I was dying to learn karate when I was a kid. I wasn’t the kind of a kid who’d be traumatised by seeing a broken lego piece. But then, there are kids who are afraid of the dark. Differents chops for different folks I guess…

farrukh

I like your point of view. It makes the ad even funnier

farrukh

Hope you can recall me because it was a great pleasure talking to you.
i agree this ad is very cute because the idea is totally out of the box. But every kid has a sence of emotional belonging with his toys therfore this ad can emotionally stir up a childs feelings and since kids are the influencers here and parents are the decesion makers the ad as a message may not work.

Do you agree with my views, if not please share why?

All the confusion has happened as I saw two blocks fighting with each other in karate pose rather thasn seeing a broken block.

I take back my comments. May be the art was upto the mark ( which made see it different tan it actually should have .
raj

Go for Google!

farrukh

farrukh

as someone who worked for Grey in Germany for almost 15 years it was great to see what the former colleagues in Dubai are up to. Thanks for giving me the chance to see this refreshingly simple and incredibly effective ad!

Interesting response

farrukh

To the people who don’t like it/get it: if all the clients were like you the World would have been a veeeeeery boring place to live…

It’s always tricky, taking communication too literally.

farrukh

I have read the comments above and i would say 2 things.

1.[answer to mr. raj kumars comments] Sir,If it was an ad with a little older child (say 6-8yrs) in a karate uniform…that would send a indirect message about the age group limit to join these classes and parents wouldnt find karate safe for their small children and thus create a presumption that karate is for older kids (say 8yrs+), but in this ad the use of that particular play toy shows that there is no age limit to learn karate…

2. Advertisers always look out for the ‘Max reach in Min cost’, having won the GOLD award in print section …this is now a WIN -WIN situation for the advertiser and also the agency ( i am sure the reach and response was great ….hence the award deserved.)

cheers
Ignatius

Thanks for your feedback.

If you had to sell karate classes for kids, who would be the target audience?

farrukh

Good to see a guest from the Caribbean, among other global visitors to this blog

farrukh

cathy

Yes, we have a very mixed demographic structure even within the country – and then the ad could easily go global.

farrukh

Nice to know how different people perceive things differently.

You’ve shared with us what you feel is wrong with the above ad. Now, if this ‘Karate Classes for Kids’ brief came to you, what would you use as a headline and visual?

farrukh

PS: I do post copywriting opportunities on this blog often – keep visiting.

Thanks for the response. You are quite right there that martial arts is not really viewed as anything violent but what i was focusing upon was just the immediate impact of the image. From that it is difficult to tell why the Lego brick got broken. The first impression I got without reading the small print announcing the Karate class was that the Lego brick, which to me is a symbol of building and construction, has been broken into half, thereby implying the breakdown of something. Perhaps the print announcing the Karate class message should have placed in such a way that it attracted immediate attention.

Well Farrukh as for your question, no I don’t really find it cute I am afraid basically because (I think) my son plays with his Lego bricks so much and the idea of a broken one instead of one being used as a means for construction saddens me a little. I know it would my son.

The call for action is right on top of the ad. And reading that, you’ll notice that the ad isn’t trying to do everything at once – which is a good thing.

Having lived in the Middle East for almost half my life now, I can confidently say that your assessment of local attitudes towards karate or other cultures is not accurate at all. Youth from the UAE have been competing in and winning martial arts championships for quite some time now.

Also, changing consumer behaviour is expecting too much from a single ad – I don’t think that was the client brief for this ad. For addressing consumer perceptions, as you know, long term advocacy campaigns are launched, and use advertising, PR, events, etc.

farrukh

Few more quries as you being responsive.

Whats the call for action in this ad?
Is it able to change the consumer behaviour?
Since the decision maker are parents not the kid…how you can convey the parents to enrol their kid for something which is not appreciated in the middle east. ( adapting to other cultural activity).
Please correct me if i m wrong.

Regards
Xavi

That’s an interesting perspective. Karate is more about self defence though, rather than violence. You don’t find this ad cute, then?

farrukh

The beauty of this ad, in my opinion, is that it does not need long-winded explanations. The message ‘Karate Classes For Kids’ is quite efficently conveyed.

It is most likely a one-off ad (if that’s what you are calling tactical) rather than a corporate ad for the brand but even tactical ads are created on strategy. I would have liked to see more such ads if it was a campaign.

Of course, the people who have created this ad would be best able to explain the thinking behind this ad and how it came into being.

farrukh

Can you explain the strategic thinking behind this ad. Is it tactical or strategic.

Glad you liked it.

farrukh

Yes. it’s cute, isn’t it.

farrukh