Copywriter Journalist

Advertising blog by Farrukh Naeem, journalist and copywriter in UAE (Abu Dhabi, near Dubai)

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Freelance journalist and business writer job vacancy in Oman November 27, 2007

For any freelance writer in Oman, I’d like to share a good opportunity. One of the leading business publications in the Gulf region is looking for a freelance correspondent in Oman. Here’s what they are looking for:  

Experience working for a business title necessary

Marketing experience preferred

Ability to meet tight deadlines

Experience and knowledge of the Oman market essential

Contacts across sectors very desirable

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Plagiarism in advertising: Copywriting legend Indra Sinha from the UK shares his views June 11, 2007

The discussion on plagiarism and copy-paste creativity in advertising continues with this post. Looks like my earlier post has struck a chord, with the kind of response I have received. Everyone has, at least once in their life, had their idea stolen, borrowed, killed only to be resurrected again with someone else’s name on it.

An interesting, almost ironic, thing happened right after I posted my content online. Zeid Nasser of MediaMe.com, a friend and fellow ad blogger in the region, re-posted my post, almost in its entirety, on his home page with a link back to my blog. (Thanks, Zeid.) The post has been titled ‘Plagiarism in the Middle East on the rise‘ which I have asked Zeid to reconsider since my post is about the ad industry not the Middle East. Interesting how far one post can go on the net, isn’t it?

I was also asked by a member of the Arabic media to comment on this issue. Good to know the interest generated by this theme. As I had written, plagiarism is a relevant issue that needs to be talked about. The post might have made some creative directors uncomfortable. Cool.

The most amazing part has been the mail sent in by Indra Sinha. He is a copywriting legend who needs no introduction. His work for Amnesty International and Metropolitan Police will have any ad lover mesmerised. I would even go so far as to say that Indra is what young copywriters may want to be when they grow up. And this is what Indra wrote to me that I would like to share with you:

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Plagiarism and copy-paste creativity in advertising – copywriter in Dubai, UAE, continues the discussion on ethics in advertising June 9, 2007

We the creative people in advertising – the creative directors, copywriters, art directors, graphic designers – take great pride in producing original ideas. At least that’s what we claim.

Then we see from amongst us, creatives being caught for copying not just a treatment or idea but entire sentences, phrases, tag lines, layouts with the fonts and visuals. I have even received emails from you, dear readers, alerting me to plagiarised ads. (An ad-blogging friend had sent me a copy of an ad he felt was a rip-off which he couldn’t put on his blog because they were also working for that client.)

The lack of self respect when one simply lifts someone else’s concept and execution is one of the reasons why we the advertising people have earned ourselves the notoriety of being in one of the least respected professions in the world. We have brought this upon us. (That email forward about “Don’t tell my mom I work in advertising…” comes to mind.) 

Some of us just can’t help lifting stuff from advertising awards books. I have seen it happening so much, it has almost become an industry norm. Sad.

I remember one creative who kept the awards book he copied from, safely tucked in his drawer. So that no one will ever know where his ‘inspiration’ came from. His best idea was traced back to that book in his drawer.

Perhaps it’s the pressure of winning awards. Perhaps it’s the lack of confidence in some people about creating something world class with their own mind. It’s not what one would expect from an industry like ours, bursting at the seams with highly talented people. We have some of the brightest minds in business in the ad agency cubicles, halls, water cooler areas.  

Call me a dreamer, but I am sure many of us in advertising believe that we don’t have to copy things from awards books and other people’s portfolios and websites. Yes, ideas are everywhere. But taking someone’s layout and copy? 

And people who get into the habit of copy-paste don’t just stop at ad layouts. I recently came across a profile of an ad man that reads just like mine with exact phrases from my profile, on the same online network, in my own city!

