ITV

Tag: Benny Thomas

  • “This year’s’ was the best lineup of speakers at Goafest,” Nakul Chopra

    “This year’s’ was the best lineup of speakers at Goafest,” Nakul Chopra

    MUMBAI: Be it statistics or experience, Goafest 2016 has outdone previous editions by a healthy margin much to the pride of Goafest Organising Committee chairman Nakul Chopra.

    “We got lot of feedback on the spot in Goa, and most complimented the speaker sessions. They all also appreciated the leadership summits. For many, this year’s was the best line up of speakers atGoafest. Broadly speaking, the feedback has been good on the whole production of the event as well,” Chopra added.

    While on the one hand the likes of Arjuna Ranatunga,  Rajdeep Sardesai, Shobha De, Karan Johar, R Balki upped the ante of the celeb factor at the three day conference, international creative geniuses like Benny Thomas, Fergus O’Hare, Tara Marsh, Carter Murray and Jean Lin gave industry insights and look aheads from a mature market perspective.

    Looking at logistics and itinerary, “This year was a huge improvement on timings. While last year wasn’t bad either, for this one we managed to stay on time for the most part,” Chopra shared. While day one saw a slight delay at the Abbys, the organisers tried their best to make day two and day three awards nights within enjoyable timings and kept the delays under check.

    Speaking about the highlights of the three day Abbys Chopra said, “I am definitely happy about Publicis’ performance at the Abbys. We have won several metals for meaningful work and that makes me proud of the team.

    Between several small and big tweaks, the organising committee did manage to address several logistical and experiential issues, and introduced a fresh fervour to the advertising festival. “We tried introducing Wifi for all at the venues and the Goafest 2016 app kept everyone tuned in with the proceedings of the day, those inside the auditorium or outside on the lawn alike. The innovations were a huge success and we plan to work and make it even better for the coming year as well.”

    Going by sheer numbers, Goafest outweighed its predecessors fairly well. “The total number of organisations who participated, either through their delegates or through their entries in the creative Abbys has gone over 350 this year, which is saying something,” revealed Chopra..

    This year also saw the biggest number of sponsors for the advertising festival. While this couldn’t be confirmed, the very obvious branding on display for various media showcased the collective interest in making the festival more interactive and fun. Starting from the Times Network branding at the entrance to the several fun booths that TLC, ABP Live, Magic Bricks Now, Movies Now Plus, and ZOOM etc., set up across the festival, the sponsors truly livened up the three days in creative and interactive ways.

    Given the successful execution of this year’s Goafest, the bar is definitely set higher for next year. Chopra however is optimistic that this ‘ By the fraternity, of the fraternity and for the fraternity’ festival will only get bigger and better in years to come.

     

  • “This year’s’ was the best lineup of speakers at Goafest,” Nakul Chopra

    “This year’s’ was the best lineup of speakers at Goafest,” Nakul Chopra

    MUMBAI: Be it statistics or experience, Goafest 2016 has outdone previous editions by a healthy margin much to the pride of Goafest Organising Committee chairman Nakul Chopra.

    “We got lot of feedback on the spot in Goa, and most complimented the speaker sessions. They all also appreciated the leadership summits. For many, this year’s was the best line up of speakers atGoafest. Broadly speaking, the feedback has been good on the whole production of the event as well,” Chopra added.

    While on the one hand the likes of Arjuna Ranatunga,  Rajdeep Sardesai, Shobha De, Karan Johar, R Balki upped the ante of the celeb factor at the three day conference, international creative geniuses like Benny Thomas, Fergus O’Hare, Tara Marsh, Carter Murray and Jean Lin gave industry insights and look aheads from a mature market perspective.

    Looking at logistics and itinerary, “This year was a huge improvement on timings. While last year wasn’t bad either, for this one we managed to stay on time for the most part,” Chopra shared. While day one saw a slight delay at the Abbys, the organisers tried their best to make day two and day three awards nights within enjoyable timings and kept the delays under check.

    Speaking about the highlights of the three day Abbys Chopra said, “I am definitely happy about Publicis’ performance at the Abbys. We have won several metals for meaningful work and that makes me proud of the team.

