Winner: Anvar Alikhan
Session reviewed: Robin Wight
I used to be a great admirer of Robin Wight when I was a cub copywriter in the '80s when his agency did all those great ads for BMW, Flymo etc. I also remember him for one of the most memorable quotes I've come across in my career in advertising: "We interrogate the product until it gives up its secret." After that Robin Wight seemed to have disappeared ffrom sight for many years. So it was a pleasure to hear him in his new avatar as head of Engine, talking about his new passion, neuroscience, and what it now tells us abot how advertising works by "lighting up the relevant parts of the brain like a Christmas tree". What was particularly fascinating was his theory about the peacock's tail and his theory about "appealing to the evolutionary brain while appeasing the rational mind". I'd love to get my hands on a copy of his presentation to mull over at length. Thanks Robin!
Winner: Rajesh Jog
Session reviewed: Laurie Coots
Laurie Coots, CMO, TBWA gave an outstanding presentation on the 5 Things That Every Marketer Should Know Or Be Worried About!
1. Life is a Game – ‘Gamification’ of the world. Globally, 3 billion hours/week are spent playing online gaming. It is all about instant gratification and being able to achieve things that are not always possible in real life.
2. Information Overload – It's becoming pathologically important now - our still-primitive brains process more information than is possible to handle – leading to bad decisions or none at all. Deciding not to decide has now become a management imperative. Paralysis by analysis!
3. “Com-Vergence” – e-marketing, m-marketing and shopper marketing is converging in one giant perfect storm of comvergence! Ms Coots also imagines a world where we will not go shopping but will always be shopping! The power in India is being “hyperlocal”.
4. Purpose – Overwhelmingly, young consumers want to interact with companies with a strong cause (product consumption, jobs, loyalty). The Pepsi Refresh project took away $20m from Superbowl advertising and put into Social Entrepreneurship.
5. Creative with a capital C! – We must all become more creative. The burden of responsibility lies within all of us to produce better creative and not treat media as the enemy.
We are in the Brand Behaviour business and must share this strong disruptive belief.