I am reproducing a few of the many, many ’coincidences’ I found below in this person’s profile:

My network profile: (Wants) partnerships for projects across the globe
Copy-paste profile: (Wants) Partnerships for projects across the globe

My network profile: campaigns for TV, radio, press, magazines, outdoor, direct marketing and the internet
Copy-paste profile: campaigns for TV, radio, press, magazines, outdoor, direct marketing and the internet

My network profile: worked on some of the hottest brands in the world
Copy-paste profile: worked for some of the hottest brands and companies in the world

I could have provided you a link to our friend’s profile – but then this post isn’t about any particular person. However, if you want to hire a ‘global creative director’ who’s good at copying and pasting things, email me and I might just give you the link.

Anyway, this post is about an unethical and unflattering practice that I feel does disservice to our advertising profession. It’s about two buttons on our keyboard - ‘Ctrl’ and ‘C’. Let’s not use them too much.

In the coming days, I plan to have a few more posts on copy-paste creativity in the world of advertising because discussion on this is relevant and needed, specially in the time of the internet which makes plagiarism easy to do. But then, it has also become easier to track. Thank you, Google.

Take the case of this blog as an example - I caught someone copying content from my blog, from as far as Russia, and pasting it as his own writing. Such a content-scraper can be easily banned from their web host on charges of copyright violation and breach of TOS. (Quoting from this blog, as this blog’s copyright notice says, is fine as long as the quote is attributed and linked back to my blog as the source.)  I believe in open source and information sharing but am strongly against plagiarism and credit-stealing.

What is your verdict, dear readers?

When does inspiration or benchmarking become plagiarism?

Have you met friends in the profession who feel it’s cool to copy as long as one doesn’t get caught?

Have your ideas and ads been lifted by other creatives who don’t have what it takes but are faking it?

If you are a brand manager or marketer, would you hire a self-professed ‘global creative director‘ who’s been caught stealing ideas from others and passing them as his own?

Comments are open… I don’t fancy anonymous ones though.

Creativity and advertising in the UAE - The important role young creatives play May 25, 2007

Keeping you posted on the latest advertising, marketing and creativity trends in the UAE and worldwide, I’d like to recommend today’s Gulf News Friday article by the senior journalist Shiva Kumar Thekkepat.

The report is in the light of the recently concluded Cannes Lions Young Creatives 2007 competition, which pits the wits of young agency creatives under 28 years for a chance to represent their agency and country at the global level.

The global Gold winners will enjoy a full delegate registration to Cannes Lions 2008, including hotel accommodation courtesy of the Festival, and many other goodies, like an Apple iPod!

The winning work is made available to a real client, usually a non-profit/charity organisation.

In the Gulf News article, Shiva talks to Sheetal Rajan and Bilal Kerbaj of Arabian Gulf Advertising (AGA) Dubai who won Gold and Keshav Naidu and Umran Shaikh of Team Y&R, Dubai who won Silver.

And a little surprise - you’d see your favourite ad blogger in the feature too. I shared views on the importance of encouraging young talent. And the days when agencies here in the UAE insisted on only talking to people with ‘minimum 10 years of experience’. And what global creative bigwigs who were here during Dubai Lynx said about our standards of creativity.

Also, why I respect creative people in the Middle East because I believe we try harder (think the legendary ‘We Try Harder‘ campaign). Like when we get a brief to promote skin care without showing any skin. And sell lingerie but stay clear of any product shot. Well, you get the picture

Farrukh Naeem, copywriter and journalist, talks to Shiva Kumar Thekkepat of Gulf News on advertising and creativity in the UAETechnorati Tags:
Farrukh Naeem, Copywriter Dubai, Copywriter UAE, Media in UAE, Team Y&R, AGA, Young Creatives, Shiva Kumar Thekkepat, Keshav Naidu, Advertising Blogger, Arabian Gulf Advertising, Bilal Kerbaj, Cannes Lions 2008, Sheetal Rajan, International Advertising Association (IAA), Dubai Lynx, Copywriting, Friday, Dubai, Creativity, Apple iPod, Journalism, Life In The UAE, Gulf News, Advertising in the UAE, Middle East Advertising, Creative Awards, Advertising Awards, Advertising in Dubai, uae advertising, Marketing
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The sun sets on Emirates Evening Post: Another UAE publication bites the dust April 23, 2007

Emirates Evening Post was missing in action yesterday and it was sad to read about it in today’s Khaleej Times. Ben Flanagan’s report on ArabianBusiness.com notes that it is the end for the publication because of licensing issues. A three-month grace period had been granted to the paper in February by the UAE National Media Council (NMC), the report says.

