01 November 2011

AdAsia, Nov 1. Some shorthand notes and a few takeaways

From the Keynote Address

*All digitisation, internet and social media has not just liberated and empowered the consumer but changed business models, resource allocation and interaction between businesses.
* (Drawing a horizontal line across the map of the world) People think there is transfer from West to East. It is actually from North to South. Markets of the future, unstoppable growth, FDIs are towards the South. FDIs are flowing from East to West as well, and South countries are now seeing opportunities in North.
*The global financial system has too many moving parts and no one understands how the parts connect. BTL finance ministers should put their brightest and best in Washington, to analyse the global system
Takeaway: Think of the total business not just the brand

From the Game Changers
*Rapid economic shift to Asia, need to live sustainably and digitisation are the big shifts.
*Strategies should include: straddling the pyramid – different price points and segments; competing for non consumption rather than for share; affordability and accessibility drive people into categories; start with the price point and reverse engineer the product and the business model; importance of talented people who understand consumers; sharper focus on shoppers rather than consumers
Takeaway: Responsible growth is all about “doing well by doing good”.

Conversation as a Route to driving Certainty
*Era of information was built on the notion of comprehensive information – that if it exists out there, I can find it. But with too much information we have moved from the web of information to the web of people; from a world of anonymity (reflected in our early email ids which hid our identity) to a world where we want to represent ourselves. Technology was earlier created for the enterprise ( ppt, xl) but now it is for the social individual.
* Next big hit will be on TV. We will watch programming on demand.
*All brands built in the last 15 years are technology brands. There is going to be no more online and offline but only one line; no more digital and traditional.
Takeaway: With the Audience of One, how are we as a creative force going to shape mass marketing customized to individuals.

Chat rooms to twitter: What next
*The power and psychology of sharing: With people beginning to “share” newspaper items, media brands now have a new way to engage and enrich their craft. The “most shared” most emailed” icon are shaping the way people now read newspapers online.
*In the age of people’s network – its not heavy users, but heavy influencers who play a bigger roel and that too not the advocates but the detractors who are 4 times more likely to speak out when something goes wrong. Brands should therefore focus on detractors rather than heavy users.
* You can’t be a scholar of this medium but an apprentice.
Takeaway: If you are not on twitter, facebook and Linked in, resign.