The Hindu Business Line : AdAsia 2007: Enter the ‘digilogue’ mode!

Jeju Island in South Korea, breathing thousands of years of a geological evolution through its greyish black volcanic rocks and extinct craters, leapt across aeons of time as its swanky International Convention Centre played host to the three-day deliberations of AdAsia 2007 from October 22.

A wide gamut of subjects cutting across all the arms of the media was discussed with special emphasis on the swing to the digital mode, interactivity through social networking (SN) on the Internet and looking at new options beyond the pale of conventional concepts. Hence the theme of the congress – Beyond.

Over 30 illustrious speakers from across Asia and the Western countries held the audience of advertising and marketing professionals in thrall as they came out with deep insights into what was prevailing and what was in store in the near future in the dynamic advertising industry. Appropriately enough, one of the speakers quoted a former Dentsu president’s description of advertising as the “meeting of art and science.”

Bob Isherwood, Worldwide Creative Director, Saatchi & Saatchi, coming onto the stage blowing hard into a toy pipe, opened the proceedings to symbolically usher in what he termed the ‘attention’ economy. As the title of his presentation indicated, ‘Bricks through the Windows’ sometimes needed to be thrown to gain attraction because “intrusion instead of attraction spelt disaster.” ROI no longer meant return on investment; rather it indicated the return on involvement.

Projecting another dimension of this concept, the President of Leo Burnett Asia Pacific, Michelle Kristula Green, gave an exciting presentation on ‘Wildfire’ Brands that had now found a new outlet through the newly evolved mode of social networking through the Internet. Words such as Facebook, Myspace, Linkedintoit.com, Youtube, Joost and blogs were sprinkled liberally as she drove home the marketing acumen of the purveyors of such brands as Nike, Nokia, I-pod, Sony, Samsung and Dove; the marketing pundits had lost no time in getting into the new realms of the young and dynamic communities. And, “when two wildfire brands are brought together into the social networking exercise, they harness the power of the Internet and create a tremendous impact through involvement,” she said.

It is interesting to observe that while the earlier editions of AdAsia dwelt long on TV, the swing on this occasion was palpably towards the Internet with particular reference to social networking which has emerged as the mantra for the brand stewards. The erstwhile equation of Print-TV-Other Media has now been tweaked to the newfound configuration of Print-Internet (SN)-TV in the more advanced markets.

The old order changeth but the Press happily holds its own in this vortex of swift changing currents and pulls.

While on Press, Fernando Mariano, President of Multimedia Inc, a leading international media representation company based in the US, spoke in glowing terms on ‘A Bright Future for Newspapers Worldwide’. In the highly competitive American environment where TV is still a powerful medium, the circulation of newspapers, he said, increased by 2.3 per cent in 2006 while the number of paid titles increased by 3.4 per cent in 2006.

In the so-called ‘falling markets’, the tendency of stabilisation was followed by higher readership quality. Though playing second fiddle to TV in the US, the newspapers’ share was higher than the combined share of magazines, radio, Internet and cinema.

His tips to newspapers to stay afloat in a healthy manner are worth noting, given his longstanding global experience in the industry:

Innovation, dynamism and an aggressive attitude are necessary ingredients for growth.

Take advantage of brand loyalty and strengthen circulation base.

Better interaction called for between newsroom and readers.

More local news and in-depth analysis of national and international news.

Investment needed on circulation projects in upper demographical areas.

Promotional gifts that do not retain readers are best avoided as otherwise they degrade the value of the brand.

Selective corporate discounts help circulation growth at needed demographic areas.

Niche publications should broadbase one’s group of publications.

Promotion of special events does help.

Cross-media packages mixing print and online should work out to one’s advantage.

Create a popular brand name for online expansion like ‘Market Watch’ for Wall Street Journal, ‘Slate’ for Washington Post and ‘About’ for New York Times.

