Campaign360 2022: Ongoing coverage of sessions

Campaign360 returns in 2022 with an in-person event in Singapore on May 10 and a virtual one on May 11. Campaign's editors present to you highlights of the event in our live blog with most recent items added at the top. Check out the full agenda and our in-depth editorial coverage over this week.

Wednesday, May 11

DEVELOPING NEXT-GEN TALENT
Posted at 10.30am

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“In general, if you're outside of the big traditional Unilevers or P&Gs, you [might have not really] invested a lot in training and development. Marketing organisations over the last seven to eight years have fragmented; brand marketing, performance marketing, and channel marketing are broken up. And all of those things mean that our product has not been very compelling to talent. Because it doesn't give them a strong sense of clarity, a strong sense of purpose. It creates friction inside these companies. And it doesn't invest in training development, because we can't provide the right career pathways. And so, as organisational leaders, we need a bit of a reset and a rethink about what our product is for the best talent across the world.”

– Andrew Garrihy, chief marketing officer, Didi International

HOW IN-HOUSING AND AGENCY MODELS ARE ADAPTING TO AN ECOMMERCE WORLD
Recorded at 11.20am

“The benefit of having an in-house team is when you need the team to be agile, with quick turnarounds and trend jacking skills. If a trend happens, in 24 to 48 hours we need to turn something around very quickly. But when you work with the agency they bring [different skills] - their long-term planning, long-term brand building work and data-driven consumer insights on the creative side.  

On the media side, they bring quite critical media tools, assets and insights that sometimes as a brand we don't have access to, approaching brand marketing in a more tangible way where we're able to measure success.”

-Diana Boo, chief marketing officer, Boost 

"COVID tailwinds really drove client adoptions to ecommerce faster than the agency in the past two years during lockdown. We are seeing a significant effort by the agency to step up right and fill that gap. But this is not an easy thing to do because ecommerce requires three-part discussions with ecommerce platform, client and agency.  And this is not a straightforward marketing play because in ecommerce we need to work with the client to talk about logistics, fulfillment, sales, the coupon discount. Yes, marketing is one element of success in ecommerce and the agency with expertise in consumer insights brings that value.  But at the same time they also really need to understand the operational factors and this is something really new to them. 

Secondly, and this is also new for the client, they’re not really sure to what extent they can check the data and share all the sales numbers. And if not, how do they measure the agency’s success? And when agencies don't have this data, they don't know how to optimise it. So everybody is trying really hard to make things work, but most importantly we are in the process of redefining the relationship, learning how best to structure things."

-Kevin Mintaraga, chief marketing officer, Tokopedia

HARNESSING THE POWER OF FANDOM
Posted at 2.20 pm

“I think the one thing that's important for any brand is that they're really looking at telling the right stories with the right content in the right channel, for the right fan… So you have to make sure that the content you're developing is right for the fan, but also right for the channel because what works on tick talk will be very different than what works on Facebook, both in terms of length of content, but also the type of story, the humour, the tone of voice.”

–Erica Kerner, chief marketing & communications officer, SailGP

“I want to focus on positive stories in our communities and positive stories that happen naturally within our esports teams, within our influence or talent, and within the community themselves. We've done things like when there was a flood in the north of Thailand, our communities pitched in and raised money to help them, right? To help that town in Thailand that was super flooded. Things like that are really building those memorable experiences, both physically and digitally. And that's what we want to do.”

–Ferdinand Gutierrez, co-founder and chief executive officer, Ampverse

THE HIERARCHY OF FACTORS THAT GARNER ATTENTION
Posted at 2.25pm

"What we've seen over the years, though quite controversial, is without a shadow of a doubt that the platform plays the biggest role. So for example, if you have an amazing piece of creative, you might get ten seconds of attention on one platform, then you might get eight seconds on a digital platform, then three seconds on a feed and one second on general web. That same piece of creative declines or gives you different attention relative to that platform.