    Between several small and big tweaks, the organising committee did manage to address several logistical and experiential issues, and introduced a fresh fervour to the advertising festival. “We tried introducing Wifi for all at the venues and the Goafest 2016 app kept everyone tuned in with the proceedings of the day, those inside the auditorium or outside on the lawn alike. The innovations were a huge success and we plan to work and make it even better for the coming year as well.”

    Going by sheer numbers, Goafest outweighed its predecessors fairly well. “The total number of organisations who participated, either through their delegates or through their entries in the creative Abbys has gone over 350 this year, which is saying something,” revealed Chopra..

    This year also saw the biggest number of sponsors for the advertising festival. While this couldn’t be confirmed, the very obvious branding on display for various media showcased the collective interest in making the festival more interactive and fun. Starting from the Times Network branding at the entrance to the several fun booths that TLC, ABP Live, Magic Bricks Now, Movies Now Plus, and ZOOM etc., set up across the festival, the sponsors truly livened up the three days in creative and interactive ways.

    Given the successful execution of this year’s Goafest, the bar is definitely set higher for next year. Chopra however is optimistic that this ‘ By the fraternity, of the fraternity and for the fraternity’ festival will only get bigger and better in years to come.

     

  • ‘Be a doer not a make believer’: Benny Thomas at Goafest 2016 Day 2

    ‘Be a doer not a make believer’: Benny Thomas at Goafest 2016 Day 2

    MUMBAI: ‘Actions speaks louder than words’ is perhaps a phrase that has been quoted to death and applied to all sorts of scenarios. The phrase is both a boon and a curse to use a famous quote as it makes people expect a lot or it is put in a ‘generic tropes’ box. Therefore when Crispin Porter + Bogusky‘s strategy head Benny Thomas started his speech with the phrase, not many ears perked up  and nor were eyes raised. They did however, when the man played a few AVs of his company’s recent campaigns. Some of these were extremely popular and familiar international campaigns such as the ‘Pizza crust’ campaign the agency did for Dominos that saw their sales soar. Thomas clearly practiced what he preached– ‘Be a doer not a make believer.”

    Addressing the fairly successful new creative agencies that aren’t the Leo Burnetts or O&Ms of the world, Thomas said, “Being a micro network amidst big layers, at some point when the start-up feel wears off and you start seeing a bit of success, it is easy to start wondering where you stand and lose direction. This is where ‘action’ will play a huge role in having to wonder in a world full of biggies on where we stand and not lose direction.”

    Action to Thomas isn’t simply verbifying a message. “A compelling message is actually not that hard to create when you have a powerful copywriter or writer and an amazing man behind the cameras. But that is again a ‘message’ and not action,” Thomas clarified. “It’s the way the brand behaves is what will take the brand forward or make it stand out. Moreover, action also causes or asks for a reaction that can be the fodder for a whole new campaign. Some of the successful campaigns have come from people who could predict the reaction from consumers in advance and prepare ahead.”

    A good example was how CPB advised a well distributed FMCG brand when it approached the agency to put it on the shelf, not announce it. “Put it on the shelf, let’s do a shelf test with millions of packets. We could see that the change didn’t affect the sales at all, and that became our campaign. We had a series of TVCs where we see a guy from the brand revealing what ingredients were changed, and no one could tell the difference!”
    Which also brought Thomas to advise fellow creatives – “Don’t be afraid of the elephant in the room.”

    “We often don’t face the embarrassing truths about brands. Confronting the elephant in the room, or being honest about shortcomings can bring brands way more closer to the people. It’s true for both humans as well as brands.  Coming out honestly can help brands build a stronger relationship with consumers. If you avoid the elephant in the room, you will alienate yourself from the people you are catering to.”

    In his ending note, Thomas emphasised the need for agencies to take brands as partners and not as clients, and that often depends a lot on how the creatives are positioned in the market. “Creatives often criticise and complain about brand managers or business owners not understanding a good creative idea or the concept and opting for something that looks less ‘quirky’ or smart. Agencies need to put themselves in their client’s shoes and that won’t happen unless creatives understand the business, and that won’t come from PPT projects.”

