Day three at GoaFest 2011 saw Robin Wight, CEO, Engine, giving an insightful presentation on how brain science can revolutionise the marketing industry. He spoke about Bill Bernbach, a veteran adman who understood people’s mind instinctively.

“The fact that we have two minds - marketers are making the mistake of targeting the wrong mind,” said Wight. Explaining the theory of Brain Science, he said that typically a consumer would respond based on emotions and the knowledge he had accumulated over the years. “There is a Cognitive mind, which has a thinking system, and the genetic mind, which is a reflex system – decisions that our brain takes instantly.”

He added, “We do not control what our brain decides for us on most occasions.” Continuing further he noted that did not like changing their minds. “It takes more than brain effort to change your mind. So continuity is crucial. If a new campaign lacks continuity, it is likely that it will lose the consumer connect. Most successful brands have continuity – Levis and Polo, for example,” he added.

Wight also stressed on the importance of striking a balance between continuity and differentiation. Yet another aspect of advertising that he brought to light was that advertising that tend to seek a lot of brain effort isn’t the most effective advertising, since consumers make buying decisions without too much of brain power.

“Comparative ads don’t work because they ask consumers to change their mind. It tends to challenge the leader in the category, and for consumers to make that shift, is not easy,” he noted.

Concluding his presentation, Wight said that feelings and emotions were stronger among consumers and that led the brain to make the decision as against facts. “Brain Science will help creativity flourish. Brand managers, through this technique, can read consumers’ minds and evaluate campaigns,” he pointed out.

Revolution in the marketing system was the focal point of the address by Daniel Morel, Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, Wunderman, at the GoaFest 2011.

The unprecedented pace at which the marketing industry was growing was the biggest challenge for marketers today, according to Morel. He remarked, “Social media is the steam engine for the marketing revolution. M-commerce is the biggest revolution in Marketing 3.0. The industry is in a constant state of change and markets need to be flexible, adapt, evolve and learn to leverage their brand.”

Morel spoke on four important elements for a successful formula for a good communication strategy. Geography or location bases commodities; Context of the consumer’s buying habits; Community or the power of people; and brand impressions and the fuel thrust by m-Commerce were the four focus areas for marketers.

Speaking on the privacy issues that intrusive marketing and information sharing is leading to, he added, “Self regulation is the only way ahead for the marketing industry to avoid oppression from the government. We need to invest in producing more digital content and assets for a data legacy. We have access to near limitless information in real time, which is the power of information and a treasure trove for markets.”

So, this is about the good things at Goa. The rain dance tops my list currently. Not so much for the people who were actually increasing the temperature of the venue by being in the water, but more because it has become one of the biggest spectator sports. The number of people hanging around at the deck with an eye on the water (what else?) and pretending to strike deep conversations was high this time at the GoaFest. But somehow, despite being the butt of all the jokes, rain dance ushers in festivity at the fest like nothing else.

The Media Awards gave a glimpse of creativity that is sweeping through the media thinking in this country. It appears that the media companies are having more fun thinking digital and other ideas than some of the advertising agencies are. The use of digital as a platform is finally becoming a reality for many brands in the country, and as I had said yesterday, finally digital seems to be crossing the chasm from being a subject of conferences to testing reality on the ground.

One of the star attractions for me has been the installation art by the young. This is a fantastic platform for the GoaFest to involve and include the youth in its programme. The opportunity, if I may underline, is for us to engage them and not the other way round. The effort and ideas that have gone into putting these installations together is absolutely praiseworthy.

I did manage to see some of the television work today. Fortunately, most of the work here has been seen before, hence it was more about jogging your memory. The quality of storytelling in television makes apparent the amount of work and focus that has gone in crafting the stories and producing the films. Overall, the stories are very real, very well produced and enjoyable. There were many favourites in this section, including the Tata Sky language; KBC launch campaign and MTV Stay Raw.

On the seminar front, it might be worthwhile to consider speakers who may not have a direct correlation with our work and the industry. If I were to draw up a wish list, I would love to hear an Aamir Khan on directorial and filmmaking experiences, someone like Dhoni on actionable leadership, may be Anna Hazare on cultural movements and engaging a community, and Mayawati on marketing to rural and small town India. Well, while some of this is in jest, may be looking beyond ourselves is the key to new inspirations that all of us are so desperately trying to squeeze out of these sessions.

Looking at the constant queue outside its restaurant, Martins may actually consider opening a branch in Lower Parel may be. The fun at GoaFest is also spilling out. The festival is not only at the venue; it’s all over in Goa. The festival is in the spirit of all the folks who burn the midnight oil everyday for the pitches that we do, in making sure that the best ideas make the campaign, that the artworks go on time, that the bottom-lines are met. Three days of beer overflow is perhaps too little to compensate for all the gallons of midnight oil. So, to everybody who is jealous of the ad fraternity’s yearly soiree at the GoaFest, guys this comes after a lot of hard work!