The UAE’s only English newspaper that brought us fresh news in the evening - before the morning newspapers woke up - will take with it some fond memories. I had a chance to meet (and be interviewed by) some of its wonderful reporters over the years - Bobin James whose pictures of live concerts I absolutely loved, Veena Kuruvilla who I crossed paths with on her humanitarian beat, Kamakshi Matai and most recently, Vinod Kumar.

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Campaign ME (Middle East) magazine could be back soon (we hope…) February 19, 2007

Campaign ME’s sudden disappearance, offline and online, and the cancellation of the Campaign Middle East Awards took the advertising and marketing fraternity in the UAE and Middle East by surprise as you must have read in my earlier post.

(In the picture: The last (hoping not) Campaign ME issue we received, dated 4th February 2007.)

My creative counterparts - copywriters, art directors - are in mourning because they loved to see their work featured in the pages of Campaign - they are sighing and saying things like: “At least tell us who won in the Campaign Awards.”

Samer Marzouq of Ad Blog Arabia shared our concerns over the fate of Campaign ME. 

More news is trickling in now and it’s these times when one misses the weekly publication more because any useful scoop on advertising would have been found in the pages of Campaign.

Roy Greenslade’s blog at Guardian Unlimited gives us a ray of hope that Campaign ME magazine may be coming back soon when it finds a new publisher.

Brand Republic’s report on 9 February had quoted Tim Bulley, Haymarket licensing director, referring to ITP - the publishers of Campaign in the Middle East under Haymarket’s licence, as saying: “We are willing to work with them to resolve the situation.”

On the other hand, grist from the blogging mill tells a different story.

Dubai Media Observer, the media critique blog that had also gone missing some time back, has come back with anonymous contributors. They have already said farewell to Campaign ME, because they believe that Haymarket is now in talks with Motivate - the other publishing giant in town.

Martin Diessner of Flip Media had mentioned something similar in the comments section of my earlier post. Dinesh Lalvani posted about it on the Flip Blog.

But Scott MacMillan, in his feature in Communicate, pointed out that Simon O’Herlihy, general manager of business development at Motivate, denied that they are taking over Campaign ME.  Scott’s also broken the news that the former editor of Campaign Middle East, Tim Addington, is leaving the Gulf to join Tim Burrowes at Reed Business Information in Sydney.

So I guess if we do have Campaign ME making a comeback, things will be different now.

Till then, we have Communicate published by Medialeader to bring us advertising and marketing news and AdVocate produced by Motivate for the International Advertising Association (IAA) UAE Chapter. 

Latest information on this can be posted in the comments section or sent emailed to me at farrukh_copywriter@yahoo.com

Technorati Tags:
Advertising, Creativity, Advertising in UAE, Advertising Publications, Haymarket, Campaign ME, Campaign Middle East, Campaign Middle East Awards, ITP, Motivate

Where is the Campaign ME website? Campaign ME blog? February 9, 2007

Campaign ME has gone missing online. Our favourite Campaign ME blog about advertising in the UAE and Middle East is not to be found either. Both web links are leading us to ‘ArabianBusiness.com’. What’s going on?

My friends who had nominations in the Campaign ME Awards are worried. And of course creative buddies who used to get the joy of seeing their work and names in the creative showcase are wishing this is all a bad dream. That we’ll wake up tomorrow to another crisp copy of Campaign ME magazine in the agency… full of news, views, the lure of greener pastures in the last pages, and of course, the spicy bits from our well-informed reporter - The Spin.

