Friday 13 March 2009

Ad-Rule No.10 - The rule of Disruption

Let's flashback to your secondary school, say F.2, on a normal day you were walking to school wearing the god damn boring school uniform and you know you couldn't do much about it as it was almost a convention and wearing school uniform was the status quo not only a school regulation. Suddenly you had a thought and rushed to the toilet for a change. When you came out everyone was in the shock, some of them laughed at you, some turned their heads away, some looked at you with their wide-opened eyes, WHY? Because you had just changed the way you wore your uniform - you had worn them inside-out! You were crazy enough to shock the world!

All I want you to know is that conventions only train us to do the conventional. If you want to make great impact, you have to break away from the accepted norm where everyone is thinking and doing the same.

The rule of Disruption tells us to reframe the product and discontinue it from the status quo so that the audience will see it differently and will be rewarded with surprise and delight.

In their 1984 ads, Apple had disrupted the conventional notion taken from George Orwell's novel "1984" about computer technology ruling the world by saying that computer should work the way people do - that's "why 1984 won't be 1984".

Well, time for some brain work yourself, I'll leave to your interpretation of the "think different" campaign.

8 comments:

Wingo said...

i think it have to base on each single event.
like the example above, wear the uniform inside out. it's crazy.a little bit 為特出而特出;
but in other case, the promotion of "OK".
it's asking people dun go to the convenient store that you always go. It's more reasonable.

Thomas Kan said...

Of course, the advertising message will be more convincing if there is a concept behind the disruption. The point is to turn against the conventional thinking in order to make surprise.

briankong said...

哦!we need a concept behind the disruption.

好有charging下 ~

mike said...

"You were crazy enough to shock the world!"
I agree this, but how to confirm some crazy things that we have done is worthful for our creative or others? This question has been existed the project "breaking the rules" for us.

Thomas Kan said...

Just try, and keep on trying until you get the shock.

Terence said...

In our thinking process, breaking the convention is our target, but we must make ad to be relevant to the brand character. Something is seem to be unnessessary. Sometimes, the ad is special, but i have a feeling "so what?". Some ad are just for standing out.

Any disruption come from the insight......

Thomas Kan said...

You are right. I want to stress that there is no single way of doing the job. So we need to be careful and to think deeply and with a good understanding and balance of the Ad-rules. I'm not say that we "should" follow them, but we "should" make deep thoughts and use them creatively. After all, RULES are made to be broken, you know what I mean?

Terence said...

Yes. Roger that!
I'm also feel the same situation on the FYP. The idea seem to be regular, so we should break the rules.