(Dheeraj Sinha is Regional Planning Director, Bates141 and author of ‘Consumer India – Inside the Indian Mind and Wallet’.)

Also read:
A great ritual, not so great answers - Dheeraj Sinha

It's India, we expect more - Dheeraj Sinha
 

If it weren’t for the scorching heat outside and the superb air-conditioning inside, would you still sit through those presentations? That to my mind is a million dollar question. May be the bullishness of India is getting to all our heads, the confidence that we too have been part of work that has been celebrated at the global stage is making us over evaluative. But like it or not, that’s a truth of these times. As a result, every work spoken, every slide shown is being questioned with an attitude – does it tell me anything that I haven’t heard before?

The highlight for me has been that digital is finally beginning to take off in India in action and not just at conferences. Examples of YouTube innovations shared at the Google presentation and the buzz around the digital work overall is encouraging. Finally, we have digital sessions with Indian examples. Some of the other sessions to my mind should have been subtler about using this opportunity to sell their companies.

On the work front, I must confess that I have managed to see only the print section till now. Looking at the work, it’s evident that a few illustrators back home have made good money this award season. There are a couple of strong campaigns in this style and they stood out for me. A majority of ideas are visual, with execution taking the centerstage. Judging from this perspective, our industry certainly seems to have superior art talent. The quality of craft is clearly getting better.

The work at display brings to the fore two worldviews or motivations if you like. One worldview seems to say I know how the global work looks today and I want to look similar. While the other one says that there’s a lot that India has to offer and how do I take this to the world stage? I am personally fascinated by the latter. The gods campaign for PETA and instant power back-up for Base Terminal were notable for me in their inspiration from India’s rich visual culture.

If as an industry this was a representative sample of the amount of work we are doing around social issues, then advertising has no soul searching to do. Our concern for the environment, drinking and driving, animal rights and even homelessness has dominated this category. But at the same time, there’s a good volume of work on the brands that the industry actually spends most of its time on. And to my mind this is positive as it demonstrates our real ability on what we could do for our brands.

Advertising people learn from their experience. Having been to the GoaFest a few times now, most people have figured out their itineraries rather well. The festival now seems to have a rather settled pattern than an excitement of uncertainty that it had in its early years. Everyone is walking with a face that knows exactly what they want out of here. While unbundling might be a burning issue of debate in the industry right now, the GoaFest is like a full service agency – there’s something for everyone. So, between the copious amounts of beer, socialising, afternoon siestas, creative showcase and presentations, I am waiting to see if ‘rain dance’ still takes the cake away.

(Dheeraj Sinha is Regional Planning Director, Bates141 and author of ‘Consumer India – Inside the Indian Mind and Wallet’.)

Also read:
GoaFest 2011: Finally it’s raining - creativity, digital & youth - Dheeraj Sinha

A great ritual, not so great answers - Dheeraj Sinha
 

Following the fiasco of last two-three years, Creative Abby 2011 witnessed one of the toughest judging processes to ensure fair play and a good awards show. In the big scene, orchestrated by Awards Governing Council (AGC) Chairperson, Shashi Sinha, who is also CEO, Lodestar UM, auditor KPMG had a very key role to play.

Right from the round one of judging, KPMG was checking and cross-checking that entries sent were genuine and credited accurately. In the process, a clear message had gone out to the industry that the AGC was not shy in employing any means required to clean up Creative Abby.

Speaking on the auditor’s experience, in a conversation with exchange4media, Shashank B Karnad, Executive Director-Advisory Forensic Services, KPMG, divulged the whole process and the client feedback that KPMG received.

One part of the key process was creating forms that did not allow any self-voting. Karnad said, “We had a simple excel spreadsheet that blocked all entries of the jury member’s agency, for him. It just kept things simple.”

On connecting with the clients, he said, “We had all kinds of experiences with the clients in the course of verifying the authenticity of entries. We had some cases, where clients confirmed that the work was done for them by that agency, and we included that work in the awards. But we also had cases where clients pointed out that the work was not done on their behalf and then we did what was required. The point here is that this process has worked well. We gave it ability to go back to clients, and hence allow a fair process on the whole.”

In some cases KPMG officials went and checked with the clients, in other cases, they sent an email for the work that was done with the jpeg image of the exact work that was winning the award. Karnad explained that in round one, KPMG could not do this for everybody as there were numerous entries, so a random pick of clients was done. He added, “This spread the message that KPMG was doing checks, and in fact, we had begun to see some withdrawals at the first stage itself.”

As is known, at the Creative Abby this year, several entries were withdrawn at various stages.

GoaFest 2011 culminated with the much anticipated Creative Abby on April 9. Mudra Communications led the awards tally with 37 metals – including two Golds, 13 Silvers and 22 Bronzes.

