Tag Archives: Design Blogs
From June 20 – 26 many of the most innovative global brands and communications leaders gathered at the Cannes Lions festival to discuss the latest trends in the ever-evolving advertising world. We decided to take an interview approach to share an insider look from our new friend at Contagious Magazine, North American Editor Nick Parish.
For those who are not familiar, Contagious is a leading global news and intelligence resource for the marketing industry that helps advertising professionals navigate their way through the new media landscape. Contagious was launched in London in 2004, covering topics like branded content, mobile-social-and viral marketing, and a bunch more. Essentially they’re most interested in all the ways ideas are transmitted outside of paid media. Nick helps steward Contagious NA from New York, where he’s worked in many forms of media since arriving in 2001. (Sports Writer for the New York Post, Silicon Alley startup Flavorpill’s Editor, Associate Editor of Advertising Age’s Creativity magazine, and most recently, Events Content Manager for Ad Age events like CaT: Creativity and Technology and the IDEA Conferences.)
We got together with Nick last week to discuss the week that was Cannes Lions 2010…
CM: Cannes is known for being the ultimate celebration of creativity. What was the most creative thing you came across?
Nick: Most creative thing? Single thing? Maybe people’s expense report strategies?
Seriously, it’s tough to nail down, and ultimately, even if you were to see all the work, that’s a really personal question. I enjoyed a lot of the Design work this year; that’s a group I haven’t paid much attention to since it was launched. But the category has only been around for a few years, so it’s pretty media-agnostic, and you get groundbreaking stuff that’s fundamentally aesthetically sound, like the Toyota IQ Font, which won Grand Prix.
Fundamental aesthetics will always be essential.
CM: What was a common theme running through the Cannes Advertising fest?
Nick: I think a common theme was re-building and re-thinking.
Everyone realized we had a bad run last year, and that undoubtedly affected things like resources and budgets, but the best projects, like Grand Prix winners Gatorade Replay and Best Buy’s Twelpforce, were ideas that became platforms that could stand on their own and grow.
In the instance of Gatorade, that’s changed the way PepsiCo structures that business, from a marketing sense, and Replay and Replay-esque things have become a serious part of their considerations. And it’s blossomed from episodic online content into events that are shot by Fox Sports Net just like they’d shoot any professional sport, in addition to a grassroots league and other side parts.
Another interesting theme is that we continue to see is the best work winning in multiple places. This happened last year with the Queensland Tourism Board’s “Best Job In The World” campaign, and again this year with Replay and Nike’s Chalkbot. All of a sudden we’re asking what each of these categories has to do with each other, and what applies best where.
Further, and this pains me a bit to say it, but the Cyber category feels like it’s really looking for direction. Digital is everywhere now—nearly every Grand Prix winner has a digital component, and most of them were really integral to their success. Even the ‘Film Craft’ winner, Philips’ “The Gift” from DDB London, was a webfilm. Cyber’s become a category for great websites, but now that everything moves digitally and lives everywhere it’s going to have to go through a bit of a renewal.
Last week, a number of CMers flew from all of our offices into Austin for one of the year’s most hyped industry events. For 6 full days, we were completely absorbed in the world of SxSW–the speakers, the vast campus, the BBQ, the karaoke… and lots of noise! We’ve come back (well, those that didn’t stay for the rocking music portion!) to our respective offices and departments with lots of inspiration and lessons, to be shared more in-depth in a few days. For now, let’s look at some of the quick hits in the Pro and Con lists for SxSWi 2010 from my perspective, with cameos from a few others who managed to make it back!
Let’s start with the areas that were lacking and work our way up to the highlights, shall we?
I’ve seen a lot of posts about how the “content was weak.” Chris Pirillo even went so far to say that the “speakers weren’t entertaining,” and gave some great feedback for next year. I know I felt a bit underwhelmed, but I directly attribute that sentiment with the fact that most SxSW sessions are pitched 8 months in advance. How can those topics stay relevant with the pace of cultural change? They can’t.
That rant aside, I did find reasons to be inspired by my industry peers…
1. The crowd speaks for itself. I can’t find a SxSW source, but hck2 says that registration was up 40% this year. Geek love is forcing new application and ideas into the mainstream. Location based apps like social networking, video, & QR codes were not only used, but used a lot!
2. Not only were real-time social apps used, but they were used for utility. A while back, we were using augmented reality and iphone apps just because they were a bright & shiny objects. Now, we’re using them together to provide utility and to add value to “traditional” consumer experiences. While the SxSW app wasn’t perfect, I used it constantly to navigate my way through the maze of conference rooms and panel topics. And, while I’ve been on foursquare for a while, I’ve never felt prouder to get a badge titled “Porky” or “Panel Nerd.”
3. Conferences don’t exist to deliver a “silver bullet” or the next “disruptive” idea. They should, however, inspire smart people to cultivate ideas on their own. Here are a few that kick-started my creative thinking: #mindcontrol, if you want to be inspired by how “influence” works… and the “Snark It” app by Powered, if you want a good laugh.
Lastly, I had a wonderful time sharing ideas, banter and beers with all my @criticalmass SxSW travel companions: Jessi Odenbach (@jessio), Greg Arnanitakis (@The_Promethean), Dave Vieser (@dvieser), Adam Bracegirdle (@richinminerals), Mike Lanyon (@lanyonm), David Fasullo (@livebrush) and Kerry Janes.
Here are some of the lessons they were each inspired by…
David:
Inspiration Point 1: “Committing to an idea is the hardest part. Starting an idea doesn’t make you a startup.”
Inspiration Point 2: “It’s not just about telling your story. You need to be competitive in how you add value.”
Jessi:
Inspiration Point 1:“Looking to the future, employees will have a growing need to be well advised in multiple disciplines. Designers need to know social media. Social media needs to know technology. And so on. Our worlds are colliding and we need to expand ourselves even more.”
Inspiration Point 2: “No brand will build a lasting relationship with consumers without a valuable digital engagement.”
Greg:
Inspiration Point from the Gary Vaynerchuk: “His emphasis on doing what you love for a living is inspiring, but above all else he pushes loving your family and spending time with them being more important than a job. Work-life balance matters. A whole lot.”
Adam:
Inspiration Point from Brendan Dawes: “On some level, to be a good designer you just need to be an interesting person.”
What were you most inspired by at SxSW? What lesson did you learn that will change the way you work/create/adapt/ideate/think?
A while back, I wrote a white paper called “The Collective Is The Focus Group”. A version of it was printed in BusinessWeek as well. The general point? Consumers can get feedback to any brand in real time—networks amplify what they have to say and sentiment spreads at light speed. Companies need now have to listen, learn, and adapt at all phases of an initiative.
So today as I’m flipping through the New York Times, I come a across an article describing how a micro-groundswell began against Tropicana’s package re-design. As it turns out, Tropicana consumers not only care about it—their most loyal consumers do.
“It was not the volume of the outcries that led to the corporate
change of heart, Mr. Campbell said, because “it was a fraction of a
percent of the people who buy the product.”
Rather,
the criticism is being heeded because it came, Mr. Campbell said in a
telephone interview on Friday, from some of “our most loyal consumers.”
The article spcifies that most feedback came in through fairly traditional means including e-mail and phonecalls—but one specific thought in the article caught my attention:
“Twitter is the ultimate focus group,” Mr. Shankman said. “I can post
something and in a minute get feedback from 700 people around the
world, giving me their real opinions.”
