Asian Marketing Effectiveness Festival opens in Shanghai

Proceedings began with a briefing from Nielsen showing global innovation in media effectiveness research. BBH’s Charles Wigley, the content committee chairman, then set the tone by stating that the advertising industry had become regrettably conservative and was in need of new thinking.

In the first full session of the day, Rory Sutherland, vice-chairman of Ogilvy Group UK, echoed that point. Sutherland lambasted the defensive attitude he believes the marketing industry has adopted over the years, and advocated greater emphasis on psychology and understanding of human behaviour in the development of marketing initiatives to promote truly effective business results.

Next up, Charlie Robertson, founder of Red Spider, presented models for icon building and speed planning, as well as the case for working remotely where possible as an agency.

Robertson’s session was followed by an in-depth presentation by Gurdeep Puri, co-founder of the effectiveness partnership. Puri outlined the requirements for building a culture of effectiveness into an organisation. He said that in order for marketing to be effective, the function needed to be aligned fully with other areas of a business - in particular the financial department, with clear effectiveness goals a consideration before the development of any initiative.

This was followed by a session from Mark Earls, founder of Herd Consulting. Earls argued that marketing typically focused too heavily on changing the behavioural patterns of individual consumers, when the average consumer is motivated not by individual thought but by the behaviour of others.

The afternoon included presentations from Chuck Brymer, president and CEO of DDB Worldwide; Peter Field, honorary fellow and consultant for the IPA in the UK; and John Gerzema, chief insights officer of Y&R Group.

Brymer’s presentation highlighted the continuing need for creativity - in particular creativity based on motivating social groups - in driving effectiveness. In his session, Field drew on the analysis of close to 1,000 effectiveness case studies to show that common practice in marketing does not necessarily equal best practice and that existing models can actually undermine effectiveness.

Gerzema then explored ways of creating powerful brands for the modern world. Having achieved differentiation, it was a brand’s responsibility to maintain it, he said, adding that he believed ‘consumers’ had become ‘customers’ who invest in brands rather than buying their products; similarly, he said marketing should not be an individual department, but a way of thinking within a company.