Panel Session:
Challenges & Opportunities in the Future Marketing Space

“A visionary session involving some of the best future thinkers in brand communication.”

Ray Kelvin – Chief Executive Ted Baker
Richard Monturo – Head of Strategy Strawberryfrog
Jerry Judge – Consultant (former mainstream agency head/chairman)
Greg Rowland – specialist in semiotic analysis and leading brand consultant
Sean Pillot de Chenecy – consultant
Daljit Singh – Creative Director/Founder Digit
Moderated by John Carver, Founding Partner & Creative Director of Cunning.

RK: For 18 years, Ted Baker has not done traditional advertising. We were doing something. Over the years, it seems that people have called it viral or guerrilla or what have you. The quid pro quo model of magazine advertising was fundamentally unappealing. They didn’t help us when we were starting. They didn’t help us when we wanted to grow. So, why should we spend money with them now for a bit of free PR? So, we just started creating things. Strange storefronts. Quirky window displays. A bag of water with sliced carrots. Someone carried the bag around. When asked, the person would say that this guy gave it to me … and he makes pretty cool shirts, too. We do what we do. They join us.

JC: Stresses the importance of building individual relationships. 45B is moving away from ATL. (Carat) 60% of ad spend will be non-traditional. (Sorrel)

JJ: Assuming that they are big and stupid is totally false. It is harder for them to change and execute, however. There is a tremendous amount of fear is present in the marketplace. Growth. Stock price. Fear. In smaller companies, there is less fear, more confidence. Large companies have the advantage of having very large sums of money, so if they are clever they can invest and change. If the big agencies decided to all go viral, we’d be viraled to death. We couldn’t brush our teeth in the morning without seeing a viral of some kind. So, be careful what you wish for. It is wrong to assume that they don’t know what is going on. It is a question of how they deal with their fear.

DS: The digital agencies that have managed to survive have a solid understanding of the digital media and, increasingly, a better understanding of the consumers. Must be entertaining. Must understand client values.

RM: Balance and mix. Let’s face it: It will continue to be a mix of digital and offline. It will be a mix of monologue and dialogue. There is a difficulty in measurement that hinders IN that sequence if communications, how much awareness are we getting from one media vs another? The only way you get to do ideas like this is to do the homework necessary to sell these ideas through.

SPC: After a completely random diatribe about what he was planning to speak about, he talks about Coke sampling in Brighton.

GR: Connection to product creates a dialogue. Emotional impact of one-way communication should not be underestimated. Beware the “illusions of interactive” … Often, the consumer is not part of the creative process. Do not confuse the technological ability to create with creativity.

Random quotes from panel’s Q&A:

Question about developing markets:

RM: It is patently absurd that just because people are living below the poverty line, they have no sense of humour or ability to appreciate creativity. It is not economics. It is access.

GR: It is about being useful in context in developing countries. Just showing a lifestyle is not enough. It is also about education.

JJ: In this great big cultural soup, if it is interesting things tend to get absorbed.

Isn’t it about harnessing the power of all of this to sell more?

RK: It is about sticking to your guns and carrying on. Today, I think you need very deep pockets. I was always worried about doing the wrong thing. I was nervous about exposing the brand. I thought as some point, I’d mess it all up with advertising. Book: Let My People Surf, a reluctant businessman who has managed to captivate an audience without trying.

JJ: Convergence of entertainment and advertising in the USA. Often, it is not transparent. Look at Coke and American Idol. We know why they drink it. It is because Coke paid for it. Isn’t this just vulgar? Why do this? Do something original.