VARCA,GOA: Digital is not is not a media; it is not even a channel; it is the new infrastructure of the world, believes DDB Worldwide chief creative officer Amir Kassaei, a speaker at the Goafest 2013.
“Digital is the electricity of the 21st century. In the next 15-20 years everything that can be connected will be connected. This will completely change the way we work, communicate, get information or get entertainment. The way we innovate, or collaborate, the way we do business or define quality, usage, design.”
According to Kassaei digital can be used as a tool but a marketershould not confuse it with an idea. Technology cannot replace an
idea,a marketer will always need that “idea”. One should make technology a device to implement an idea. Use digital infrastructure to come up with an idea that produces a brand experience in a completely different way than the way it was. Also, one must remember to keep the idea simple.
“Creativity is “effectiveness.” It lies in producing results,” Kassaei highlighted. He went on to stress that if a creative person thinks that he is an artist, he is probably in the wrong business. A creative person is the one who proves to his client that his solution is the best and can provide the desired results.
Talking further on the aspect of problem solving, he mentioned that in order to solve a problem one needs to define it correctly – whether it is awareness, brand loyalty or something else. It helps one to be more effective and more creative.
In his opinion, one can never ever be in the advertising business alone.
Explaining his statement he says, “We are in the business of making the product, services of the brand of our clients relevant. That‘s the business we are in. The goal should be to use your creative talent to help your client and change the world for your client.”
Kassaei illustrated the importance of a brand‘s relationship with the consumer. He said that a marketer should start to see the people who are out there not as a grey mass or some defined target groups but as ‘friends.‘
“We should look at them and ask ourselves what can we do for them to make their life better, easier, more efficient and beautiful? What do they really need in their lives? What could help them to overcome a bad situation? How can we start to build for them something that they will recognise as something with a meaning?,” says he.” By thinking that way everything will change. Because your goals are suddenly not numbers, sales figures or market share but to produce value, to develop goodness.”
He accentuated on the fact that a brand is the sum of all the experiences that one has. A marketer as a brand has many responsibilities. “If you are promising happiness you should deliver happiness. If you are promising freedom, you should deliver freedom. I am not talking about disrupting your business but I am talking about how you can expand and also change the life of the people,” explains Kaasaei.” People will find out if you are not being truthful to them. They become very skeptical about wrong promises, about the false values and starting to rethink for themselves what is important and what not. They start to redefine value, wealth, meaning and happiness.”
He pointed that the best advertising does not look like advertising.
He gave an example of McDonald‘s train station campaign. On the right side of the train‘s schedule at the station, it mentioned the amount of time left for a train to arrive and what a consumer can order from McDonald‘s, and yet punctually get on the train.
People don‘t want to be involved in advertising. They are interested in what‘s interesting and that‘s what the marketers have to develop, he expressed.
“Also, the marketer needs to create relevance and not just awareness because if he is not relevant, awareness will mean nothing”, he concluded.
