 "Don't think ads. Think apps: Josy Paul & Ajai Jhala")
The mobile phone is the most intimate screen. So it is a bad idea to push ads on mobile phones. The more brands can create useful apps, the more effective and loved they will be, Josy Paul & Ajai Jhala tell Alokananda Chakraborty
According to BBDO's own confession it believes in creating 'acts', not ads. So how would an 'act' be different from an 'ad'?
Paul: Unlike 'ads' which try and influence thinking first and are essentially passive in nature, 'acts' are all about action. Acts are rooted in the simple fact that behaviour comes first and thinking later. It is easier to act your way into new thinking than think your way into new acting. An act is rooted in a social and cultural context, it triggers a social movement. It is more about a brand point of view and less about a point of difference.
BBDO India has created social movements rooted in its philosophy of 'Create Acts Not Ads' across a many of its clients and these mainstream ideas have had a transformational impact on our brands--be it Gillette's WALS (or Women Against Lazy Stubble) campaign, Aviva's Great Wall of Education or Ariel Matic's #Share the Load and Whisper's #Touch the Pickle campaigns.
What would be the biggest creative challenge before Indian advertising agencies at this point? Of the 945 entries that Indian advertising agencies logged into Cannes this year, only 13 won metals.
Paul: I believe that India's performance this year has been one of the best so far. Look at it this way. The country won the inaugural Glass Lion Grand Prix as well as the second prestigious Glass Lion (a gold). Over and above this, the country won the Creative Effectiveness Award. These are the most significant emerging categories at Cannes. We've never had it this good in any other year.
All these awards have been won for big authentic mainstream campaigns that created transformational impact for their brands. Marketing gurus like Sheryl Sandberg and international media have stood up and applauded these campaigns. Sandberg is sharing the work on Facebook with millions of followers and talking about it at marketing forums. Cindy Gallop is championing the work everywhere. When was the last time India's work had such passionate global ambassadors?
Look at India's contribution and influence. Look at how these works are travelling around the world. India is leading the way for gender equality and shattering gender stereotypes. This is great news, and we should celebrate it.
Jhala: The biggest creative challenge would be to be authentic and inspirational by tapping into deeply local socio-cultural themes, and yet have universal resonance. For us, the Glass Lion is a fantastic idea because it responds so sensitively to our times. It shines the light on gender equality issues and on things that really matter. It is about marketing that questions stereotypes while driving business results.
What gives us immense joy is that both our movements that won the Glass Lions were mainstream ideas that had a transformational impact on the brands. These ideas embraced socio-cultural tension points and found creative ways to resolve them. For us, this represents where advertising is going. BBDO India has won every inaugural award at Cannes since inception -the PR Lion, the Creative Effectiveness Lion and now the Glass Lion Grand Prix.
What are the three ways in which 'digital' has changed advertising globally? How fundamental are these changes? What sort of new skills should agencies pick up to keep pace with the changes underway?
Paul: Digital is like oxygen. So we are seeing more change in the last five years than we have seen in the 50 years before that. The four big themes are:
Learning to manage risk and not trying to pursue certainty
Good ideas can be delivered quick and cheap.
Going by its performance at the Cannes festival this year, some experts say India has, for all practical purposes, missed the digital advertising bus.
Jhala: Not really. Last year India won golds for Kaan Khajura Teshan (Unilever) which is rooted in mobile digital technology. This year we won a Grand Prix for Whisper (P&G) and Glass Lion for Ariel Matic (P&G) for ideas that are social by design. Digital is like oxygen, it is everywhere, so we should not only look for digital in the cyber category. But we are certainly lagging behind and need to infuse technology into our creative ideas to generate interest in an attention scarce world. We also need to stop putting TV and print ideas on social media (on social) and start creating ideas that are social by design (be social).
Even within digital, mobile advertising seems to be the biggest game changer. Are Indian advertising agencies quite up to the task?
Jhala: A BBDO and Microsoft study revealed that we have different relationships with the four screens in our lives. We connect differently with our TV (everyman- friend), computer (sage) tablet (wizard) and mobile (lover). The mobile phone is our most intimate screen. So it is a bad idea to push ads on mobile phones. The more brands can create useful apps the more effective and loved they will be.
Our advice: Don't think ads. Think apps.
What are the biggest mistakes and challenges ad agencies face as they scale?
Paul: Today, in the digital age, the focus has shifted from scale to scalability. Scalability comes from collaborating with partners who share your multi-polar worldview and culture. Scalability unlike scale allows an agency to stay true its vision without diluting its core culture.
