Eelco de Winter worked at Result DDB, FHV/BBDO and &KoenseSeverein with clients like KPN, Sony, Fujitsu Siemens and Rabobank. He now works at Kaaps, a video production company in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as a strategist and production manager. At Kaaps, he tries to convey marketing strategics into emotions. Kaaps works for both charities and commercial companies.
Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I am Eelco de Winter. Schooled in advertising (marketing, communication and design). I have worked for many years in the advertising industry now.
What do you enjoy most about the advertising world?
The creativity. There was, is and will always be a drive for creating new things. Consumers are changing, but the advertisers themselves are even changing more, by new ways of targeting the target group. It’s a business which is ever changing and drives you to think further, or think the opposite way.
Why is Kaap specialised on video production?
We first worked in a more general area. But we think that a focus on video is better for us and better for the clients. Video is getting more and more integrated with other communications channels, especially online video is growing fast! In this way we get the whole process. From concepting, thinking of media where to show the video, interaction possibilities, and off course the videoproduction itself.
What makes a good video commercial?
One that reaches the target group. Where they can identify themselves with, one that sticks. We always define a good commercial by a feeling.
Technical features and marketing terms are nice but it has to create tears, a laugh, goose bumps, etcetera… Only then are we satisfied.
What’s the most common misconception about being an advertiser?
Advertisers like to act like if they are artists. But an artist is an artist. We make art by thinking what the target group would like. It’s more than just creating something. You always have to do many concessions either by the theory of what is working or either the wishes and demands of the client.
What are the best clients to work with?
Clients who trust you. Clients who let you do your thing and judge it by the briefing. And not by the feeling and judgements of their personal feeling and that of all their colleagues. It doesn’t matter what kind of business they do or what kind of product they sell. Every product can be sexy, even boring stuff.
What skills are most important for an advertiser?
The ability to empathize with others, sensibility and thinking out of the box, but always work according to a concept or pre-defined strategy.