ASIA-PACIFIC – SEPTEMBER 2011: Grey Group Malaysia’s associate planning director Joanne Kasala explains why we should let shifts cause utter destruction in the way we work.
Earthquakes seem to occur more frequently than usual. We may hate it, but the earth’s tectonic plates are happily shifting and shaking us up and we can’t stop it – sometimes to the point of destruction. A lesson from earthquakes for us marketers: Shifts are a constant in nature, and shifts can shake our world and destroy.
Dramatic shifts in our marketing environment have caused earthquakes of immense magnitude. But how freely have we allowed nature to take its course and embrace the “damage” that these shifts and shake-ups are supposed to cause?
Let shifts damage structures
Certain processes which communications agencies and clients have invested in for years need to be torn down to respond to the changing dynamics in our industry. Grey Group Asia Pacific recently launched its evolved global planning thinking Shift during the Grey Group Asia Pacific Planners Meet in July. Shift leaves behind the concept of brand positioning and instead moves brands to a trajectory of what they can possibly become.
A company used to come up with a product, then communications agencies created a brilliant proposition. Perhaps now it should be the other way around – proposition can precede the product. That’s why big ideas should go beyond encompassing traditional advertising, activations, shopper marketing and digital – to one that also inspires product innovations, packaging design and even new business models. Coca-Cola Japan’s I LOHAS bottled water is a great example of how a simple but powerful idea of “good for the environment” gave birth to the product itself, its packaging and communications. The brand wasn’t merely differentiated from competitors; it completely changed the purchase dynamics in the bottled water category.
Let shifts damage properties
Communications agencies owned the territory of communications and were not expected anything beyond that. Some know better now. GlaxoSmithKline works closely with its agencies as early as identifying the sources of growth of its business. To a certain extent, agencies crunch numbers with clients and help them prioritize segments of their business. Thus, communications agencies add greater value and demonstrate greater ownership by contributing whatever can help grow the brands and business.
On another front, the fast-evolving digital space has empowered consumers to equally own brands with companies and communications agencies. No longer can brands shove meanings down consumers’ throats. Consumers decide the brand’s role not just based on what they share with others but also in how they help create the brand itself. For example, CNN used to be just a about timely and quality news and views delivered to the audience. These days though, the audience themselves contribute largely to CNN’s content through social media. Thus the digital space should be more than another channel to make brands’ message more engaging and experiential.
Let shifts damage lives
During the Grey Group Asia Pacific Planners Meet, one planner candidly suggested to make strategy planners a “third person” to the art-copy creative duo. The point is that ideas cannot afford to be mere preludes to great stories but deliberate precursors to great sales. Everyone in the agency – including creative people – need to understand the business and persuade clients to buy ideas not just because they’re exciting enough to take risks for, but also because it makes perfect sense to their business.
As marketers, we should remember that sometimes damage is good because often it’s only through destruction that we have the opportunity to rebuild ourselves and our brands better.
