Saatchi head puzzled by 'Auckland A' fuss

By DITA DE BONI

Asked about his spot in the media limelight late last week, Saatchi Auckland head Mike Hutcheson rolls his eyes.

In typical style, Saatchi presented the city and its arts festival with a marketing strategy it thought encapsulated Auckland, its Polynesian element, and a "slightly anarchic" vibe.

No sooner had "Auckland A" been presented to the public than the howls of indignation began.

Some protested that "A" should only be said with one hand cupped behind an ear; others suggested people make a spontaneous hand motion of their own when talking about Saatchi & Saatchi.

The grammatically correct thought that tagging our "eh?" to the end of everything made us sound like illiterate numbskulls.

The politically correct felt the "A" was a play on the way Maori speak, and roasted the creators for racism.

And who could forget the vagina theory, where the top half of the hand signal inadvertently indicates to some that most sensitive part of a woman's body. Not to mention its similarity to signs for both lesbian and Aids in some circles.

Mr Hutcheson is still keen on "Auckland A," perplexed by the fuss and even, one could say, annoyed.

He repeats again for a cynical city that the idea is that over the next two years, an awareness of the arts festival coming in 2003 will be fostered by an uptake of the "A" concept. Sponsors of the festival will be encouraged to make use of "A" in the most creative way possible.

For example, if you are a fruit and vege grower in some way involved in the festival, you could have, for argument's sake, a cucumber, zucchini and squash laid out to form a letter A on the side of your van.

If you are a troupe of acrobats, your possibilities are even more numerous.

As for the use of "A," Mr Hutcheson says he has "hijacked a national saying."

"It's not just a symbol. We thought, seeing Kiwis use this word at the end of every sentence, we'll get it to mean something.

"If we can do that, it means everyone is making an involuntary plug for the Auckland festival every time they end a sentence with 'eh?"'

Which leads to the next feature of the campaign: it's free.

And by Mr Hutcheson's reckoning, the strategy has already had $250,000 to $300,000 of free publicity.

"We've had the elocution police after us. We've been accused of [mimicking] the way Maori people speak. But it's not that at all. This is the city with a huge Polynesian society, and we want this to mean something to people, whatever part of the city they come from.

"Besides, the arts festival is not bloody 'opera beneath the stars.' There'll be breakdancing!"

Mr Hutcheson confesses that he has been trying to expunge "eh?" from his kids' vocabulary for some time now.

But in this case, he says, it is "the first letter of the alphabet, el supremo, something very positive."

He says Saatchi has received great support for the slogan, most notably from its client, the Auckland Festival Trust.

Dr Brett Martin, senior lecturer in the University of Auckland marketing department, says the key is what comes to mind when people hear the slogan.

"If people don't think of anything and are just puzzled, the city is going to have to spend money to create those associations.

"Given we're talking about a vibrant, dynamic city, it would be easier and more cost effective to draw upon existing imagery.

"Auckland as the City of Sails, for instance, draws upon the strong boating culture of Auckland, which is just one aspect, but an easily identifiable one.

"There would be plenty of other such images people would conjure up out there when they think of Auckland. I'd find out what they are and then devise the slogan.

"While some put forward the argument of leading consumers, it can be risky."

Another advertising figure - who did not want to be named - has a different reason for the widespread brouhaha created by "Auckland A."

"It's not about whether the slogan will capture the imagination of Aucklanders, but to what extent Aucklanders don't like advertisers, and don't like Saatchi-style branding exercises.

"Some people have yet to understand why it is important to brand things like events or cities, obviously."

Another: "The blindingly boring 'City of Sails' needs replacing, but 'Auckland A,' coming from one of the slickest ad shops in the city, might be seen by some as a rather lame attempt to 'get jiggy' while Aucklanders would rather foster an upper-crust image."