MANILA, PHILIPPINES — “There is no ‘renaissance’ if there’s no creativity, no technology, and if it doesn’t move people,” said Paolo David, Market Head of Global Business Solutions at Tiktok.
Together with CJ de Silva-Ong, Executive Creative Director of TBWA\SMP – JUICE, these two program speakers envision the next creative renaissance at DIGIMAX: IMMAP Digicon 2023, a three-day conference held at the Marriott Grand Ballroom, Newport World Resorts, Pasay City.
“The industry has shifted so fast that we are now in the age of content,” Paolo emphasized. According to him, influence and information are processed at lightning speed in the age of content; it is also user-centric, characterized by personalized content and recommendation engines, giving consumers more power to search for content and information. “In the age of content, it is video-first, mobile-first. It’s all about self-discovery and entertainment, it’s all about content that matters to you.”
In addition, Paolo stated that in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is the leading country when it comes to the number of videos generated monthly, with over 300 million videos created every month. The question raised by Paolo to brands, agencies, and creatives is whether the industry is ready to align itself with the speed of content in this new era.
CJ, on the other hand, stressed the importance of creativity, stating that 50% of a campaign’s success depends on the quality of creative content. To ensure the quality of creative content, CJ stated that overcoming fears related to knowledge, budgets, scale, and ROI is essential. This is reflected in a case study where local telecom company DITO Telecommunity disrupted its creative strategy by using TikTok to find talents and creatives, leading to a significant increase in its subscriber base in a short span of time.
A key driver in ushering in the next creative renaissance, according to the two speakers, is making use of what they call the “3R strategy,” which is to recut, remix, and reimagine. Recutting existing assets allows for old content to be presented in a new light upon remixing it with new ideas, which often results in a new and reimagined approach to content creation and campaign execution.
As the two speakers asserted that creativity is crucial in driving impact, so does purpose. Implementing this strategy has proven effective as he reflects this in a case study on the UNHCR campaign “The Reluctant Shanty,” which features real-life refugees who sing a shanty based on interviews with refugees about the dangerous sea crossings they made to escape persecution and conflict. The campaign, disseminated through TikTok, met a highly significant increase in donations and other efforts to rescue refugees.
This led TikTok to launch its “TikTok for Good” campaign, which promises 100% amplification of purpose-driven campaigns on the short-form video platform.
Their session ended with a question of whether the audience is ready for the next wave of creativity, one that is led by self-discovery and driven by purpose.
adobo Magazine is an official media partner of DIGIMAX: IMMAP Digicon 2023.
