SINGAPORE — Spikes Asia Festival of Creativity has officially begun and we are beyond thrilled to share with you what went on during the first leg of the three-day celebration. This year, the festivities are being held at the Suntec Convention Center, gathering the best of the best across of the creative industry, brands and businesses in the Asia Pacific region.
The venue was transformed into several platforms: Inspiration Stage, Meet The Speakers, In Focus Stage, Spotlight Stage and Futures Hub. While the Inspiration Stage was the main venue for talks, there were silent sessions going on simultaneously throughout the day.
Julie Bramham, Chief Marketing Officer of Diageo India kicked the program off with her session on Progressive Gender Potrayal: The What, How and Why Now, where in she talked about advertisers have the power to shape how society perceives social standards by the ads they create. Bramham pointed out how ads can unconsciously dictate the gaze of an audience and how they view a situation if it’s normal, aspirational, and acceptable in society. Representation and perspective plays a huge role on how we can normalize gender equality: an example would be to create more commercials through the female gaze, or perhaps refrain from the regular stereotypes of how a person looks.
Within the day too was a session led by Campaign Asia-Pacific’s Brand Director Atifa Silk who sat down with IPG Mediabrand’s Chairman and CEO Michael Roth for his first ever appearance onstage in SIngapore, to talk about growth, diversity and the future of advertising. Roth took on the leadership role at IPG in 2005 and is credited for the financial turnaround for of one of the world’s largest advertising holding companies.
Atifa Silk interviews Michael Roth on Growth, Diversity and The Future of Advertising at @SpikesAsia #AsiaRising pic.twitter.com/POtv5AE1Fd
— adobo magazine (@adobomagazine) September 25, 2019
He credits the feat to diversifying the office and having a relationship with the consumer through the brands and companies they chose. “If we don’t have representation in diversity in terms of thought and insights, then we’re not going to be able to properly reach our consumers and they (women) add significant value to our office,” states Roth.
He also urges companies to focus on purpose driven advertising, as brands are looking to develop a relationship with a consumer.
Into the path of tech and digital innovation, Cheil Worldwide’s ECD Youngmin Pipha Cho gave a talk on AI, Blockchain and Creativity. There is still more to explore in the world of AI and automation, and there still is hesitance in accepting such developments, but a lot of businesses and brands have learned to embrace them, even going further by creating their own AIs internally. Cho sees the future also move towards Blockchain. Beyond the cryptocurrency market, blockchain technology has the potential to play a large influence in our lives and the advertising industry by changing how information is stored, updated, distributed and secured.
Another interesting panel was The Music is The Message session led by BBDO Guerrero’s David Guerrero and Syn Music’s CEO Nick Wood who shared how the moving power of music is differently handled in Asia where individuality and protest are not as easily received and accepted. Songs from the ‘60s to the present have reflected some of the most important changes in society. With hits from artists like Aretha Franklin or Bob Dylan to Lady Gaga or Childish Gambino, these pieces have shed light on society’s most pressing issues including sexuality, race, and gender among others.
In the evening, the unofficial first day Spikes after party was held at Gem Bar. Hosted by Campaign Brief Asia and Tiger Beer, delegates, judges and speakers gathered for a night of networking and drinking.
It’s only been day one into Spikes, and we’re just closing in through the halfway point of festival, but we know the excitement is just getting started. Still to come are more shortlist announcements, more speaker sessions, and more opportunities to celebrate creativity and ingenuity in the region.
Shortlists revealed on Spikes Asia 2019 Day 1:
adobo magazine, the Word on Creativity, is an official media partner of Spikes Asia 2019 Festival of Creativity.
