Humble Advice or, Rubbing Shoulders With A Malaysian Ad Genius
Last week, a very friendly and humble man by the name of Yew Leong Tan came into Lucideas for a chat.
Now, given this guy’s experience, I would be almost certain that he is one of Malaysia’s more influential ad men, along with his late wife, Yasmin Ahmad.
The two of them were responsible for the famous Petronas ads.
I was told earlier this year that if Malaysia had to put up any ad work that would make them known around the world, it would be those ads.
It was a rather pleasant evening as he modestly shared with us his 16 years experience working with Leo Burnett Malaysia.
Three points stood out for me as we sat, sprawled on bean bags as Yew Leong perched himself on the couch, talking to us all.
SAY ‘NO’
As an agency, learn to say ‘no’ from time to time. People tend to think that you show your power and popularity by saying ‘yes’. Define the work you would like to do and the kind of client you would like to work for and say ‘no’ to your clients freely, but within reason, of course. He illustrated with an Apple analogy:
“Electronic stores probably have hundreds of iPhones in the back, but they’re told to sell only 80 a day. Even though they can satisfy their customers now, Apple says ‘no’ by bringing the product out a little bit at a time. Saying ‘no’ creates a bigger demand.”
‘No’ is a strong word that gives you power when used correctly.
STAY OPTIMISTIC
You know that feeling you get when you get shot down, by a client, your boss or even co-worker? First, that fleeting moment of dread and then that rumble in the back of your mind: a figure of bulk and muscle, covered in sweat and dirt, sitting on a giant anvil surrounded by roaring fire, noisily chewing on a rusty iron pipe and starting at you with burning coal eyes and growls deeply:
“Keep going.”
Well sometimes, that’s hard to maintain. But no matter what, always fight to keep that optimism:
“Whenever an idea of yours is rejected, for whatever reason, think of it as a sign that you are meant to come up with something better.”
IT’S ABOUT STORIES
Technology and trends have come and gone in the advertising industry and they have changed the way we work and the way we’ve communicated to our audiences.
But one thing remains constant. Always has and always will. Storytelling.
Ever since man could pick up a stick and draw in the dirt, we’ve been capturing each other’s attention and imaginations by telling stories. If you can tell a good story, you win them over.
Yew Leong advises that this will always be the core element of our communication.
After he’d reached the end of his own story, we all sort of sat there in an awkward silence. Yew Leong sat, content and perfectly comfortable to look at us all before someone would speak.
“Wanna go for a drink?”
“Love to.”
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