Someone pinch me. Wake me up. Tell me this isn’t happening. I want my online fix.

Finders will be rewarded.

PS: Gulf News is also on the Campaign trail…

Technorati Tags:
Campaign ME, Campaign ME Awards, Campaign ME blog, Advertising in the UAE, Advertising Publications, Middle East Advertising, Creative Awards

Your favourite advertising magazine is now a blog June 26, 2006

Why wait for a month for your advertising industry gossip and scoops? Why wait a week? Why wait a couple of days even? The handful of advertising and marketing bloggers now have company. Our favourite industry titles are exploring blogosphere - and it’s a good thing for all of us I think.

Campaign Middle East staff is posting stuff on the Campaign blog. And with two Tim’s and Richard keeping the blog active, this one’s surely going to be fun. I await the posts by ‘The Spin’, that’s the part I never miss in the print edition, nasty me. Tim Burrowes had posted prompt Cannes snippets the past few days, experimenting with Cannes puns - and officially announced the Campaign blog in the yesterday’s Campaign. Your truly had already spotted the action before the announcement as you can see in my previous post. Good stuff.

Communicate has been blogging for some time now. The first entry I see in Communicate’s blog dates back to April, so they’ve been the ones to catch on early. But, the last entry was made on June 8. It’d be nice to see Mr (or Ms?) CommunicateModerator posting more frequently. C’mon, my friends at Communicate, your print edition is good - let’s see that happening in the blog too!

The Strategiy.com team is aggregating RSS feeds of advertising blogs which is a good idea to keep the Strategiy blog active. Also, there are six contributors on this blog and three guest contributors, which includes me, thanks to Ashwin Salian of Strategiy.com. My blog has a partial RSS feed on Strategiy. I am still exploring how effective RSS is for bloggers.

Now there’s ADvocate of the IAA which brings in news from the advertising industry - are they going to have a blog? Or do they already have one? Gotta find out.

All this reminds me of a really punny (eek!) line I saw one of these days. It said “Who let the blogs out?” I wish I had written that, even though puns usually give me the creeps - but due credit to the person who wrote this - let’s make a song out of it, an ad jingle if you may

It’s a blog crazy world out here in the UAE. Join in.

Advertising agencies at the IAA World Congress March 27, 2006

Advertising agencies had their stalls at the IAA World Congress in Dubai, in the exhibition area strategically placed between the presentation hall and the dining area.

So, on all three days of the Congress, we had to pass by the agency stalls to get to the food and the coffee.

The Euro RSCG Promopub stall with its list of clients plastered on its wall. Literally. For stalls like these, I had to wait for the people to disappear to shoot the entire design.

The Fortune Promoseven stall - with a massage sofa. Hmmm… this I think was a good idea - but just one chair for 2000 delegates?
Much could have been done to make this massage idea stand out, and in turn, the stall. The copy on the wall caught my attention.

The Horizon FCB stall. Lots and lots of text. Like a 3-D version of a corporate leaflet. And something about "full_contact". Underscore seems to be the in thing, these days, what with Nissan's "shift_the future", etc.

And, I had to take a picture of this promo ad I have earlier seen in print. Being a copywriter, all the world's design cannot lure me away from good copy. This one is: credits to Shahir Ahmed of Team Y&R who I was told at the stall is the writer of this ad that was displayed at the Y&R stall.

The 40th IAA World Congress: The Opening March 25, 2006

The 40th IAA World Congress was inaugurated by His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai (picture: in the centre) at the Dubai International Convention Centre on 21 March 2006.

On his behalf, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Department of Civil Aviation and Chairman and CEO of the Emirates Group (picture: first from left), welcomed the speakers, delegates and other guests to the event. The inaugural address was given by our very own Joseph Ghossoub (picture: first from right), the new IAA Chairman and World President.

The picture above was taken by me. This is the closest I have ever come to our visionary leader, Sheikh Mohammad. Well, good picture I think - considering I was hesitant to get too close.

