly ask anybody about their favorite Indian ad, they could answer in a heartbeat. This is not an assumption. I actually tried this among many friends, co-workers and family members. Often they were not only able to recall the scenes of the ad and the product but were also keen to explain the many ways they could relate to it. When it was time to discuss the Nepali ads though, the enthusiasm dropped several levels.
“I remember this TV ad for shoes. There was this comedian dancing around in a way I’m sure he thought was funny, but it wasn’t. More than that though, you couldn’t even tell it was an advertisement for shoes until they said so. I feel many Nepali ads fail to connect with the audience and if they are memorable, it’s because they are horrible,” says Akriti Manandhar, 24.
It’s not that those involved in the creative industry are oblivious to the critics around them. Lava Manandhar, Creative Director of Prisma Advertising, claims people working with ad agencies will be the first to admit that there is plenty of room for improvement.
“Ours is the kinds of work that is put out there for public consumption. It is always a nice feeling when people come forth with kind words of appreciation but of course, we are well aware of the general dissatisfaction of the public regarding the quality of Nepali ads. We all are well acquainted within the advertising circle and we are all starkly aware of the comparisons and the complaints,” says Manandhar.
If everybody is on the same page regarding the need to upgrade the quality of Nepali ads, why haven’t there been any improvements? It’s the question we took to some of the leading ad agencies in town. Like Manandhar, Sanjeev Maharjan, Creative Associate of Thompson Nepal too easily accepts that he also feels rather disappointed about majority of the advertisement out there.
When a junk food’s commercial basically has a guy doing some pushups while fishing the food from a bowl with his tongue and the slogan reads, “Go, get the balls” it’s embarrassing. Sadly the reputation of our national advertisements is built on such work and even now there are many miscalculations. A recent college ad circulating around movie halls depicting a boy’s struggle to earn his father’s respect seems more like an ad for a newspaper. There is a soap ad where a beautiful girl prances around in her sitting room but she seems to still be there when she is washing her face. The list, unfortunately, continues.
“The ads lack a certain charm, I understand exactly what people are saying. But it’s not like we are not capable of coming up with creative concepts. We here actually include the rejected ads in our portfolios than the ones that do air because what many people might not know is that several businesses prefer ordinary, regular concepts to some out of the box thinking,” says Maharjan.
He further explains that every time they pitch a campaign to their clients, they always present two options one of which is always more creative and cutting edge in concept. However, 90% of the time the clients dismiss them for what would be a regular choice in fear that the public might not be able to understand it. This, as it turns out, is a very common concern for businesses.
Uttam Baral, Senior Brand Manager of Jagadamba Steels, explains, “Every company has their own set of guidelines because what if the campaign backfires? It’s not the agencies who suffer the losses, it’s the businesses. So we are very aware of the line of limitation and the way we put forth our message for our targeted audiences.”
Arvindra Ranjit, Assistant General Manager of Business Advantage, too gives a small example where products targeted for a large mass rarely can be unconventional. He talks of a recent Ncell campaign for the paisa back offer. Here a customer got the amount spent in the day as bonus during the night. Now they could have blatantly explained the offer in their ad, however, they decided to do something different.
So they made a TV commercial. A man orders a cup of tea and enjoys it but after paying for it, he finds another cup of tea waiting for him. Sadly, they found the commercial was widely misinterpreted with some even believing that the offer was about free cups of tea.
“In my opinion, lack of imagination and ideas are not the issue,” says Ranjit. “The truth is ad agencies here are often working with many restrictions. If the public doesn’t get it or if the clients aren’t confident about following through with the creative concepts, then there isn’t much we can do. Our hands are tied.”
Similarly, considering the budget of Indian commercials, Ranjit thinks comparing our commercials to theirs is rather unfair. He is not the only one who shares this sentiment.
Maharjan explains, “The client’s brief is often a syllable or two, like we want something ‘big’ or ‘exotic’. But when we do plan an elaborate filming in various locations, the budget is a crucial issue. There have been instances where we have been very excited about a project but we had to tone it down because the client wasn’t happy about the budget. This obviously means we have to downgrade the production as well as the post production. The popular international ads probably don’t have such restrictions.”
Each party seems to have their own grievances. For example, on the matter, Abhaya Gorkhalee, Head of Marketing of Darbur Nepal, explains, “Every business has to be wary of their market and ours here in Nepal is comparatively smaller. So the budget for advertising will be allocated accordingly. We all have no choice but to adjust to the market.”
It’s apparent that Nepal’s advertising industry is still in its infancy. It may already be a worth around Rs 3.5 billion in revenues, however, where conceptualization and execution of the ads are concerned, there still is a long way to go. Is there a solution in sight?
“We just have to wait for time to help our industry evolve because at the moment there are factors that are out of our control. At the same time, we as agencies also need to keep encouraging our clients to pursue more creative avenues. It’s our job to push the horizons, convince them to break out of the regular mold,” says Ranjit.
He also stresses on the need for more skillful manpower in the advertising industry. Though they have been making significant strides of improvements where post production, direction and cinematography are concerned, substandard execution of a good concept is a complication faced by the agencies on a daily basis.
Maharjan from Thompson Nepal also agrees. “We need people who are passionate about advertising. There are some who chose to be copywriters just because they have good English or become graphic designers because they can draw a little. Advertising is more than that. We need more people who have studied the craft and are dedicated to it,” he concludes.
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