What ‘New Order’ will Neil Gaiman create?
It’s three days before the opening of the 20th Philippine Advertising Congress (PAC) in the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center (SBECC). The “New Order” is the theme of the Nov. 21 to 24 summit, and will cover the way marketing communication will be practiced in the future. Topics and concepts under the new order will be discussed and debated, traditional principles will be reexamined, old practices will be retooled, and players will be recast. At the end of the PAC, the terrain could be clearer, or even more blurred, depending on the input and output of both the experts and amateurs alike.
The people behind the congress, led by its overall chair Yoly Ong of Campaigns & Grey, are pulling out all the stops to remain true to the theme of this year’s biggest gathering of advertising, marketing and media professionals. Nowhere is this point truer than in the choice of the PAC opening speaker — renowned author Neil Gaiman. Yes, the brains behind such popular works as The Sandman graphic novel series and novels Stardust and American Gods is going to regale congress participants with his insights on creativity. Truly, these works provide a virtual trip inside the mind of one of today’s most creative visionaries. In fact, Gaiman is much in our midst, being the co-writer of Beowulf, a film now showing in theaters and drawing raves from audiences around the world.
Gaiman is the perfect benchmark when you talk about creativity. He is not an advertising person per se, but he has pioneered new ground in the realms of creative writing and marketing that trigger great creative ideas. His website, anchored by a blog that he updates regularly, provides a peek into his brand of creative processing: revisions, publications and even promotions. Needless to say, Gaiman’s fans, composed mostly of young creative minds, follow his example and find inspiration in his day-to-day adventures around the world.
“Where do you get your ideas?” This is the one question frequently asked by Gaiman’s blog readers. He admits that he’s grown tired of having to be deliberately witty in his answers so he decided to tell people the truth: “I make them up. Out of my head.” It may not be the most original answer, but ultimately it is the truest answer one could hope for. It may look easy, especially on paper, but Gaiman says that the process can get harder each time.
Most taxing by far, Gaiman admits, “is the process of simply sitting down and putting one word after another to construct whatever it is you’re trying to build: making it interesting, making it new.” Expounding further, he underscores that “all fiction is a process of imagining: whatever you write, in whatever genre or medium, your task is to make things up convincingly and interestingly and new.”
Gaiman’s thoughts run parallel with the basic principles of advertising. Now that the “New Order” in the marketing communication landscape is taking place, you should not be blinded by the seemingly furious flurry of ideas that emanate from your creative spaces. You should still remain committed to doing your job or delivering your service convincingly.
In advertising, convincing consumers is your main line of work and source of livelihood. Your ads talk to defined targets — get them introduced to the product or service, make them loyal users or make users of other brands switch to yours. It is your constant challenge to keep your brand stories creative, fresh, novel and universally appealing.
The challenge is real, but it is not insurmountable, and you have to face up to it. The New Order will show how it can be done. With an international panel of guest speakers from around the world led by Gaiman, generously sharing their invaluable thoughts and experiences to the congress participants, you can expect more exciting times ahead in Philippine advertising. Listen well and learn about the “New Order” Gaiman and the rest of the experts will create.
The Pervasive Power Of Social Media
The discussion of a new social media for sure will be another major area of attention in the 20th PAC, and for good reason, particularly if we look at the recent study published in the UK by the Internet Advertising Bureau and Price Waterhouse Coopers which revealed that, in 2006, advertisers spent more money on web advertisements than on print for the first time ever.
As you have been witnessing in the fast few years, digital modes have become even more pervasive, pushing communicators and marketers to discover (if they had not already) and get to know and learn even more about the various facets of this whole new world of communications — otherwise, their jobs are on the line. One of the fast-growing and changing areas is the Internet. Its relentless growth continues to be left unchecked (despite the dotcom bust in early 2000), forcing marketers to truly take notice. Today, the number of world Internet users is estimated at 1.2 billion and is projected to grow to 1.8 billion by 2010.
If you work in any field of above-the-line communications, you might have noticed that the industry has been altered radically. Most ad agencies continue to be obsessed with the “big idea” or “single-minded proposition” — which generally means something that represents the primordial story to tell or the chief stimulus that you want to offer. Some agencies, particularly those aligned with global operations, are shifting their focus, reengineering their structures and introducing satellite operations offering new services.
Meanwhile, as Peter Weis, consultant on the workings of the net, writes: “The mainstream media is picking up on Web 2.0 and seemingly getting very excited about it. The cover of Time magazine announcing ‘You’ as its Person of the Year for 2006 is a great testimony to this.” Meanwhile, Time’s Lev Grossman explained, “We live in a collaborative world, and the people making the biggest impact are you and me, sharing information online — in ways that were unheard of a few decades ago.” Blogs, podcasts and vodcasts are now the new information carriers, and the power they bring is becoming more and more invasive.
With all the mounting popularity of new channels confronting you, new markets are created and new combinations of ideas and messages are crafted. Thus, there’s no way to go but to embrace the technology and start getting updated. Experience will tell you that working with global communication teams and leading multinational companies over the past decade forces you to face up to the challenges presented by the emergence of new to the world net-based platforms.
The phenomenon is aptly captured in the motto of Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay — “If it moves, measure it” — and is likewise described by The Economist as the main reason for the increasing shift of advertisers to the Web. In the past, advertising was always more art than science, an idea encapsulated eminently in a quote from retailer John Wanamaker: “Half my advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” Pushers of web ads, however, directly connect consumers’ actions with exposure to a particular ad message or campaign.
In the brave new world of social media, the IT specialists can be your partners, your resource persons and your coach. Make sure, however, that you understand enough about the technology to be able to lead the project. Technology is just the tool, and the most compelling campaigns are executed with simple technology (e-mails, blogs, basic sites). You must keep abreast of the technology, but keep the application trouble-free. Don’t get carried away; look at what simple technology and brilliant ideas can really achieve.
Creative web content is the new skill that you need to develop, although the dexterity earned from traditional publishing is just as important as any application online. Just like in all major media, content will be king. A journalistic approach and wide participation in your communication activities are crucial to the success of an online communication program. Thus the need to ensure that you have a plan to generate traffic to your site is key to success — set up a campaign, find partners (portal sites that target the same audience) and test the relevant channels to start getting the message to your targeted audience.
Customer engagement is critical in web-based communications. It should be an integral part of your marketing implementation. While traditional marketing is based on command and control, web marketing is anchored on customer trust that opens doors to meaningful engagement, conversion and loyalty. When happy they turn into brand ambassadors and start spreading the word for your company or your brand.
In an increasingly globalized world you will not get paid much for execution. What will set you apart from competition is your ability to add value to any project you are involved with. The trick is to provide continuous “added-value thinking” to those who set out the contract and tally the bill. So at the 20th PAC, watch out for the Internet and the other new configurations of what is labeled as social media. Enjoy the challenges they bring — or better yet, embrace them!
Email bongo@vasia.com or bong_osorio@abs-cbn.com for comments, questions or suggestions. Thank you for communicating.