Drawing upon his varied and profound experience as the Chairman and Managing Director of Madison Communications, the only wholly-owned Indian media independent with a large array of blue-chip clients, Sam Balsara bemoaned the fact that the ‘over-communicated consumer’ was being targeted by a plethora of channels with declining return on investment on the mass media.

Unless the communication planning was backed up by media insights the expenditure could prove wasteful to some extent. He, however, added that an optimum level could be reached through a suitable combination of Press and TV.

Like Sam Balsara in the Indian context, Ahmad Izham Omar made a profound impact in Malaysia through his business acumen and sharp insights; he launched successfully the maverick TV Channel, 8TV, which became Malaysia’s most popular and funkiest TV channel, the popular radio stations Hot FM and Fly FM, and the new record label, Monkey Bone. He certainly went beyond conventional methods in building a “cult” media brand. His breezy presentation drew heavy applause and appreciative nods. What is his recipe for success through the unconventional route?

Evoke a sense of hard-core passion.

Create evangelists.

Reach audience groups who cannot be focused.

Continually surprise and delight the market.

Do not lose ground but keep up the pressure on the market.

A little naiveté goes a long way.

Let every eye negotiate for itself, trust no agent.

It is safe to be risky.

Do it for the heart!

Ploughing the same furrow, Jean Marie-Dru, CEO, TBWAWorldwide, reiterated in his talk on ‘The Best is Yet to Come’ that every message will have to be creative in order to be impactful. “It is the big ideas that ultimately win – not just good ads,” he added.

Creativity and good advertising cannot thrive without the element of a good design defining the product to be advertised and marketed, said Youngse Kim, Founder and CEO, Innodesign Inc, the company that has designed many of the world’s most advanced digital products including some from Samsung and iRiver.

Taking a peek into the future, O. Young Lee, Advisor, JoongAng Daily, foresaw that the shift towards interactivity on Internet would be accelerated with the passage of time. Procter and Gamble, launching a new cleaning liquid, set up 20 public rest rooms in the Exhibition Hall in Times Square at considerable cost with quotes from users and interactive sessions promoted on the Net.

A new era in advertising is about to open up with major players like Nissan already experimenting with the powerful idea of the end-consumer experiencing a product’s attributes instead of knowing about it through an advertisement in the Press or on TV. Toyota and Japan’s Shiseido have since used the Internet more than TV for their new launches – all based on ‘experience campaigns’. Nissan distributed 20,000 key chains amongst teenagers and young adults in public places such as shopping malls and stadiums with the attractive bait of a petrol discount coupon tagged on to the key chains.

A combination of the analogue and digital is, therefore, on the horizon and the coinage ‘digilogue’ should soon be in circulation in advertising circles, according to Innodesign’s Youngse Kim.

The multi-pronged media approach will now include this mode too. In fact, the analogue and digital modes complement each other. The cross-over media that he touched upon such as Press and TV, TV and Internet, Press and Internet was redolent of the Media Mix Multiplier theory, the virtues of which has already been appreciated in India by our perspicacious media planning fraternity.

Pursuing the same line of thought, Allan Rutherford, the CEO of Digitas Global, London stressed that today’s enlightened consumer was increasingly becoming digital-centric.

He cited the example of American Express whose project on ‘Protect the Arctic Wildlife’ with the active involvement of its members generated “a close contact with the consumer in a thousand ways.” Internet marketing had indeed come of age. “Thanks to the Internet the middleman may soon disappear. It has proved to be a versatile advertising tool providing the much-needed Target Marketing Platform (TMP) and generating much higher viewership/readership through Online Video as against Terrestrial TV Video,” he concluded.

In this context it is worth recalling Mariano’s suggestion that Cross Media packages mixing print and online would offer the ideal solution to the advertiser when the Internet comes of age in rapidly evolving markets like India.

More Stories on : Advertising | Events

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Customer discrimination as strategy

‘We will continue to dominate cricket’

AdAsia 2007: Enter the ‘digilogue’ mode!

SadAsia 2007

Of legacy and brands

From screen to shelf

Customer-driven innovation

H₂O for homes