According to BBDO's own confession it believes in creating 'acts', not ads. So how would an 'act' be different from an 'ad'?
Paul: Unlike 'ads' which try and influence thinking first and are essentially passive in nature, 'acts' are all about action. Acts are rooted in the simple fact that behaviour comes first and thinking later. It is easier to act your way into new thinking than think your way into new acting. An act is rooted in a social and cultural context, it triggers a social movement. It is more about a brand point of view and less about a point of difference.
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Jhala: A social movement does not target a consumer but starts a conversation with people who influence and are influences by others. Acts tend to be challenge category and cultural conventions and are more inspirational than aspirational in nature. Acts don't shy away from resistance and use it to create more conversations. Acts provide a simple useful action idea that people can act upon.
BBDO India has created social movements rooted in its philosophy of 'Create Acts Not Ads' across a many of its clients and these mainstream ideas have had a transformational impact on our brands--be it Gillette's WALS (or Women Against Lazy Stubble) campaign, Aviva's Great Wall of Education or Ariel Matic's #Share the Load and Whisper's #Touch the Pickle campaigns.
What would be the biggest creative challenge before Indian advertising agencies at this point? Of the 945 entries that Indian advertising agencies logged into Cannes this year, only 13 won metals.
Paul: I believe that India's performance this year has been one of the best so far. Look at it this way. The country won the inaugural Glass Lion Grand Prix as well as the second prestigious Glass Lion (a gold). Over and above this, the country won the Creative Effectiveness Award. These are the most significant emerging categories at Cannes. We've never had it this good in any other year.
All these awards have been won for big authentic mainstream campaigns that created transformational impact for their brands. Marketing gurus like Sheryl Sandberg and international media have stood up and applauded these campaigns. Sandberg is sharing the work on Facebook with millions of followers and talking about it at marketing forums. Cindy Gallop is championing the work everywhere. When was the last time India's work had such passionate global ambassadors?
Look at India's contribution and influence. Look at how these works are travelling around the world. India is leading the way for gender equality and shattering gender stereotypes. This is great news, and we should celebrate it.
Jhala: The biggest creative challenge would be to be authentic and inspirational by tapping into deeply local socio-cultural themes, and yet have universal resonance. For us, the Glass Lion is a fantastic idea because it responds so sensitively to our times. It shines the light on gender equality issues and on things that really matter. It is about marketing that questions stereotypes while driving business results.
What gives us immense joy is that both our movements that won the Glass Lions were mainstream ideas that had a transformational impact on the brands. These ideas embraced socio-cultural tension points and found creative ways to resolve them. For us, this represents where advertising is going. BBDO India has won every inaugural award at Cannes since inception -the PR Lion, the Creative Effectiveness Lion and now the Glass Lion Grand Prix.
What are the three ways in which 'digital' has changed advertising globally? How fundamental are these changes? What sort of new skills should agencies pick up to keep pace with the changes underway?
Paul: Digital is like oxygen. So we are seeing more change in the last five years than we have seen in the 50 years before that. The four big themes are:
- Storytelling is giving way to story-showing. The story has to be shown across many screens as people toggle between mobile, laptop, TV and tablet.
- People now have 24x7 platforms to participate so marketing has to move at the speed of culture
Going by its performance at the Cannes festival this year, some experts say India has, for all practical purposes, missed the digital advertising bus.
Jhala: Not really. Last year India won golds for Kaan Khajura Teshan (Unilever) which is rooted in mobile digital technology. This year we won a Grand Prix for Whisper (P&G) and Glass Lion for Ariel Matic (P&G) for ideas that are social by design. Digital is like oxygen, it is everywhere, so we should not only look for digital in the cyber category. But we are certainly lagging behind and need to infuse technology into our creative ideas to generate interest in an attention scarce world. We also need to stop putting TV and print ideas on social media (on social) and start creating ideas that are social by design (be social).
Even within digital, mobile advertising seems to be the biggest game changer. Are Indian advertising agencies quite up to the task?
Jhala: A BBDO and Microsoft study revealed that we have different relationships with the four screens in our lives. We connect differently with our TV (everyman- friend), computer (sage) tablet (wizard) and mobile (lover). The mobile phone is our most intimate screen. So it is a bad idea to push ads on mobile phones. The more brands can create useful apps the more effective and loved they will be.
Our advice: Don't think ads. Think apps.
What are the biggest mistakes and challenges ad agencies face as they scale?
Paul: Today, in the digital age, the focus has shifted from scale to scalability. Scalability comes from collaborating with partners who share your multi-polar worldview and culture. Scalability unlike scale allows an agency to stay true its vision without diluting its core culture.