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Tag: Melanie Varley

  • A good idea can come from anywhere: Melanie Varley

    A good idea can come from anywhere: Melanie Varley

    GOA: At a time when digital is certainly the next big thing, delegates at the ongoing GoaFest were treated to some great work in the online space. In her session aptly titled “Celebrating Great Media Work,” MEC global CSO Melanie Varley spoke of emerging trends in digital and how brands can tame that shape-shifting beast called digital…

     

    Excerpts of the interview…

     

     What made you visit GoaFest?

     

    I was invited by my GroupM India team. They asked me if I could come down here and share some of my global experiences. My presentation was thus based on ‘Celebrating Great Media Work’. It spoke of some of the best campaigns across countries that got recognised at the Cannes Lions 2013.

     

    As a jury member at the Cannes Lions last year, what are your observations on the performance of emerging markets? And, how did Indian brands crack the digital code at the Cannes Lions?

     

    Different markets have different maturity levels. The more the market grows, the more it will get exposed to business opportunities. I think India has extremely good talent. It is about the right time. As I mentioned, countries like Brazil and China have set a great example in the world of marketing. All that they have tapped on is some blending of inspiration and ideas in the right proportion. 

     

    What are some of the digital marketing lessons that Indian brands can take from their western counterparts?

     

    While a brand sits down to ideate its mainline campaign, it should defiantly have a digital plan incorporated at the very beginning. Brands should analyse how digital media is impacting their business. There is a plethora of options that brands have today on digital. Once a brand is clear with the purpose of it being on digital, there is a lot that it can explore. Digital offers a lot of data learning. If brands tap on it rightly, a lot of work can be done effectively.

     

    What are the things that brands should keep in mind to leave creative impressions on social?

     

    Brands need to understand that for digital, engagement is the key success factor. It is also important to decode if a digital campaign is adding any value to the brand.  The might of small screens is much more than TV if used wisely. Customising messages for multi-screens thereby becomes essential. Ways of engaging consumers should not only be impressive but also impressive. According me, at the end of the day, a good idea can come from anywhere.

     

    How can social media help local brands scale up?

     

    If smaller brands want to get their due presence on social, all they have to do is create something that will make people talk about.

  • 9 takeaways from GoaFest 2014!

    9 takeaways from GoaFest 2014!

    GOA: Contrary to popular perception, GoaFest is not just about beer, beach and a break from deadlines.

     

    Barely my second year at the fest and energy levels seem to be hitting the roof, speculations of certain biggies giving the event a miss notwithstanding.

     

    As they say the show must go on and so it is that we’ve had our share of sundry speakers, some getting a standing ovation and others tickling our funny bone. On my part, I’ve put down nine observations as key takeaways from this edition of GoaFest.

     

    Clients love their agencies

     

    Yes, you read it right. Britannia’s ever energetic Anuradha Narsimhan made a candid observation yesterday. She said she loves her associates (agencies) who care for her brands. Agency types were obviously bubbling with joy when they heard this.

     

    Pepsico’s Deepika Warrier presented her ‘one’ philosophy saying the thought of being ‘one team’ had worked wonders in the relationship PepsiCo had with its agency partners. How often do you hear a client saying all this at a public forum? These thoughts put a smile on my face.

     

    It’s time for ‘social relevance’

     

    The marketing world may be talking about the power of social but is digital marketing only about being powerful on social? Wondered Preethi Mariappa of Razorfish Germany and said it was time for brands to give consumers memorable experiences on social.

     

    2014 will be the age of social relevance, according to Mariappa. She sounded a note of caution however that while there is much optimism about the social space changing marketing dynamics, it was left to be seen whether brands towed the line.

     

    Comedy sells best on social

     

    Unlike the impression I had that the fest would be all too serious, a few surprises threw me. When team All India Bakchod (AIB), India’s foremost comedy podcast creators took centre stage, I was sure that there would be some great points of view coming their way, no pun intended.

     

    The funnies shared their success story and said to create an impressive podcast, you needed to follow your heart, mind and punch in some great flow of ideas. I realised that in India, content needs to be crafted, keeping in mind cultural implications. As people open up their minds, content too will take newer shapes on social.

