Claire Davidson on the day two seminars at the 2014 AdStars Festival in Busan, South Korea

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Claire Davidson _adstars.jpgAdStars 2014.  Day 2.  Last night saw the AdStars 2014 Opening Ceremony, followed by the AdStars 2014 Opening Dinner, followed by the Campaign Brief Asia + Effie Awards Korea Legendary Networking Party to kick off AdStars 2014, finishing up with the customary Fuzzy Navel haunt for some.  It was a very festive evening here in Busan, and understandably the corridors of the Bexco Convention Centre were a little empty at opening time this morning…

Being the ever efficient (or perhaps just nerdy) roving, some time Campaign Brief Asia correspondent, I was up bright and early to take in the first seminar.  This was brought to us by Fumitaka Takano (below), Creative Director and Communication Architect for Asatsu-DK, Japan.  Takano brought us “3 in 1 Creative:  Cartoonist + Novelist + Architect”.  He is of course all three of these and he’s clearly very clever.  Takano came to realise early on in his career that the only area where he could use all three of these skill sets together was in advertising.  So he entered the industry and here he is.  Jolly good.

Today Takano spoke about the importance of these three indispensable elements, and how in a visual, story and structure model they can be used for developing ideas into everything from TVC campaigns to integrated campaigns to digital promotions.  Apart from his work at Asatsu-DK, Takano is also the leader of innovative creative team called Noiman in Japan, which brings brand experiences through new technologies and unprecedented ideas.

AdStars3_P1080539.jpgTakano’s model can be broken down into:

~  Visual – the individual will be able to task your ideas immediately (The Cartoonist)

~  Story – makes your concept memorable and sharable (The Novelist)

~  Structure – well made structure gives your audience a deeper and longer experience (The Architect)

So it’s these three aspects that are essential for any type of advertisement for creatives.  We went on to look at case studies for Zan Panda for WWF (World Wildlife Fund), ADK, Yamazaki, a Japanese Bread Company, Matsuyama City Project and Air New Zealand.

Next up I saw Kate Hye-Won Oh, Executive Creative Director of Cheil, Korea who brought us “Redefining Value of DOOH with the Cases of Galaxy”.  Kate today discussed how OOH (Out Of Home) was once seen as an unidirectional and traditional medium.  Today, it is being used as a visual platform across the planet – having evolved into an artistic and interactive media, known now as DOOH (Digital Out Of Home).

OOH started as a simple and one-way medium, and we looked at how far it has come as a platform.   Samsung Galaxy itself has changed as a brand as well.  It’s been through a growth stage, and has now reached a mature stage.  It’s now known to sell not only products, but also its values and philosophy.   

We looked at how Galaxy has used DOOH to stage visual landmarks across the globe, which breathe with the cities they are shown in and continue the focus on the value of culture and brand.

The team decided to make cities and their landscapes communicate via colour.  It was an opportunity to experience the value of colour.  Galaxy teamed up with the Colour Therapy Artist, Marcos Lutyens, and the Music Therapy Artist, Yuval Ron to bring colours into our lives, and for Galaxy to interact with citizens (customers and potential customers) they set up installations in London, Amsterdam, New York, Milan, Singapore and Toronto.  You can view the colour therapy campaign site at www.tabscolor.com.  Feelings can be experienced from the colour therapy onto your mobile phone.

Kate left us stating that her talk and her work will be continued…  Galaxy will continue to move forward in this arena, to combine these various arts and technology in their products and platforms.

AdStars3_P1080540.jpgOne of the highlights for today was a seminar with Graham Kelly (left), Regional Executive Creative Director of Isobar who spoke on “Why Social Media Isn’t Creative Enough, and What To Do About It”.

Adstars_screenPic.jpgThere are two main points of view regarding social media today:

a) Social media is seen as the biggest thing since the industrial revolution, and it’s the only thing that matters.  It’s typical of the hype that surrounds social media.  It’s hype driven by social media gurus…

b) It’s a passing fad, and agencies and clients dismiss it.  It’s not really worth worrying about, and so it’s given to the interns to do down the back of the office next to the photocopiers.