    “Unless you run businesses yourself you can’t understand what challenges your clients have,” Thomas frankly stated. To bring in a perspective he went to share how CPB had built its own business by using their strength in design and creative solutions, such as a bicycle hiring service in the United States or producing and designing a bourbon bottle that they created, branded and then sold.

    One take away from the session that added to the novelties that Goafest is often known to introduce was the phrase, ROC or return on creativity’. The phrase definitely got the auditorium full of budding creatives as well as old players thinking of their own ‘return on creativity.  What do they really take away in the end? Was it clients, pay checks, awards, or more stories to tell?

     

  • ‘Be a doer not a make believer’: Benny Thomas at Goafest 2016 Day 2

    ‘Be a doer not a make believer’: Benny Thomas at Goafest 2016 Day 2

    MUMBAI: ‘Actions speaks louder than words’ is perhaps a phrase that has been quoted to death and applied to all sorts of scenarios. The phrase is both a boon and a curse to use a famous quote as it makes people expect a lot or it is put in a ‘generic tropes’ box. Therefore when Crispin Porter + Bogusky‘s strategy head Benny Thomas started his speech with the phrase, not many ears perked up  and nor were eyes raised. They did however, when the man played a few AVs of his company’s recent campaigns. Some of these were extremely popular and familiar international campaigns such as the ‘Pizza crust’ campaign the agency did for Dominos that saw their sales soar. Thomas clearly practiced what he preached– ‘Be a doer not a make believer.”

    Addressing the fairly successful new creative agencies that aren’t the Leo Burnetts or O&Ms of the world, Thomas said, “Being a micro network amidst big layers, at some point when the start-up feel wears off and you start seeing a bit of success, it is easy to start wondering where you stand and lose direction. This is where ‘action’ will play a huge role in having to wonder in a world full of biggies on where we stand and not lose direction.”

    Action to Thomas isn’t simply verbifying a message. “A compelling message is actually not that hard to create when you have a powerful copywriter or writer and an amazing man behind the cameras. But that is again a ‘message’ and not action,” Thomas clarified. “It’s the way the brand behaves is what will take the brand forward or make it stand out. Moreover, action also causes or asks for a reaction that can be the fodder for a whole new campaign. Some of the successful campaigns have come from people who could predict the reaction from consumers in advance and prepare ahead.”

    A good example was how CPB advised a well distributed FMCG brand when it approached the agency to put it on the shelf, not announce it. “Put it on the shelf, let’s do a shelf test with millions of packets. We could see that the change didn’t affect the sales at all, and that became our campaign. We had a series of TVCs where we see a guy from the brand revealing what ingredients were changed, and no one could tell the difference!”
    Which also brought Thomas to advise fellow creatives – “Don’t be afraid of the elephant in the room.”

    “We often don’t face the embarrassing truths about brands. Confronting the elephant in the room, or being honest about shortcomings can bring brands way more closer to the people. It’s true for both humans as well as brands.  Coming out honestly can help brands build a stronger relationship with consumers. If you avoid the elephant in the room, you will alienate yourself from the people you are catering to.”

    In his ending note, Thomas emphasised the need for agencies to take brands as partners and not as clients, and that often depends a lot on how the creatives are positioned in the market. “Creatives often criticise and complain about brand managers or business owners not understanding a good creative idea or the concept and opting for something that looks less ‘quirky’ or smart. Agencies need to put themselves in their client’s shoes and that won’t happen unless creatives understand the business, and that won’t come from PPT projects.”

    “Unless you run businesses yourself you can’t understand what challenges your clients have,” Thomas frankly stated. To bring in a perspective he went to share how CPB had built its own business by using their strength in design and creative solutions, such as a bicycle hiring service in the United States or producing and designing a bourbon bottle that they created, branded and then sold.

    One take away from the session that added to the novelties that Goafest is often known to introduce was the phrase, ROC or return on creativity’. The phrase definitely got the auditorium full of budding creatives as well as old players thinking of their own ‘return on creativity.  What do they really take away in the end? Was it clients, pay checks, awards, or more stories to tell?