Coming back to business. In his speech Sheikh Ahmed said,”There could hardly be a better time or place to address the ‘Challenges of Change’ other than right here in Dubai.”

I found this to be a common feeling across all delegates I met and networked with at the Congress. People were amazed at what they saw across the cfity of the Congress - at the pace of change and development.

“We will not stop building ourselves a truly world-class communications capability to encompass advertising, marketing, branding, public relations and all other related disciplines,” Sheikh Ahmed said.

He praised the current talent pool in our city thus: “Here in Dubai we have access to some of the best and brightest minds in the region, and from around the world.”

“The time is right for us to tap into this creativity, and take up the challenge of growth to create a city that is truly unique in the world: not just a city made of glass, steel and concrete, but a city made of ideas, creativity and opportunity,” he noted.

This was the part of his speech I really liked, and look forward to seeing - not just cold concrete, steel structures but a city buzzing with the warmth of innovation and creativity.

Whatsay you?

Who’s your target audience? Not the client. February 22, 2006

I couldn’t resist picking up TIME magazine’s February 20 issue with the Google team on its cover for an inside look at the $100 billion Google empire.

The cover story, by Adi Ignatius, is well written, packed with info, quotes, inside information about the crazy creative Google world. Pictures of the Google headquarters show off the massage parlour, swim-in-place pools, snooker game in progress in the employee lounge, onsite hair saloon, food!

One quote by Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, really interested me:

The company isn’t run for the long-term value of our shareholders but for the long-term value of our end users.

Isn’t he so right? It’s just like my belief as an advertising copywriter we must write for our reader - the consumer, not the client or his wife.

It’s not the client who pays our salaries if you analyse it, it’s the guy who reads our ads, and then goes ahead and buys the product we advertise.

What’s the logic of appeasing shareholders at the cost of end-users, or making ads that “the client wants” but we know as communicators will not work with the target audience?

In the final analysis, the customer is the consumer, the end-user is the king - not the corporation.

The client pays for a product’s ads, but who pays for the client’s products?

The Flip Side Of Creative Awards February 21, 2006

At the recently announced Campaign Awards for creativity in advertising, no winners emerged for the Online category. Today, I just happened to see some reasons. Martin Diessner notes, and suggests in Flip Media’s blog:

It is a clear to me that traditional advertisers in this region have not the required knowledge to judge on a category that requires in-depth technical, creative, digital media expertise and also experience.

Martin makes a few suggestions for future judging of online entries:

A set of basic minimum requirements or standards for judging on a submission might also help a judge that is not the most advanced online industry expert to comment on the work.

Read Martin’s entire post here.

• About...

  Farrukh Naeem is an advertising copywriter and journalist based in Abu Dhabi, right next to Dubai, UAE.

  
  This blog aims to highlight news, views and opinions on advertising, marketing, corporate communication, PR and creativity in business.

  
  Feel free to email Farrukh at farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com if you are:

  * an editor or journalist looking for insightful coverage of the advertising and marketing scene in the UAE and the Middle East

  * an eccentric creative director who believes good soulful copy isn't dead, yet

  * a brand manager or marketing communications chief wishing to have coffee with a copywriter who's studied Philip Kotler, heard Tom Peters, and can understand marketing strategies and annual reports

  * an advertising, marketing, media, or public relations professional with some hot, sizzling news, event or opinion you want me to feature on this blog

  * a young, enthusiastic person looking for simple tips for your advertising or journalism career but being brushed away by those who have made it big but forgotten how they, once upon a time, were like you too...

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  No part of this blog including text, pictures, opinion, quotes, ads, illustrations may be reproduced, posted or published without the expressed written consent of the author. For permission to republish this blog's content, please write to farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com. If you are in a rush, you can speak to me on +971 50 7151722. You are welcome to cite or quote text excerpts (not images) of this blog under Fair Use conventions provided that you credit the source as Farrukh Naeem and link back to www.copywriterjournalist.com.

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