     

    Digital media in search of creativity 

     

    A common point that came up over the three days was that brands need to get out of their comfort zone. A good idea can come from anywhere; said MEC’s Melanie Varley. She said that brands should do something to make people talk about them. Though creativity is subjective, it is essential that brands put on their thinking cap to grab attention on social.

     

    Everyone likes storytellers

     

    Storytelling is an art that makes every conversation memorable. The digital case studies that were showcased by various local and international experts had one thing in common – shareability

     

    Content on digital is a hit only when people share it. Thus, brands need to be great storytellers even on digital.

     

    It’s all about digital

     

    Everyone is talking about digital. Everyone wants to be on digital. Time demands brands and agencies think digital! The ‘just a click away’ culture has changed many lives and businesses.

     

    You can be an inspiration at any age

     

    No one had expected two kids all suited to go up on stage and confidently share their business story. With a grin and passion in their eyes, Shravan and Sanjay won hearts and got a standing ovation with their story. They are the country’s youngest app developers. If there is such a thing as age is only a number, truly, these two are an inspiration for people of all ages.

     

    Impressive new entrants in the Abbys

     

    PR and Broadcaster – the newbies in GoaFest this year, got an overwhelming response. The Advertising Club and chairman of the Awards Governing Council president Pratap Bose mentioned that the 10 member jury for the PR category was excited to see some good pieces of work. PR locally doesn’t have a platform to showcase its work. The move to introduce these categories is a wise one.

     

    Cooperative competition

     

    As I am about to finish this piece, a fellow journalist comes and waves to me. A newsletter from competition which is right in front of me features one of my tweets about GoaFest. Another reporter from a rival publication calls out to me for a stroll along the beach. Did someone say competition? We’re here to learn and absorb from one another.

     

    Apart from the takeaways, here’s a big shout out to all the winners from indiantelevision.com! 

  • An eclectic set of speakers announced for Goafest 2014

    An eclectic set of speakers announced for Goafest 2014

    MUMBAI: The Goafest Organizing Committee today released the first list of speakers for Goafest 2014 Knowledge Seminars. Unlike in the previous years where the focus was principally on international speakers, this year the Knowledge Seminars will have a good mix of international speakers, inspirational speakers, spiritual speakers and speakers on innovative aspects.  This is based on a survey among the last three years’ Goafest delegates. “Based on the findings of this survey, we have put together a very special list  of  speakers for  Goafest delegates to  listen to  and  interact with”, says  Arvind Sharma, President of Advertising Agencies Association of India.

     

    For the Knowledge Seminars, the initial set of names include: Preethi Mariappan- Executive Creative Director at Razorfish, Germany; Melanie Varley- Chief Strategy Officer, Global at MEC; Norm Johnson- Chief Digital Officer at Mindshare; Alicia Souza- illustration designer/artist/ e-commerce entrepreneur; Shravan Kumaran and Sanjay Kumaran, the youngest app developers in India and a group known as AIB(All India Bakchod), Devdutt Pattanaik, Mythologist, Author, Leadership, DK Hema & Hema Hari, Founders, BharathGyan. Some more interesting names are being added for which confirmations are awaited soon.

     

    “We are delighted that we have been able to get some very inspiring speakers on a cross section of subjects which delegates are normally not exposed to,” said Goafest Committee Chairman, Srinivasan Swamy.

    Brief profiles of the speakers are given below: Preethi Mariappan- Executive Creative Director at Razorfish Germany: One of Preethi’s notable pieces of work is the Red Tomato Pizza Fridge Magnet, which picked up four Cannes Lions in 2012. Additionally she has received global recognition at One Show, Sabre, Dubai Lynx and Effies. Preethi has an industry wide reputation and award-winning expertise across multiple sectors.  Preethi’s last role was with Digital ECD TBWA, heading up the Digital Arts Network by bringing together storytelling, people and products.

     

    Melanie Varley- Chief Strategy Officer, Global at MEC: In her role as Chief Strategy officer, Melanie takes responsibility for designing MEC’s future business model and for the global development and integration of MEC’s product and services. Melanie was previously CEO, Europe, Middle East and Africa. She rolled out MEC Interaction and MEC Access across the region. Prior to moving into the CEO role, Melannie led Global Solutions, MEC’s international client service, across Europe. Melanie also led the development and roll out of MEC Navigator, MEC’s global operating system and was responsible for the introduction of communications planning to the overall global MEC offer.

