leaving bigfoot footprints..

Why hello.
Don't feel too good today; not indigestion or the flu..but some sort of emptiness since our last presentation on friday:

1. my inbox isn't flooded
2. my phone isn't ringing (so much)
3. the games room is occupied by strangers
4. i'm getting more sleep
5. i don't know what to do with my life

This post can turn out to be a sorrowful lament for my darling bigfooters, but i shall resist from that route; we've had enough of that from a few of the groups on friday, and the rest of the groups on tuesday. Not to suggest that the 'emotional' approach is undesirable, but bigfoot is glad we left on a 'high' note, celebrating our time together, channeling 'feel-good' tones to the rest of the class..



Because that's what Bigfoot is about.



If I were to compare my group to any cartoon, it would be Peter Pan--and our motto: "Think happy thoughts". Despite being the 'oldest' group, in terms of age-range, this is especially apt for our group members who make up a company of fun-loving, young-at-heart, coffee-drinking, hyperactive pixies.

I'm not particularly good with words, so i recommend reading Aaron or Gill's blog for a deeper insight to our group's dynamics. But I can say for Bigfoot, there were more highs than lows; our lowest probably being that we were cheated by Mustafa's promise of 'providing everything' when we ran out of black construction paper to wrap our media kit with at 1 o'clock in the morning. Other than that, I am proud to say that our awkwardly quirky little group formed close friendships along the yellow brick road of COM443 advertising.

Each person contributed their special parts to play in our 'agency'. As Aaron put it on friday, Bigfoot was like a FAMILY:


[Zarzar] (Azhar) We had a perverted 'leader' who suggested "Lacy Surprise" as our initial group name, but had access to helpful resources and 'friends with benefits' where we could refer to professional samples of media resources as our guide..Also known as the rebirth of Frank Sinatra, the new songbird of our generation.


[Wise Old Man] (Aaron) Our Big Friendly Giant (BFG) who provided outstanding brainfarts of ideas, some of which we actually used for our advertising campaigns (remember that the best ideas are the ones that come when our minds are relaxed!)


[Jonjon/druggie] (Jonathan) The Brain behind Bigfoot. He kept us on our toes and focused when our clownish influences got out of hand. We learned alot from him. Perhaps more than our textbook. Thank goodness for his high-flying Photoshop skillz too!


[Phanie] (Stephanie) The girl with all the SFX, and our research-paper-writing guru. Her hard-working attitude made us go the extra-mile, and think 'what would a real advertising agency do (WWRAAD)'?


[Mana COOL] (YiVonne) Super cool. Super suave. All day, everyday. Only speaks when relevant, and surprises us with her moments of inspiration for our ad campaigns, and her now famous 'radio-face'. She's too cool for school--a true rockstar in our undeserving midst.


[Loo-loo] (Gillian) My 'happy-hour' buddy when our brains became too saturated from brainstorming sessions. Every night, when the clock strikes 7, without fail, we'd leap into a frenzy of tireless lame jokes and laughter, and starts pluralsliszings everys things wes says. It's amazing how she kept the group simultaneously entertained and on-track while she's recovering from a hangover. A true freak of nature.

Combined, we are totally sedap.
Mari-mari bersama!!



I'll miss you Bigfoot.

Dear Prudence

HARROW!
Sarih Leng here for my final post, marking the end of COM 443.

I was reminded by my fellow bigfoot member and Muse-loving, "happy-hour" buddy, Gillian looloo, to update my blog and post one final entry before exams. That was days ago, and I've been searching for the most blog-worthy ad to write about for this post.

Yesterday, I spent hours in front of the television, rotting my brain like a vegetable, watching Disney movies and the tennis ATP World Tour (Davydenko beat Federer!!). A headache from watching all that TV had my head throbbing by 4pm.

Even through the throbbing of my head, a commercial had been able to squeeze through the clot of fatigue and lethargy that had developed over hours. It was an advertisement for Prudential Insurance; Always Listening, Always Understanding.
Here it is:



Using soft-sell, emotional appeals to grab audience attention was a good call for Prudential Corporation Asia. Like all insurance commercials, it attempted to build rapport between potential clients and their organization. However, what captured my attention was the conversational, personal copy that made the voiceover sound understanding and empathetic, as opposed to the typically cold, business-oriented insurance ads that we usually see on CNN.

What inspired me the most was the copy of the ad-
Woman: Listen to me, even if it's difficult
Even if I don't speak up
Even if you disagree
Even if you already know the story
Whether it's sad
Or great
Because only by listening can we gain a deeper understanding.
Voiceover: Only the best financial solutions always start with listening.
Prudential; always listening, always understanding.

Wow.
The copywriter of this commercial really knows interpersonal relationships. The video shows everyday people with everyday experiences, portraying the life of everyman. There is no 'superior' or 'luxury class' like how typical Singaporean commercials tend to include. The copy is so soothing and inspiring that you just want to listen to the woman's voice from beginning to end.

Sounds like something bigfoot would come up with..
;)