"So if creative was the biggest driver (of attention), that would be ten seconds across all platforms, and it's not. So what plays the biggest role? Without a doubt the functionality of the platform.  So high-scrolling platforms are distracting. Platforms that have an opportunity to look at all these other things around you are distracting so they lower attention. Our classic example is a cinema ad. You're locked in, not allowed to speak on the phone, shouldn’t be speaking to the person next to you. So the distraction part is taken away. 

"The second piece of that puzzle is how different audiences play pay different amounts of attention.  So if you've got kids running everywhere, then by default, you are distracted. Whereas for someone with no children in the home, it's easier to focus. So audience plays a role. Then creative does play a role so you that you can deliver a really exciting emotionally-led ad that will give you absolutely more attention than a boring functional one. But in order of hierachy, that’s how it works."

—Karen Nelson-Field, founder & CEO, Amplified Intelligence 

CATHAY'S MOBILE FOCUS 
Posted 5.15 pm
 

"Three-quarters of all ecommerce happens on the mobile phone, one of two people own a device worldwide and on average people spend three hours a day on them. If a brand is not existing on that phone, you kind of don’t exist (at all for consumers). Brands like Apple are moving into daily consumption products—it is a way to be on your phone and in your life every day."

— Edward Bell, general manager, brand, insights and marketing communications, Cathay Pacific

"People may not know Qantas is Australia's No. 2 retailer of wine and while you'd expect them to sell travel insurace, they also sell home insurance. There are so many ways to engage with them. What we realised with Cathay was the average customer travels five times a year... so what are we doing to serve customers inbetween these flights? We need to have a way to engage customers and not wait for them to come to us. You have to go out to customers in this mobile world, otherwise you will just lose them. For us its about creating an ecosystem—a way that we can keep people within our world."

—Bell on lessons from Qantas 

SPINNING WEB3 LESSONS FOR MARKETERS 
Posted at 5.45 pm

"The debate about Web3 is not if it will be here, it is about when it will be here. And, with the hastened pace of blockchain development and of Web2 companies jumping into it and capital going in and use cases being built, I think it is relevant for all marketers. Will it replace everything that came before? Absolutely not. Web2 did not replace Web1 sites and Web1 in turn did not replace supermarkets. It is important to understand business models will change and change for good."

—Suresh Balaji, founder of Web3 Marketing Association and CMO of a financial services company

"One year ago, I would have told you nobody is talking about it and one year people are talking about it. It is just starting, it is nascent. We are trying to get organised like the early days of Web 2.0 with social media and programmatic. It is creating some tension, because you will always have people in big companies telling you to stay focused on what you do well—but you need to tell them you cannot focus, because if you do, you will miss the train." 

—Yves Briantais, vice president, marketing APAC, Colgate-Palmolive

"A lot of brands are jumping on the Web3 bandwagon, but every one of them needs to figure out what is their plan, where do they want to be and why. If you liken your Web3 presence to social [media], no brands should be on every platform posting updates. [Similarly], no brand should be everywhere and be mediocre. Now is the best time to dig into your audiences... figure out where they are and build towards the future of that." 

—Tessa Conrad, head of innovation, TBWA Asia

 "We may give the impression that Web 3 is already here, but a lot of it is not mature yet. A lot of so-called Web3 and metaverse platforms are still centralised. It is yet controlled by a few people or a small group. The philosophy of openness and everyone owns everything... if you go to Roblox or Decentraland, the platform owners control everything. We need to be a little careful (about assuming that) if you use one of the platforms, you're part of Web3." 

—Alvin Wang Graylin, China president, HTC

"[For creators] it is all about learning and upskilling ... we are seeing more trends towards immersive and interactive content. It is important for creators to consider what skills they have, and some won't be interested [in creating content for Web3 platforms] and that is fine as well. Web1 and 2 is yet around and there is space for everyone. The monetisation strategy is important for creators and that piece is also evolving." 

