Toplines of Breakout Sessions

Baked-In Marketing Strategies: Crispin + Porter













John Winsor (Crispin's vice president/executive director of strategy & product development) and Colin Drummond (vice president/director of cultural and business insights) lead the discussion. They started the discussion by stating that "Most of us begin with communications to create an artificial wrapper. The most powerful experiences/connections begin with the product (and then culture can be tweaked around it). We need to open up minds about what the product actually is. More and more, the best ideas push toward product itself: they ARE the product."

There are a few levers to activate the power of the product:
1) Create a holistic view between the agency, your customer and your product. (Don't get locked into a category and never lose the perspective of how a brand operates in a larger culture).

Example: Burger King leaps into X-Box with product-specific games, that's "putting the brand in the culture," as Winsor explains. And creating a new profit center for BK.

2) Look outside your category (Offer an alternative to traditional advertising that will create a conversation with the consumer). In the below example of a Jetta ad, they went beyond the traditional "families" in car accidents concept. They made the point that accidents happen to everyone, even just two friends on their way somewhere.

Example: Jetta's "Safe Happens"



3) Know your customers better than they know themselves (People generally operate within a set of familiar practices. Anthropologists can help unlock other patterns of behavior that actually make more sense).

Ex) Twist sponge targeted to those who are enthusiastic about doing dishes
4) Make the new familiar

Ex) Urban B-Cycle program encourages people to abandon their cars for bicycles. B stands are placed outdoors for people to just pick up a B-Cycle and drop off at another location.

5) Empower customers to co-create with you (Look for specific occasions to create dialogues).

Example: BK's Whopper Freakout




6) Mine your past to create new relevance (There is a wealth of goods in old brands.Creativity is the ultimate business weapon…. If you ground your idea in sound strategy then you can change everything overnight).

EX) Volkswagon's Golf was failing, so they brought back the rabbit once they found out there was still enthusiasm behind it.


The Power Of Awful Insights

In his breakout session, Michael Fanuele, Euro RSCG Worldwide talked about the half truths of marketing. “The enemy of great marketing is half truths”, he said. He informed us, “Do not deny your shadows”, or brand shadows that is. If there is a negative side to your brand, don’t be afraid to embrace it.

In one example he gave us, this brand “flirted” with their shadows. Crocs are typically seen as shoes that people make fun of, or younger generations are embarrassed when their parents wear them. Crocs took this “shadow” and made fun of it in an imaginative, or “flirty” way.




Ask yourself: What sucks about your brand?
Create honest insights. These insights help us create deep connections.

The first enemy of insight: observation

Observation: Grass stains are hard to get out.
Insight: The kids had a great day outside.

Observation: People are reluctant to throw out old furniture.
Insight: People develop irrational, emotional attachments to furniture

Ex) An Ikea commercial was developed based on this insight




Tip: Play. Have fun. Screw around.

Tip: Forget they’re consumers. Talk to them like they are people.

Tip: Look at them…look at their behavior

Tip: Hunt for tension. Find conflict. AND love it.

Tip: Don’t be a journalist, be a comedian and express yourself dramatically.

The way we express half truth can become a whole truth if done with imagination and power.

Ex) Nud & Rye razor:
Half truth: Clean shaven guys are attractive.
Whole truth: Hairy guys are creepy!

See the commercial that expresses this whole truth here.




Coping With The New Realities of Creative Briefing














In his breakout session, Stephen Walker of Headmint gave us 10 pointers on creative briefing for today's campaigns - recognizing that there is a new reality out there in the world of communications development and this has to be recognized when writing briefs and briefing.

1. Brand is verb

Brands are strategically so much more than simply their product. He called it 'Cultural Doism'. Ask yourself: what could this brand help people to do in their lives?

2. Stop defining, start positioning



Brand essence does not equal Brand Positioning - the latter will only last as long as it is different and relevant. Stephen believes that planning's job is to position brands, not to define them.



3. Different briefs, different roles



He believes there are two different kinds of briefs. The first kind of brief is for setting a course, a position for people to rally round, get consensus and be a fixed point. The second kind of brief is an ongoing process - the integrated marketing brief for setting sail and moving things forward.

4. Briefing for an integrated campaign describes the when where how and why of an idea



A tool that he recommends is their adaptation of Stephen King's Consumer Buying System, to plot all the decisions a customer makes on the path to purchase. You can even make a video of it to bring it to life and use it to brief your creative teams. Think about what 'arouses' them and their moods and decisions along the way.


5. A competitor's brand image probably isn't your biggest competition


It is usually a good idea to go places where your competition is not. And you can also depict that space by summarizing a brief visually. 
He gave an example of a brief depicted with pictures to explain differences between two brands.

6. Integration of the idea separates media planning and connections planning
In other words, what is being said and where and how it is being said is conceptually connected. The medium enhances the message. He gave an example of a toothbrush ad on a New York subway and asked, “Well, what is the connection between brushing your teeth and riding the Subway?”

7. Get an agreed way of defining the core idea to integrate around

Have a formalized definition or clear-cut way of defining what they mean by a 'big idea', or 'great creative', or what its key components are.

8. A consumer focused view of media and their benefits


Defined as a 'do' view of media. Where we put the message will impact on how that message is interpreted. Consumers can select where they see you, and interpret your brand in different ways accordingly. 



9. Briefing for content means briefing for media


Brands are going to be media. Certain brands become cultural icons and that gives them a certain magnetic appeal, making them desirable in other formats - the Apple Suite in the Tribeca Hotel was one example. Figure out at what points during the day consumers are spending time with your brand - e.g. breakfast with Kelloggs. Don't just think about the time spent with the brand, but also the time spent with the idea of the brand.

10. The need for the provision of high quality briefs is higher than ever before



Digital creative people want something different from Design creative people. As things get more complex, the need for simplification is growing. In a world of co-creation and letting consumers plan and create their own media, you have to let go of the steering wheel. But you need to be very careful that they do not drive you straight into a brick wall.