Claire Davidson takes in the day three seminars at the AdStars 2015 Festival in Busan
Claire Davidson (pictured) is back at the AdStars Festival in Busan, South Korea. Davidson is taking in the seminars and reporting for Campaign Brief Asia. Here’s her round up of the sessions on the last day of the Festival.
It’s hard to believe it’s Day 3 and the final day at AdStars already. There is a nervous and excited energy in the air today, ahead of tonight’s award ceremony. Particularly anxious and eager are all of the Young Star (college students) and New Star (young professionals) teams who have competed here in Busan during the past 30 hours, to produce strategies and creative ideas for evaluation by this year’s jurors. Good luck to all those in competition. And just to add more weight to the energetic tension there is US $20,000 prize money to be awarded tonight across the categories. I’m sure there will be an abundance of soju shared later in the evening.
Today I caught Yoshihiro Yagi, Creative Director of Dentsu Inc who brought us his seminar, “Make Better Use of Design”. Design is a bigger concept than advertising. It leads brands and companies back to their original values. Regardless of the scale of the medium or brand, large or small, the role of design is solid.
Design allows you to express opportunities which words can not state. Design is global. Design can expand the value of a product. The law of design defines a brand’s essence.
Yagi covered off three areas today whilst showing examples of his work:
~ Design Value
~ Seven Senses
~ Common to Unique
We looked at case studies for Honda, Menicon contact lenses, The Ultra Asian, D&AD, and The Rimpa School.
Gather a lot of material and inspiration. Train your design muscles. Look around you. Look at items common to you. The process of design begins with discovery. Find personal inspiration.
Next up for me was Erik Ingvoldstad, Managing Director of Acoustic who spoke about “Digital Centric is the New Integration.” Digital centric is a consumer journey orientated philosophy that is born out of the culture we live in, where digital is everywhere. Sorry what’s that? I was looking at my phone…
How do we bring this digital transformation then to brands and companies? Ingvoldstad’s focus today was also to look at the failures of agency integration and how we can fix it. Most brands are not looking for a new agency. They are looking to develop their business and connect better with their consumers. They are not interested in agency silos. They want to use the industry convergency to build it to their advantage. They want to create memorable experience and have a continuous presence in the market.
Today you must be smart, and you must have the right strategy. Digital is now part of everything and we’ve had to rethink that. The clients can’t get what they want though. Many agencies don’t have their client’s best interests at heart. Change will never be as slow as it is today. It’s not going to slow down, it’s only going to get faster. It’s not going to be easy. Digital transformation is here. It will change every single industry on the planet. It will also create new industries, again at rapid pace.
Most agencies are struggling to adjust to this ‘rapid’ change around us. Most clients are struggling to integrate their marketing efforts. Many things get in the way. Money gets in the way. Egos get in the way. History gets in the way. Clients get in the way. Briefs get in the way. Media agencies get in the way. So how can we change this?
Digital is not new. It’s not new media. It’s part of everything. The culture of digital is the starting point. Digital is about technology but also about culture. It has changed the way we do everything. We must integrate around the lives of the consumers, not the media channels. We have to fully understand the customer journey. There can be no predetermined agenda and no vested interest. It has to be media neutral and technology agnostic.
In advertising technology is just a tool. The culture of technology won’t be just ‘digital’. It will be every new media channel and every old media channel that is right to connect with your consumer. It’s not about campaigns. It’s a holistic approach. It’s about bringing lifecycle principles into advertising. Create an infinite loop of experiences. The creative agency needs to be rebuilt. We can not have digital people and traditional people. There should be no more divisions and silos. It should be only one P&L, and with integrated KPIs. Only audience needs can drive solutions.
Go digital centric, or go home…
“Music – the Powerful Branding Tool You’re Not Using Correctly” was the topic chosen by Ben Quandt, CEO of The Gunnery to discuss with us this afternoon.
Music is what makes us human. Music is something that unites people. It crosses boundaries. It transcends. It surrounds us and pervades us. Music is incredibly powerful in connecting emotionally with humans. Sound though is often overlooked and undervalued.
There are many ways in which sound is used in advertising. At its essence it’s about having the right fit for your client and your brand. Sound can increase the impact of your visuals tenfold. You also want to be able to create memory and recall. Congruency is critical. It impacts what you put on the screen and what people see. Music can also impact your perception of taste. Sound affects mood and emotion, as well as perception. A good soundtrack coupled with compelling visuals will give you a dynamic campaign. Sound enriches our experiences. Music can strengthen brands. Most brands though spend less than 5% of their marketing budget on sound. Sound is just as important as your logo, your brand colours and even your brand font. Acquire the power of music and sound for your brand.
Jose Miguel Sokoloff, President of Mullen Lowe Group Global Creative Council brought us “Key Lessons from My Time in Advertising”. Advertising is one of the strongest tools of change that we have. There is a truth in the world – success and failure are only temporary. Everything can change and will change. There is one thing that is permanent, and that is change.
The change is permanent.
What do you
want to be in this profession? What sort of brand do you want to be? What sort of advertising do you want to do? What sort of person do you want to be? Concentrate on the long-term goals and don’t get distracted by relative success. Never lose sight of what you want to become. Don’t get distracted. Concentrate. Make the hard choices that need to be made. Advance every day. Work hard on every brief. Be serious with every task handed to us. Your secret should be consistency.
All clients are the same, only some take longer to buy great work than others. Do the best you believe you can do. Walk with your clients. Educate your clients. Force is only a short-term solution. Hard sell is not as powerful as soft sell. Work with people. Convince them by being soft, intelligent and clever. Don’t underestimate anything. Don’t underestimate brands. Don’t underestimate people. He who has the best idea will win. Do something with what you do. Do something useful with the tools that you have to make change. Focus on what makes us one country and one people, not what differentiates us. Have a conversation.
We looked at campaigns by Magnum, Buick and Exit Deutschland. We also viewed Sokoloff’s various powerful ‘demobilize’ campaigns made with the Colombian government, including Operation Christmas which lit a path of trees with Christmas lights and implored guerillas to put down their arms and return home. Guerillas are as much prisoners of their organisation as the ones they hold hostage.
Everything takes time, but anything can be done. We have the tools to change, to help, to solve, and to bring peace, something Sokoloff strives for passionately in Colombia. Keep in mind where you want to go. Believe in what you do.
It’s time now to frock up for the Awards Ceremony. Thank you once again AdStars for having me for another year. It’s been a pleasure.
Claire Davidson, Managing Director & Executive Producer – ASIA + MENA @ The Sweet Shop, reporting for Campaign Brief Asia at AdStars 2015.