—Jessica Triffitt, managing director, Asia, 90 Seconds

HOW TO BUILD A SUSTAINABLE AGENCY FROM THE INSIDE
Posted 5.55 pm

“I think APAC is such an incredibly diverse region, it's what makes it so exciting and beautiful, right? And there are different realities, there are different perspectives and cultural nuances that we need to learn. So for me, it's about the top-down vision that we have as a business, that commitment to be transparent, accountable, the commitment we have as a business. But it's also quite bottom-up. It's quite organic. So that's working with specific customers and specific vendors in markets where we can across the region, partnering with platforms that have a common agenda, and common goal, but it's also about leading the conversation. Such as bringing in metrics that are meaningful, that can be validated by third parties. So that we can actually track and monitor and assess the change. Our responsibility is quite key here, particularly with the scale that we have, we are leading the discussion in terms of responsible investment and sustainability is a big part of that.” 

—  Rupert McPetrie, CEO, MediaCom APAC

“So a lot of research has shown that 56% of millennials will say no to a job if they believe that a company is not pro-environment or is not doing enough for sustainability. So that again kind of becomes a metric of its own. Can you attract the right kind of people who are going to be able to service you and your clients better?”

— Seema Punwani, partner, R3

Tuesday, May 10

As part of exclusive research by Forrester, Campaign, and WFA, it was revealed that a majority of agencies and brands are facing the repercussions of the ongoing talent crunch. Read more in our report. Here are a few quotes from the live panel session. 

"I’d like to reframe the great resignation as the great attraction. It’s an opportunity to do something different. We speak about waning talent pools, let’s instead talk about attracting new talent pools. If we use that as a starting point, it sets us apart in a different space. That’s when we can come up with different solutions. We’ve always defined what talent looks like, and this is usually manifested in job descriptions. It's time to unpack this. One strategy is to look outside and focus on upskilling and reskilling."

—Dylan Choong, chief people officer, GroupM APAC

"[Talent] want to become more future-fit, they want to be prepared, ready to face challenges in front of them in the future. They need to be healthy—psychologically and physically—and they also need to have the right mindset. They also need to have action-oriented attributes. These are muscles, as indiviuals, we need to exercise everyday."

—Frederic Giron, VP, research director, Forrester

"Tech can be brilliant, as long as it removes the jobs that people find tedious. If you’ve got tools and tech that helps remove that, it allows people to spend time on more important things focused on growth, leadership, and investment. Your day job is made up of so much of tasks you don’t want to be doing and therefore, I’m a big supporter of investing in tech."

—Annette Male, head of agency APAC, Meta

"There’s been a relentless emphasis on mental health and wellbeing. This is an opportunity to put in a bit more structure in terms of the people and their journeys, and their process."

—Ranji David, director, marketing services, WFA

TOP OF THE CMO AGENDA
Posted at 10.45am

"When I'm talking about attracting talent, am I going to look at a resume and think that it’s 80-90% suited to the job description? For example, if there’s somebody in healthcare who is an expert in customer centricity, will they also be okay for this role which is also about consumer centricity? As long as you’re bringing transferrable skillsets into this organisation. The one thing that I expect talent to have is learning agility."

—Kaveri Khullar, VP, consumer marketing, Mastercard APAC, on retaining talent in the industry

ENABLING A SUSTAINABLE MEDIA ECOSYSTEM
Posted at 11.10am

“Media in our industry has frequently been an opportunity from and efficiency and savings perspective and that’s led to some pretty poor behaviours in terms of using media effectively. We have a large space to grow in how media is perceived in our our organisations, to demonstrate that media can be an effective growth driver."

“The other consideration is conscious investment. Media has frequently followed where audiences are. That isn’t something that will dramatically change but there needs to be another consideration that’s added on we spend our money and part of that is looking at places that are authentic and relevant to us like DEI and spaces where we need to be sustainable as an industry as a whole.”

-Silas Lewis-Meilus, global head of media business units, GSK & chair, WFA Media Forum

“There is a growing consciousness about how we contribute to keeping the environment sustainable. Most of the estimates done today show that even from the FMCG market, for instance, there is a digital footprint that is emitting more carbon than the manufacturing footprint.