Kelly feels in reality it lies somewhere between the two, and that we need a more balanced view.  We need to see beyond the hype.  Social media is not the answer to every marketing problem.  To use it properly we need to use it realistically.  Social media needs to be innovative, entertaining and intelligent, and it’s up to us to make it more creative and effective.  There are so many social media campaigns, and so much money has been spent, but where are all of the great ideas?

Kelly’s tips to all of us in the room today were:

~  Be contrarian.  Go against perceived wisdom.  If you do this it can lead to better work.  Facebook isn’t all about the number of likes or shares.  It’s about reaching the people that count, and not counting the people you reach.

~  Be true to the core idea. Don’t just upload your TVC onto Facebook or Twitter.  

~  Be focused.  Don’t be too ambitious.  Don’t do too many things.  Don’t put everything onto social media just because you can.  Don’t cram.

~  Be simple.  

~  Be useful.  Be useful and innovative to your audience.  

~  Be social in the real world.

~  Be imaginative with promos.  There are a lot of promos on the internet, so make them creative.

~  Don’t be afraid of data.  Derive useful learning to support insights.

We looked at case studies today for Grey Poupon Mustard, Allstate Insurance, Snickers, Lowe’s, Mercedes, C&A, and Air Asia.

AdStars3_P1080546.jpgLauren Connolly (left), Executive Vice President and Executive Creative Director, BBDO New York was last up on the podium today.  Connolly brought us “The Universal Language of Storytelling”.  There is a famous Hopi proverb ‘those who tell stories, rule the world’.

Why are stories so important, and why are we compelled to tell them?

Storytelling is one of the few things that defines our humanity.  It’s critical to what and who we are as humans.  What drives human notion?  Our physical needs and safety needs are our basic needs.  Our love needs and esteem needs are our psychological needs.  At the top of the pyramid is self-actualisation, which harbours our self-fulfilment needs.  These needs relate to every aspect of what we are as human beings.

Connolly asked us to go back and use Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway and Shakespeare as our points of comparative reference for what we do in advertising today in 2014.

Create unforgettable characters.  Look to create vivid, compelling characters.  Audiences don’t fall in love with plots.  They fall in love with characters.

Find that compelling plot.  You want people to come back week after week.  Have a cliffhanger.  Have an idea so big you can define it in a text message.  

Be mainstream and entertain the masses.  

Use social commentary.  Be socially conscious.  Make a statement about our lives.

If you use each of the above four elements, you will touch people, you will move them and you will be remembered.

But how should you tell that story?  Toda
y we have more tools in our toolbox than ever before.  We have more platforms available to us than ever before.  But Connolly tells us that it doesn’t really matter.  Start with a great story, not a great piece of technology.  Craft lies at the heart of telling a great story.  Go back to the hierarchy of needs mentioned above.  Make people care.  When we reach the full potential of people and human beings, and craft that story, we have the potential to change the world.  It is through this that we have the ability to make people think differently and to behave differently.  Thank you Lauren Connolly.

L1090367.jpegAdstars3_L1090358.jpgIt’s time for me to now go off and judge NewStars. Our president judge is Santosh Padhi, Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder of Taproot India, and my fellow jurors are Morihiko Hasebe, Exective Creative Director of Hakuhodo, Japan, Tim Cheng, Chief Creative Officer of DDB China Group, Jae-Hyuk Jang, Creative Director of Cheil, Korea and Seo-Won Park, Founder of Big Art, Korea.

The idea behind NewStars is to discover young, talented advertising professionals – entrants must have under 3 years experience or be under 30 years of age.  We will be judging 50 participants (25 teams) from Korea, Japan and China, all of whom will be taking part in the competition to produce strategies and creative ideas within a limited time.  Get ready for the ride, clock starts……NOW.

See you all tomorrow.

Claire Davidson, Executive Producer ASIA & MENA @ The SweetShop, reporting for Campaign Brief Asia at AdStars 2014.

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