     

    Norm Johnson- Chief Digital Officer at Mindshare: Norm Johnston has been involved in interactive marketing since graduating from Chicago’s Northwestern University in 1988. While at Accenture, Norm led a team that developed one of the earliest interactive shopping destinations for a large U.S. retail client.  Norm is a longtime vocal evangelist of the digital industry and is a frequent speaker at interactive conferences, including various IAB events, the Cannes Advertising Festival, the Festival of Media, and Internet World.
     

    D K Hari- Founder of BharathGyan: Hari along with his wife Hema Hari, conceptualized and founded BharathGyan, a research initiative to collate from traditional as well as modern sources, the knowledgebase and cultural ties of India, through the ages. Prior to this, Hari was involved in his family business of Petroleum and FMCG products. He was head of marketing in a corporate environment for 12 years. Hema is a computer engineer from Bombay University and a PMI certified Project Management Professional. She started her career in Tata Consultancy Services in 1989 and after spending the first 10 years of her career there, moved to what is now CSC India, where she spent the next decade of her career, in a senior management capacity. Hari and Hema Hari have written about 10 books and produced a number of films, which would make India proud of her contribution to the world.

     

    Alicia Souza- Illustrator/ designer/ e-commerce entrepreneur: After working as a banker, Alicia took up a full-fledged career in illustration as a designer for Chumbak, India’s trendiest home-grown souvenir company. A year and a half later, she set out on her own as a freelancer, drawing cute and quirky everyday cartoons for a sizeable and loyal online fan-base, and illustrating for some of India’s oldest institutions – like Tinkle magazine.

     

    Shravan & Sanjay Kumaran- India’s Youngest App developers and Founders of Go Dimensions: Two tech savvy brothers Shravan and Sanjay Kumaran, are perhaps the youngest App developers and CEOs from India. Together, they have been successfully running an app developing company called Go Dimensions. Shravan(14 years old) is the Co-Founder and President, while his brother Sanjay(12 years old)  is  the  Co-Founder  &  CEO  of  the  company.  They  are  the  students  of  Vaels  Billabong  High international school, Chennai. Floated in 2011, the firm has already made rapid strides. Within two months of its launch, the first product – Catch me Cop, a mobile app was on display at Apple’s App Store. And in the next two weeks, there were some 2,000 downloads! This drew the attention of cnet.com, the popular website that comes out with lists of popular apps. In the past two years the two have developed eleven apps that are available on the Apple App Store and Google’s Android Play Store.

     

    AIB (All India Bakchod): Co-founded by comedians Gursimran Khamba and Tanmay Bhat, along with Rohan Joshi and Ashish Shakya, AIB presents edgy, candid and tongue-in-cheek humor without mincing any words. Gursimran Khamba (also known only as Khamba) is a stand-up comic, political satirist, and a writer from New Delhi, India. Tanmay Bhat, who hails from Mumbai, is a well-known scriptwriter who has also worked for Weirdass Comedy (an Indian comedy company started by Vir Das). AIB crew is the one that actually started the trend of comedy podcast shows in India, which nowadays seems to be making waves. Besides having a cult following in online circuits, AIB is also gradually developing a loyal fan-base for their live comedy shows and their brainchild Royal Turds (a parody on the decadent Bollywood award shows) was an instant hit the year it commenced. AIB tasted instant fame with some video chartering an astounding number of YouTube hits.  A few of their videos have also mingled social message with humor. In September 2013, a video “It’s Your Fault” starring actress Kalki Koechlin and VJ Juhi Pandey was released. Within a week, it crossed 1 million views on YouTube, creating massive hysteria.

     

    Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik- Chief Belief Officer of The Future Group: Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik writes and lectures extensively on the relevance of mythology in matters related to leadership, entrepreneurship, branding, management and governance. He serves as Culture Consultant to Reliance Industries, Chief Belief Officer of the Future Group and is storytelling advisor to Star TV and Epic TV. Trained in medicine, he spent 15 years in healthcare and pharmaceutical industries including Apollo Health Street and Sanofi Aventis, before joining Ernst & Young as Business Advisor. Devdutt Patanaik is inspirational speaker at many conferences where he ‘opens the minds’ to a very Indian approach to business.