I would be a platinum member of the Crammers' Society if there's any. The wheels of my mind grind at its best when I beat the deadline. Before working on a project, I always ask for the deadline. I leave the project on my desk for days and nights until the eve of the deadline.
This isn't always the case when even my drafts are priced. You won't get the best of me, though, until I've consumed the number of drafts with pay. When I present the final draft, the client's bleeding on his chair and all (thinking that he may never get the juiciest potential out of my concept as the time ticks away).
And then...voila! Project closed. I run to the bank a merry man.
Now let me tell you what happened when my brother called me impromptu on a Saturday morning because he had a project of his own. My role? His best alternative mind.
Just in case his presentation blows up on his face, I'm on hand to do either a quick revision or to redo the whole thing. Of course, most of the time, it'd be for free.
So there I was, in his office with a good view of Ortigas. Outside the hall, the beautiful teen commercial models vying as endorsers line up with their moms and/or agents.
The acoustic singer for his project who sang Michelle Branch-style was ready to present the jingle.
In a moment, my brother told me that he had to enter the boardroom and leave me to start the presentation. The clients, owners of a cologne and a line of feminine products, had walked in.
I told him that I'd rather go down to the cafeteria and wait with brewed coffee. He was nervous but, like a responsible cuya, he took the time to ride with me in the lift and drop me off at the caf. He even ordered the coffee for me and saw to it that I was comfy before he exited to face the clients.
In less than 10 minutes, he came back with acoustic singer in tow. The latter was ranting because apparently the clients didn't like the jingle.
Can you fix this for me? he asked.
Sure. Come back in 5 minutes and I'll be ready. I replied.
I told him to leave the singer with me. He had to go back to the conference room.
It's a million peso-ses account and the firm couldn't afford to lose the contract. Before he left, he narrated what transpired in the boardroom while I intermittently looked out of the window, down at Julia Vargas Avenue from the tenth floor.
I imagined his anxiety, his kids if he lost the account.
I imagined too the enthusiasm he exerted when he made his presentation. But, unexpectedly, the clients shot his concept down.
The juvenile acoustic singer who sang the jingle during the presentation was fuming because she felt offended by the clients' remarks. Obviously, it was her first experience and took it personally.
For us in the ad world, we've seen worst. Presentations are more dreadful than public-speaking and so we thank God that these are all done in closed doors.
He briefed me about the concept one more time and I promised him a 101% fix.
So right there at the caf, as other office workers went in to enjoy their break, I took the pen and started to scribble. And like what I told him, in 5 minutes, it was done - a jingle for a cologne that my special gurl will never use (I wasn't even aware that it existed).
He came back, listened to my work, loved it, went back to the boardroom with the acoustic singer and wasn't heard from until close to half an hour.
The clients, when they heard my work, according to him, were completely quiet - like jaw-dropped shocked. He began to feel at ease when at the end of the song, the clients threw their fists in the air and cheered, "Wahoo! That's it!"
The magic pen moved efficiently across the table to seal the contract. Production would start immediately.
The ad's aired especially on MTV. It's a TVC for a cologne targetting young adults. They even pulled out a line from the jingle and made it the product's tagline.
How much didI get for the whole thing? A lot of graces that money can't buy. That's the heavenly reward you get for helping out a brother and his family, as well.
* * *
kids should know that...
The first television advertisement was broadcast in the United States at 14:29 on July 1, 1941, when the Bulova Watch Company paid $9 to New York City NBC affiliate WNBT (now WNBC) for a 20-second spot aired before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. It simply displayed a Bulova watch over a map of the U.S., with a voiceover of the company's slogan "America runs on Bulova time!" (wikipedia)
