Fromowitz is one of Asia's senior and most-awarded creative ad-men. His first foray into Asian advertising was as chairman and executive creative director of The Ball Partnership, in 1983. Between 1989 and 1997 he co-founded his own agency and then headed Bates Asia, and Batey Ads, Hong Kong, before joining TBWA Asia Pacific as Regional Creative Director in 1997. Fromowitz' creative output has always been rooted in real life situations: his commercial for Ericsson phones, which won him the best creative award in Hong Kong and China in 1997, showed no product. Just the message: ``Communication isunderstanding.''

Mike was in the Capital last week to conduct a three-day workshop at TBWA Anthem, in which TBWA has a 51 per cent stake. In an exclusive interview he spoke about the challenges faced by ad agencies as a rule-and how his agency is changing the rules:

On the new battlecry

`Change the Rules' is really just an extension of TBWA's `Think Different' philosophy. With global billings of $ 7.5 billion, TBWA believes that creative excellence comes from challenging the rules. It has always been disrupting conventions in the marketplace, the biggest example being the revolutionary Apple 1984 ad, besides its ads for Absolut Vodka and Nissan.

At the recent TBWA Worldwide creative heads meet at Cannes, the chairman and creative head Lee Clow first articulated the motto `Change the rules.' So many changes have taken place in the marketplace that a status quo is not good enough any more. We need to create disruption, challenge conventions to make an impact. For any agency, moreimportant than tracking international creative trends, which are not very different around the world, is to study the trends in the local marketplace that will and are affecting advertising.

TBWA for example, which has over 100 offices in 62 countries, encourages its agencies to retain their local culture and identity.

On the changing marketplace

With so much choice in the marketplace, there has been a corresponding increase in advertising. The consumer is now tired of a lot of bad advertising. Bombarded by over 1,500 messages a day, he is trying to block out these advertising missiles.

On TV he switches channels when a commercial comes up. Even in the media, his eye is now trained to see the logo instead of reading the copy or looking at the picture. If the company does not interest him, he just turns the page. Doing the unconventional is one way of getting round this apathy and generating interest.

Advertising intrudes, but if it gives something back to the consumer, it works. Doing thingsin a different way, like weaving the brand name into the copy or headline instead of flashy ploys will be noticed. The content of the ads should be situations or emotions the consumer can relate to.

On what ad agencies need to do

The greatest need is to change one's approach to the consumer and to get to know him really well. Unfortunately the tendency is to do focus-free testing, sit in a room and decide on strategy. Focus groups need to change.

It is important to go out and try to get your own understanding of the consumer, see how they think and feel. Another way is to look at the desired response first and then move backwards. The ability to think and feel differently about a product can separate us strategically from others.

Increasingly, admen are being treated less as advisors and professionals. In a recent survey of jobs, advertising was rated just above a car salesman. We need to do something to change that perception and project ourselves as vendors providing unique ideas andsolutions to clients.

On changes in TBWA worldwide:

We will be ruled by the `Change the Rules' philosophy in all aspects. The process of involving the client in the entire exercise from scratch is being started. We feel the different departments, creative, media, services, PR should all work in unison. The client should also be made a part of the creative process in order to avoid unnecessary duplication of work. There is also a general feeling at the top that conventions should be broken in appointments also, like hiring more right-brain thinkers than left-brain thinkers -- those who think outside the box.