MAKATI CITY – How can being bad produce something good? Merlee Jayme, “Chairmom” and Chief Creative Officer of Dentsu Jayme Syfu, answered this seemingly contradictory question at the adobo Tambuli Asia-Pacific Conference last June 6, 2017 by enumerating five “bad” traits creatives and marketers should have to be able to create effective campaigns.
The first trait, according to Jayme, was stubbornness. She first posed the formal definition of stubbornness, which is “the determination not to change one’s attitude or position”. As agencies and creatives, she said, “if you want to change this world, you have to stick to what you believe in.” As an example, she identified BabyLove and BWM Dentsu Sydney’s Premmie Proud campaign. “Social media is full of moms taking photos of their babies trying to outdo each other on how cute they are,” Jayme testified. But how about mothers with premature babies? According to the case study, these women hesitate to post photos of their children in fear of criticism from other mothers. The campaign wanted to make a difference in the lives of premmie families by encouraging them to be proud of their babies. The positive results were borne of being stubborn and going against the usual behaviour of moms on social media. Jayme said, “you can be stubborn and put something you don’t want to share.”
Her second “bad” trait is recklessness, which is to not think nor care about the consequences of an action. Jayme believes that gut feel is greater than research. “When it feels right, usually it’s right,” she said. She gave two case studies as examples. The first is her agency’s “The Good Experiment” for Breeze which showed how the brand changed Filipino moms’ views of dirt. The campaign showed moms that having dirt on clothes does not necessarily mean that they were uncaring or “pabaya” with their children nor did they not teach their kids proper attitudes. To the mothers’ surprise, the reason the kids got dirty was because they helped out the school gardener without worrying about getting dirty.
Another case study she presented was a campaign by Glico, the Japanese company which makes the popular snack Pocky. Together with Dentsu Inc., Tokyo, Glico made “Glicode”, an app that teaches children how to code computer commands by arranging their snacks. Jayme reiterated that without being reckless, both campaigns will not have succeeded. “Let’s do this!” she exclaimed.
Next, Jayme identified mischief as a negative trait that can be used for good. She said, “do not lose the kid in you. You imagine things, and you make it happen.” As an example, she showed a campaign created by Dentsu Inc., Tokyo for Geriatric Health Services Facility Hitorizawa which used fun and play to solve a problem faced by the client. The Ton-Ton Voice Sumo is a voice-activated device which challenged elderly people to use their voices to play and beat each other at a sumo wrestling-inspired game. The results were encouraging as more elderly patients increased their vocalisation which is important in helping stop accidental deaths through choking. Jayme believes that being mischievous and playful can help develop good and creative ideas.
The fourth trait in Jayme’s list was defiance. The example she showed was one that definitely embodied the said trait. During this year’s International Women’s Day, “The Fearless Girl” by State Street Global Advisors and McCann New York made waves on Wall Street, the city of New York, and the whole world as she stared down the “Charging Bull” statue as a symbol of female leadership. Due to strong public support, the city granted a longer permit for the statue to stay in its location.
The last trait Jayme gave was impatience. With all the negative events and issues happening today, Jayme called out, “sometimes you have to feel impatient to do something good. If you want to help, do it now.” During the run-up to the recently concluded ASEAN 2017 Summit, Greenpeace partnered with Dentsu Jayme Syfu to bring awareness to the harmful effects of the use of plastic. In just a week, the agency installed a “dead whale” full of plastic on a beach in Naic, Cavite. The sculpture made it to the headlines in time for the ASEAN event. The quick work showed how being impatient turned into doing good work.
From her experience as an ex-nun, Jayme concluded saying, “we have to be bad to do a dent in this world and maybe that’s why they kicked me out.”
