Claire Davidson Adfest Diary – day three
Claire Davidson, managing director and executive producer Asia & MENA @ The SweetShop, reports exclusively for Campaign Brief at Adfest 2015.
I was up very early today, bright eyed and bushy tailed to catch all of the action on the final day of Adfest 2015. There were lots of smiley happy creative people wandering in and out of The Peach Exhibition and Convention Hall here in Pattaya, Thailand this morning, after winning some well-deserved gleaming, glossy crystal ball accolades last night.
First up for me today it was time to get down and get real… Simon Gosling, CEO of Happy Finish brought us “Let’s Get Real! Groundbreaking Virtual & Augmented Reality”. Our attention was drawn to the exciting and innovative advertising opportunities that virtual and augmented reality can bring to brands; be it via stills, motion visual effects, computer graphics, animation or interactive integration.
We looked at the Gartners Hype Cycle that tracks technology, which measures, evaluates and assesses technologies and IT trends. We follow the cycle of: Technology Trigger -> Peak of Inflated Expectations -> Trough of Disillusionments -> Slope of Enlightenment -> Plateau of Productivity. The best companies look ahead, see what they think is going to be good, and get in early on. Gartners Hype Cycle helps us to discern the hype and see what is going to be commercially viable for our businesses. Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Facebook, believes there will be many more of these virtual and augmented platforms to come, and whoever builds and defines these will set the movement into the future.
We looked at case studies by Nike, Mercedes Benz, Lufthansa, Skoda, British Airways, London Fashion Week, as well as my favourite, Google Cardboard.
Next up it was the Short Films by The Fabulous Four. Adfest received thirty entries for the competition this year, with budding young filmmakers writing and focusing their shorts around Adfest 2015’s theme of “Be Bad’. All entrants must be directors based in the Asia Pacific. They must have directed less than seven works. Five minute scripts are initially written, then the final four are produced by the applicants. The finalists this year were Anya Nicola Isabel Zulueta (Philippines), Hiroki Odagiri (Japan), Pranav Harihar Sharma (India) and Tomoya Kuge (Japan), and this morning we were treated to an absolute visual feast by these creators of the future.
Once again after lunch we had the Jury Presidents’ Crossfire, which was held over two exciting sessions. Brett Mitchell, Director of Pollen, moderated the first, and Normandy Madden, Senior VP, Content Development, Asia Pacific at Thoughtful Media Group, brought us the second. We heard from the jury presidents themselves who and what they deemed the best of the best from this year’s entries, and looked at where and how a lot of that work originated. They also discussed what separates good work, from great work, from exceptional work. To take a look yourself at the winning work, just go to the links on the Adfest website, or the Campaign Brief Asia blog can help to direct you there as well.
I then caught co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Design Army, Pum Lefebure‘s session on “Design Your Life So You Can Kick Ass 365”. I really need some pointers in this area, as like a lot of us my work / life balance is completely out the window. Lefebure told us that we need to be integrating our passion and creativity into our everyday lives, so that we can be more motivating as leaders. Can one really achieve professional and personal fulfillment in today’s neverending world of business and technology that is ‘always on’? When we’re always surrounded? Lefebure also showed us how she integrates the east and the west into her business and her life, bringing Thai sensibility to American design that resonates within and across diverse audiences.
Don’t separate work and life – balance them.
Design your life!
Dream big. Start small. Be simple, consistent and effective. Start with six foundations, with one final goal. Re-look at these annually. Lefebure’s include: health, family, giving back, travel, design + fashion. From there, off you go. We have to start with ourselves. We work long hours. We stay late at the office. We eat take out. We don’t exercise. As creatives we must look after ourselves first and foremost. From there you integrate your passion into your everyday life. Build your own promised land. Be picky about your projects, as the project you take on today will set a foundation for the project you take on tomorrow. Be your own champion. Do self promotion. Have your peers envy you. Become a master at self-branding. Align yourself with the right brand.
Adaptation is crucial for survival. Revolve and change your business. Keep learning. Try new things. Get out of your comfort zone. It’s okay to be bad before you become good. Recognise your luck. Get deeper with your client. Stay energized.
Lefebure left us with two quotes today –
Pablo Picasso, “Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up”
and
“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.” from Albert Einstein.
Dreams don’t work and won’t come true unless you follow them. Let’s get out there and design our futures.
The final seminar for the festival was brought to us by Grand Jury President, Rei Inamoto, Global Chief Creative Officer of AKQA. It’s pretty hard to stand out in today’s world of advertising. There is stiff competition wherever and whichever way you look. There are ideas everywhere, but will they work? How do you apply them to your brand and your products? There are ever-increasing platforms to look at, and new technologies coming at you from every angle. So where do you, as a creative, fit into this? How do you differentiate yourself in the sea of unlimited choices? How do you become undeniably good? Inamoto brings us “Unforgettable”.
In order to illustrate how he came to be where he is today, Inamoto took us through a journey of his past. From being born a twin, to his addiction to Donkey Kong, to learning English, to leaving Japan, to going to Switzerland, to moving to the United States. Inamoto has always had a dream to give back somehow to Japan – the country he came from. These are integral parts of Inamoto’s make up. They are his world, be they past or current, and he will carry them for the rest of his life. For him, they are unforgettable, as are their integration into his career and many elements of his work.
If you as creatives are not making something unforgettable, then you are not doing your job. Three key principles to follow to achieve this are:
1. Think the impossible. In the next 180 days, what will you do that’s never been done before?
2. Make it my story. Some of the best ideas are coming from the ‘crowd’. In the next 180 days, how will you help your customers tell their story?
3. Give me the unexpected. In the next 180 days, how will your every experience be designed with Appoggiatura?
We looked at case studies by Nike Rise “House of Mamba”, the tv show and game “Defiance”, Twitch.tv, and Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi.
How will you create experiences?
How will you create unforgettable experiences?
How will you create personally unforgettable experiences?
It’s not just
telling stories but providing experiences that become memorable.
And now on to the second sector of Awards Presentations, the Closing Party, rounded out by the final culminating event, the Genuine Music After Party featuring maestro DJ Thierry Halbroth behind the decks.
What a night we have ahead of us.
Thanks once again Adfest for having me. I’m confident that most attendees succeeded in following this year’s festival theme and motto to “Be Bad’ at some stage during the past three days, be it in their work, their participation at the festival, or during some extra curricular activities that may have occurred or are still yet to transpire.
See you all next year.