While admitting to tweaking his presentation to sound a ‘bit’ different from the others, Andy Greenaway, regional creative director, Asia Pacific said, “The reason why everyone is talking about the same thing is because digital and social are the new buzz words. The world is changing and the democratisation of media is inevitable. Also, while the changes may be happening more rapidly in the West, India is not too far behind.”
In the current scenario, Greenaway gave marketers and their agencies two options: “Become the maven of future and embrace the new media; or become a printosaurus!”
The Saatchi & Saatchi’s creative head explained three models through which agencies can adapt to make themselves future ready. The first is the ‘entertainment model’ where one creates content; promote it across mediums and leave it to the people to infect. Cadbury’s “Gorilla” campaign is one such famous and effective campaign, as is T-mobile’s “Life’s for sharing” campaign developed by Saatchi & Saatchi London.
The second is the “Cause Model” where one creates a program, connects community and government and non government organisations and infect through public relations. This model reminds us that we should not forget PR which is one of the most important tools of the future. He cited the example of a pro-bono campaign done in Indonesia to send a message ‘Eradicate Poverty.’
The third and the most extensively used one is the “Creative Platform” where one recruits a creative platform, promote through traffic drivers such as TV, print, radio, OOH, blogs, social media, etc., involve the people who create, participate and watch and then let them infect through blogs, YouTube, Facebook, DIGG and MySpace. “It is important for clients and agencies to invest in the traffic driving stage or the promotion stage.”
He gave a “To-do” list for the immediate future, with things changing as rapidly as they are, “Don’t broadcast. Attract; Use traditional media differently; Employ advocates; Involve; don’t broadcast; Encourage participation; and Don’t be a printosaurus.
