1 March 2013 Go back to the main page  
 
 Interview

François Barbe, founder of the agency MEN AT WORK and the mastermind behind the BATTLE told us a little bit more about why he thinks this project is so important for radio.

Why did you create this battle?
 
I've always loved radio advertising and I would love for it to retake the place it occupied a few years ago in terms of the strength of its creative proposition. It must once again become a place of freedom and creativity. This is a genuine activist’s effort.

Let’s challenge ourselves and again have fun with this medium!

Radio advertising must once more become ambitious. We must challenge the ideas at the heart of the medium.
 
What are the problems facing radio advertising today?
 
A dozen or so years ago, French radio advertising had a different flavour. It was in the hands of people with creative writing skills, people who loved words. Gradually, certain constraints, such as legal mentions, came to restrict the creative environment. Purely promotional messages have since become dominant. We don’t entertain anymore, we even irritate the listener.

However, commercial efficiency is not only synonymous with pure promotional communication. Text and the soundscape must certainly be tailored so as to create traffic, but they can also be used to develop and enhance the image and reputation of the brand. We know that the listener is overexposed to advertising, has become demanding and likes advertising when it is done well. We have everything to gain by putting the idea central to the creation of radio advertising.

This is why the BATTLE FACTORY RADIO seems to make perfect sense to me, now more than ever.

Is it a lack of talented creatives, or is it timid advertisers that have led to radio advertising being perceived as lower status?
 
In any case, one thing is for sure, good creatives still exist! It is to them that the battle is pitched. I hope that this agency competition will prove how good they really are. In fact, I am sure that it will.
 
What do you expect of this Battle?
 
I hope that agencies and creatives will rediscover how fun radio really is, just like those who will listen to the various campaigns created. I hope this battle proves to the different actors (agencies, advertisers etc.) that commercial efficiency can also rhyme with creativity and that we have everything to gain by setting our creative targets higher.

Let's have fun, create, astonish!