The Hindu Business Line : A spiritual exercise

THE recently concluded AdAsia 2005 in Singapore had a wonderful theme — Winning in Asia. I thought it was very relevant, keeping in mind that China and India are seen as big hopes for the future, and that the ASEAN tigers are getting their acts together as lean, mean, efficient economies.

The format for the three-day event was equally interesting. The first day dealt with topics under the umbrella `World to World'. The second day was all about `World to Asia' and the third day was `Asia to the World.'

I have attended several AdAsias across the region and have found them to be intellectually stimulating and generally entertaining.

While planning AdAsia 2003 in Jaipur, we wondered why delegates fly thousand of miles, paying a lot of money to attend these conferences. We decided it was for three broad objectives — to listen to top speakers and benefit from their experience and expertise, to take in the sights and sound of the destination and revel in any post-conference entertainment, and finally, to meet people with similar interests and concerns, but from diverse backgrounds. I think this hypothesis holds good even today.

However, AdAsia 2005 disappointed when it came to the speakers. Yet, ignoring the lack of celebrity speakers, one could note some interesting points during the deliberations.

Advertising took centre-stage during the three days. Inaugurating the congress, the Minister for Information called advertising "the foot on the accelerator, the hand on the throttle and the spur on the flank of the economy," setting the tone for the deliberations to follow.

Every important seminar throws up, along with new ideas, new jargon. The key words in the future of marketing, as spelt out at the AdAsia, were digitalisation, globalisation and futurisation.

Hermawan Kartajaya, President of the World Marketing Association, and co-author with Philip Kotler of various books, said digitalisation actually translated into participation — a key factor in the new marketing mix. He said one should probably re-define GRPs not just as gross rating points but also as gross participation points, depending on the level of participation the brand or service has with its audience.

He went on to say that globalisation created a paradox, both geographic and cultural. It must try to achieve balance. As far as futurisation is concerned, he saw existing mores dying away, and an increasing will to live the way creative people always have ... in a world as perceived by themselves, not by others.

Kartajaya talked about what he called the `meaning' company. This, he said, was against the backdrop of people hungering for peace, spirituality and human values. To be a `meaning' company, one needs to understand the meaning of marketing. This is the `3i' principle — of `identity' when added to `integrity' equalling `image'.

This in turn has to be converted into a matrix based on mission, vision and values. Kartajaya was categorical: We have been always been talking about touching the mind to capture the market. This will be woefully inadequate today. One has to touch the heart of the consumer and then her spirit.

The mission of the `meaning' company would be to deliver satisfaction, realise aspiration and practise compassion. The vision would embrace profitability, returnability and sustainability. The values will compel one to be better, to differentiate and to make a difference.

He advocated the setting up of a high-powered position in the company called the `Chief Communication Officer'. This would be someone very senior, one who understands that individuals are human beings who would have to be addressed horizontal communication (taking into account the wider interests of the target group) based on a mission, vision and values. In short, marketing was being de-constructed from being a set of formulae that saw consumers as `targets' to an almost spiritual exercise that saw them as we would see ourselves in a mirror. The `holistic' approach had arrived in marketing.

Anil Kapoor of FCB Ulka spoke about the agency of the future, under the theme `Asia to the World'. The articulate Kapoor passionately advocated the need for an advertising agency built on the twin pillars of knowledge and mutual respect, adding tremendous value to the advertiser's marketing efforts and bringing in fair returns.

He cited the example of an orange grower in the US approaching an advertising agency for a communication plan to increase the offtake of his fruit. The agency, after mature consideration, realised that it would be better to market orange juice instead of just the fruit. This would obviously increase the sales of his fruit, albeit indirectly. To put this plan into motion, the agency pioneered the design of an orange juice squeezer, patented it, and the rest, as they say, was history. The client was Sunkist and the agency was FCB. Interestingly, this occurred 90 years ago and though much orange juice has flowed down the throats of thirsty Americans, the client-agency relationship exists even today. I'll raise a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice and toast such an enduring relationship. And a flute of bubbly to Anil Kapoor's vision.

One of the other interesting aspects of the AdAsia was the great explosion in `blogging', where young people (between the ages of 11 and 19, and predominantly women) were re-writing the rules of communication. As of July, some 80,000 blogs were being created every day, with about 15 million to 30 million coming up in the US alone. Korea was leading the Asian blogging race with 10 million to 15 million blogs.

For the very uninitiated, a blog is a Web log. And for the slightly initiated, a mobile blog is called a `moblog' and a fake blog is a `flog'. We are seeing the creation of a whole new language on the Internet. One that gives individuals the rare freedom of expression. And its echoes in the portals of the marketing world as well.

Well, what's the final word on Adasia 2005? It was like the proverbial curate's egg, good in parts. The little parts. Yet, the concept of an Asian Advertising Congress (AdAsia) remains as solid and the event as worthy of attending as ever.

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