In the beginning

At the start of a project, consider about the following:

1. What are your burning questions?

2. What are your hunches?

Speaker Series: Nancy Vonk and Janet Kent

Nancy Vonk and Janet Kent, CCOs of Ogilvy Toronto, spoke to us today about their work on the Dove Evolution campaign with a talk entitled "Evolution: Ads are Dead."

Nancy and Janet begun their talk by pointing out that solving problems with a :30 spot isn't going to happen. We are at a tipping point. And so it is an exciting time to be in advertising. TV and print are tools for this trade, but they are no longer the only tools. Campaigns like BMW Films and the Subservient Chicken, which were earth shattering at their inception, are now mainstream.

The ladies of Ogilvy pointed out that big brands need to ask big questions. The best work is elected to be seen, and consumers don't make that kind of choice when the same old methods and message are used to get in touch with them. We are in a time when work is being researched to death and clients cannot keep up with new technology. In the words of Don Tapscott, we are in "the age of marketing to cats."

This brought the talk to the Dove Evolution campaign. Now that it's done and successful, everyone wants a dove film, but it took three years of work to get there. First came the Dove Self Esteem Fund. The Self Esteem Fund existed before the Real Beauty campaign, and so layers of its good will message can be seen throughout the. campaign.

Big Idea versus Big Ideal.

Speaker Series: Lisa Seward

Lisa Seward, currently of MOD communications (founder), formerly of the Fallon media department, came to speak to us today in a talk entitled "Media - From Messenger to Message to Metaphor." MOD is a three year old company that Lisa created in order for her to be a better advocate for media and creative working together.

Lisa Seward described Fallon as the US pioneer of the modern outlook on the role of media. After visiting London for inspiration, they created a department based on the connection/context planning methods. The key idea in Fallon's media department seems to be 'insight applied to creative solutions.'

In her current life, Lisa runs MOD communications and writes a column for MEDIA magazine. In that context, she describes herself as the Andy Rooney of Media. Comments along the lines of 'agencies create process to justify themselves' and 'there are no experts in this business' have made her a controversial figure at times -- though a forward thinking one.

She shared her ideal process model for strategists and media planners with us, which went a little something like this:

1. Communications Strategists and Media Planners work together from the start
2. Think about PR, events and branded content
3. Is there anything else left for ads?
4. Creative

Later in her talk, Lisa Seward made the interesting comment that "you can't know what channels are right just becuase you know the consumer." Though we're taught to try and keep every aspect in mind at the Adcenter, we spend so much time trying to get to know the consumer that it's sometimes refreshing to be reminded. To prove her point, Seward pointed out that consumers have changed radically and are now in charge, and that communication abilities in a web 2.0 or 3.0 world change the playing field for both customers and marketers. Media 'then' was abotu allocating budget to accumulate eyeballs, while media now is about attracting people to message via good ideas.

She left us with the following thoughts:

1. All advertising is spam ~ use that as your filter when creating
2. Fit brands into consumers lives and add value
3. Great ideas are solicited, wanted, relevant and appropriate
4. An idea, not a distribution method, is core
5. Ideas are currency
6. Insight --> Ideas --> execution

Thought for the day

Barriers are important to consider.

Pushing an advantage versus lowering a barrier.

Possibly you have to do both.