MANILA, JANUARY 28, 2013 – Mad World chairperson Mikaela Lacaba was at a loss for words when she saw the volume of future marketers present at the "Brand Heroes" forum last Saturday, January 26 at SMX. She shares that two days before the event, the number of attendees who confirmed and paid were half the population on the actual day.
The consumer is changing, learning to look past advertising and demanding to achieve more than consumption. Consumers want experience. Consumers are loyal to companies that give back. Consumers are looking for heroes.
Jos Ortega, chairman of Havas Media Ortega – co-organizers of this year’s Mad World forum with the Philippine Junior Marketing Organization – opened the discussion with the Talk-Think-Trust model of HVMO.
Talk is a one-way messaging process from the brand to the people: traditional media. Think allows brands to have a conversation with the people; think activation and FB pages. Trust is a world where consumers and people talk about your brand, without you being there.
According to Ortega, understanding this triad gives marketers more opportunities to come up with more effective campaigns.
"Brands must evolve," asserts Globe Tattoo Nomadic head Dong Ronquillo. Brands that don’t, fail to address the changing needs of consumers.
When Tattoo launched a few years ago, Ronquillo shared that the market was saturated with generic messages. And as social media further imposed its place in the lifestyle of the average Filipino, it was easier to lose one’s voice in the daily barrage of opinions. There could have been no better positioning for Tattoo as a brand than to encourage resistance against uniformity and mediocrity.
"Your individuality needs to be celebrated. Technology should encourage individuality not stifle it," said Ronquillo.
According to Media Contacts CEO/president Ed Mapa, the evolution of media (to being social, open, instant-feed, always on and mobile) has led to the rise of the social consumer. And in this sharing culture, "trust is currency".
The heart of social media is meaningful experiences. To achieve this, Mapa says brands must: understand that it’s about people not technology; bank on being useful and relevant; use passion and motivation; share about things that people care about; find a meaningful purpose; and build a meaningful relationship.
"Don’t sell the product. Sell what it stands for," said Mapa.
For Margot Torres, SVP for marketing at McDonald’s Philippines, it’s about the trust driven by experience with the brand.
"The challenge for brands is how it can get close to people and make a difference. Technology today allows brands to embrace new ideas that could not be possible before. As marketers, we must embrace the new media as it is, and maximize its potential to truly connect with our consumers."
A basic principle every marketing student is expected to know by heart is what is called The Marketing Mix or the 4Ps: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. At the International Advertising Presentation at Cannes last year, Johnson & Johnson marketing chief Kim Kadlec proposed four new Ps to realign with technological innovations: Purpose, Presence, Proximity and Partnership.
Torres advises future marketers to "redesign your brands to focus on people".
HVMO chief collaborator Tony Sarmiento and Media Contacts executive director Carlos Palma joined forces in exploring creativity that leads to meaningful brands.
"A lot of brands out there are actually not meaningful," observes Sarmiento. Referring to Havas’ findings that 70% of brands will not be missed if they disappeared completely, Sarmiento and Palma took to creativity in helping brands make every consumer experience meaningful.
Make it relevant. "When brand communication is relevant, it resonates with the world. It instantly connects with the people." Make it inspiring. "Can a brand make you inspired to love, to care, to share – to buy the brand and use the brand?" prompts Sarmiento.
Make it engaging. Make it engaging. Make it hit the heart. Make it now.