Ogilvy & Mather India followed with 30 metals. Ogilvy also walked home with a Grand Prix and five Golds - the highest by any agency at the festival.

Placed third in metals tally was Leo Burnett India, which won three Golds, eight Silvers and nine Bronze Abbys.

McCann Worldgroup India, which returned to the festival after a while, won two Golds, three Silvers and 11 Bronzes. Contract Advertising, which, too, returned to the awards this year, was placed fifth in the metals tally, bagging three Silvers and 11 Bronzes.

It may be noted that Publicis Group agencies – Publicis India, Publicis Ambience and TapRoot India – did not participate in the event. Lowe, too, did not participate in the Abby Awards.

Reacting to the agency’s performance, Rajiv Rao, NCD, Ogilvy & Mather India, said, “We are absolutely thrilled with our performance at the Abbys. All the work we expected to do well and be recognised has got recognition, and that is one of the most satisfying parts. Icing on the cake is that our big wins have been on our biggest brands, which we have been handling since the longest time.”

Equally ecstatic with the wins was Bobby Pawar, Chief Creative Officer, Mudra Communications, who said, “We are quite happy with the Abbys, though we do feel that we could have done better, but at the end of the day, we have the most number of metals. The best moment for me was to see people from the audiences having tears in their eyes after the Silent National Anthem. I feel Shashi Sinha and his team deserve a lot of appreciation for doing such a great job.”

KV Sridhar, NCD, Leo Burnett India, added here, “We are reasonably happy with the Abby results, it’s great that finally good work has been rewarded. What is most gratifying is that all categories were recognised. All in all we are satisfied with our performance at the Abby in GoaFest 2011.”

Team McCann Worldgroup was seen celebrating at the awards. The McCann team members said, “This is a celebration of creativity and we are very happy with our performance.”

And the Gold Goes to…
Ogilvy India won the Grand Prix for its work done for Cadbury Dairy Milk in the Integrated Category. The agency bagged a Gold in the Design category for client ‘An Eye for India’, while OgilvyOne won a Gold in the Direct category for brand ‘Dum Pukht’.

In the Films category, Ogilvy won a Gold for the Vodafone Blackberry Boys. In the Integrated Category, where Ogilvy also won a Grand Prix, the agency nabbed two Golds – one for Cadbury Dairy Milk and another for Vodafone.

Both of Mudra’s Golds were for Electrolux Machine in the Print Craft category.

Leo Burnett won all its three Golds in the Radio category for clients Saathi, Bajaj Exhaust Fans and HP Racer 4.

McCann Worldgroup won two Golds in the OOH and Ambient categories for clients Videocon Zeus and Happydent Waves.

Sir John Hegarty, one of the most celebrated advertising giants in the world addressed a jam-packed auditorium at the Zuri White Sands. The BBH veteran in his own unique way got the crowd applauding as he exhibited several successful award winning campaigns. He also spoke about technology advancement of the last decade – a phenomenon that has changed advertising from primarily being traditional media led to more of an integrated model. Hergarty, however, felt that traditional media was still very powerful and that technology would only help create the right impact.

He referred to the early nineties period when the US saw the sudden rise of the online business, followed by an unprecedented collapse. “Things have quite changed after that. We’ve come a long way, and technology has kind of proved to be a storm that’s hit the communication industry, and the way that’s happened is phenomenal. If the past decade was about technology and innovation, the next 10 years in that sense will be more profound – we will see greater use of technology that will aid creativity.”

Casting his mind back to the early nineties, when the technology had revolution started, he noted that people talked about new things and everything that was old, was seen as wrong thing to do. “That’s a danger,” he said, referring to that thought process, and added, “Earlier, the brands were always looking to move up – exclusivity was very much the pattern of the business. However, now the business has become more risky, we see more ups and downs; the challenge lies in responding well to different situations.”

On the impact of social media with the consumer becoming more powerful than he was before, Hegarty pointed out, “Consumer was always in control. The buying decisions were always their prerogative since they have the money. What the consumers can now do is they can switch you off.”

Hegarty moved on to explaining the power of fame in advertising. “Fame is fundamentally important. At BBH, we look at Fame and Persuasion as important elements in the process of brand building. Fame protects margins, allows premium pricing and relieves competitive pressures. Without Fame, you can’t really build a brand.” Further elaborating on what made brands famous, he said that leadership, innovation and heritage were factors that led to fame.

He stressed that one should not confuse Promotion with Persuasion. “Your function is not just to promote, but it’s also persuading,” he stressed.

A million dollar question that he raised was one that was pertinent in this competitive era – Do you as a brand want to be a leader or a follower? He noted that a lot of brands were actually followers right from the beginning. “To achieve leadership, it requires an altogether approach and value system,” he said.

Hegarty showcased award winning works on brands such as X-Box, Barclays, Johnnie Walker, and Yeo Valley, to name a few. He demonstrated how traditional media, combined with social media, could bring about a revolution for the brand.