“This is a huge consuming issue. How to make the media ecosystem more sustainable is a huge challenge.”

-Ashutosh Srivastava, CEO of GroupM APAC

THE FUTURE OF ENTERTAINMENT: ACCESSIBILITY, SEAMLESSNESS AND SHOPPABIILITY 
Posted at 11.45am

“We talk a lot about this idea of ‘shoppertainment.’ We believe it’s not just the future of entertainment but really also the future of commerce. Commerce is no longer just about selling, but selling while being entertained because shoppers crave joyful and engaging shopping experiences and want to feel good about their purchases, whether it’s through discovery of brand through their favourite creators or through livestreamed events or shopping on the app. Shopping really isn’t about buying cool things anymore. It’s an extension of the entertainment experience.”  

- Karl Cluck, head of APAC agency, TikTok

BLENDING IN-HOUSING, OUTSOURCING, AND INTEGRATED PARTNERSHIPS
Posted at 12.30pm

"The pros of in-housing is talent being close to the business, they have proximity, it’s much more seamless. What we realise is there comes a point where the [learning] curve dips, talent might get a bit complacent, the ideas get a bit stale. This is not a criticism, it’s just a reality. And this is where you get a bit of a churn. So we have to live with that reality. What’s important [for NTUC] is that we have people who act like master contractors within their departments to manage their community of resources. Those are the key people to me, because the specialists within their teams will come and go inevitably."

—Alvin Neo, chief customer and marketing officer & managing director, FairPrice Group & NTUC Link 

WINNING THE TALENT BATTLE FOR DIGITAL AND TECH SKILLS
Posted at 3pm

"When we talk about the [talent] ecosystem, it is about growing evergreen skills horizontally. If we start looking at it in siloes, we will never develop an end-to-end ecosystem. In SK-II, nothing is ‘just in-house’ or ‘just agencies’. It’s the publishers, the agencies, and the in-house talent that comes together and brings their expertise. Ultimately, the consumer is at the centre point at all of that. It is about creating an ecosystem where talent can move horizontally, so that they can get exposure not just in other fields but also in other markets."

—Gaurav Virkar, global innovations and media leader, SK-II

METAVERSE IN TEN
Posted at 3.15pm

“There are no Web3 experts. This space is moving so quickly it’s hard to be an expert. Everything is changing on a weekly basis.” 

“Our perspective, especially in Southeast Asia and with GenZ is that the consumer is moving faster than the client is. And we need you to think about where the consumer is going to be tomorrow.”

-Michael Patent, Founder & CEO, Culture Group
 

SOCIAL AUDIO AND THE FUTURE OF ONLINE CONNECTION
Posted at 3.30pm

“Audio is one of the most authentic means of communication. It should be built around three basic needs: creating communities, nurturing identity and inspiring growth.”

-Mitchell Kreuch, managing director, Southeast Asia, Twitter

OTT: KEEPING PACE WITH CONSUMER ATTENTION 
Posted at 4.15pm

“The ability to have OTT streaming within a digital sphere is basically taking the best bits of massive reach TV and layering in the ability to target and everything we’ve loved with digital right through to acquisition. I wouldn’t say that you buy OTT for a cost per acquisition strategy. But again when you’re justifying why you’re spending there, you can add a value to that ad right through to whatever you’re trying to sell on the other ad is incredibly powerful. And I think it will become increasingly more powerful over the next 24 to 36 months.”


-Mitch Waters, senior vice president, South East Asia, India, Australia and New Zealand, The Trade Desk



“OTT merits a different approach when it comes to creative. You need to be very contextual. In marketing we always talk about storytelling, Now we’re moving from storytelling to story making. Because with OTT platforms it’s become possible to tell a brand story together with a producer and try to amplify that is a very digitally native platform that could give you the license to be niche.”

-Dennis Perez, integrated marketing & commerce lead, Unilever Beauty & Wellbeing Southeast Asia

ACTION AND ACCOUNTABILITY ON SUSTAINABILITY
Posted 4.45pm