AdAsia 2011 Day 2: New paradigm of advertising is all about 'acts'

Digital and social media have changed the traditional concept of creativity as consumers themselves have begun to carry the brand message

BestMediaInfo Bereau | Delhi | November 3, 2011

Creating an ad for a brand has always been a craft and it largely continues to be so. But to reach out to today's changed consumer, one does not need just an ad; it is more about getting one's act together in reaching out to the new age consumer. One of the major reasons for this change is that the consumer of today is not a passive one who will have no or minimal control over the message that is sent out over a traditional medium. The emergence of the digital and social media has put marketers and advertisers on their toes. The need of the hour is to have marketing messages that are more intuitive and participatory.

When Simon Bond, Chief Marketing Officer, BBDO/Proximity Worldwide, and Chris Thomas, Chairman & CEO of BBDO for Asia, Middle East and Africa and Chairman of Proximity Worldwide, took the stage, they themselves started with an act. Both played out the role of being DJs in their late teens and tried to bring out how changes in technology had led to a very changed lifestyle for them. While Thomas would have had a handful of friends and would send postcards and telegraphs to the outstation ones, Bond could share all that he wanted every single day through social networking sites to hundreds of friends spread across the world.

Elaborating the role of Facebook in everyday life, Bond said, “Seven billion photos are uploaded on Facebook every single month.”

Another important aspect that has changed between Bond's and Thomas's time was that in the latter's era the only way to avoid an ad was to move out of the room in which television was on, but in today's world one can very easily skip the ad. So, the message not only has to be creative and distinct but also reach consumers through the medium they prefer and involve them so as to ensure they don't miss it.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com