SINGAPORE – The Spikes Asia 2018 Day 2 opens with Publicis Singapore CCO Ajay Vikram and Procter & Gamble Associate Marketing Director for Health Care IMEA Maithreyi Jagannathan session “Vicks Touch of Care – Redefining Stereotypes” where they discussed how Vicks, a timeless brand that resonates care in their campaigns, redefine stereotypes with their ads that tug the heart and inspire change.
“Making Fun – New Brand Creativity in the eSports Arena” was an interesting session by Campaign’s Robert Sawatzky, Asterisk’ Team Strategist Sabrina Ang, Riot Games Regional Manager Chris Tan, and TBWA\Asia President of Innovation Tuomas Peltoniemi tackles Asia-Pacific as a great emerging market for eSports, and reveals which brands fit well with eSports.
Meanwhile, at the Spotlight Stage, FCB India’s Group Chairman and CEO Rohit Ohri and The Times of India Vice President for Brand Sumeli Chatterjee discussed “Powering Brands with Cultural Voltage,” which explained how brand messaging can become more powerful when embedded in consumer culture.
Delegates learned how client and agency partnership can deliver better results with Aprais Worlwide’s Founder and Chairman Kim Walker’s talk, “It Takes Two To Tango (&Deliver +37% Better Creativity).
WE Worldwide President for International and WE+ Alan VanderMolen and Contagious Head of Trends Katrina Dodd’s interactive talk, “Who Wants to be a Human?”, an exciting Spikes Asia game show that saw two real-life audience members compete to show how much they really know about the algorithms that run their lives.
Attendees got a hold of the purpose of a creative brief and the importance of writing a good one during FST Marketing Communications Pte Ltd ‘s workshop entitled, “Sh*t in = sh*t out. The Creative Brief.”
Ogilvy’s Co-Chief Creative Officer Nicolas Courant
Another highlight of the festival’s Day 2 is the talk by the advertising maven and Ogilvy’s Co-Chief Creative Officer Nicolas Courant who celebrates his 20 years in the advertising industry. In his session, entitled “What Can A Frog Teach You About Advertising?”, Courant shared 20 things that he learned in his 20-year career in the ad industry. “Tell them ‘human’ stories, not product stories,” he said.
McCann Health President for the Americas Amar Urhekar talked about, “The Truth About Healthcare Communications,” while Re/Digital Founder and Managing Director and Gao Feng Advisory Company Founder and CEO Dr. Edward Tse tackled “Innovating the ‘China Way’”.
Facebook Global Creative Director Andrew Keller
Facebook Global Creative Director Andrew Keller also graced the day with his talk, “Ideas That Bring People Together” which tackled how new technologies bring people together. He also shared tips on how brands astound communities, and reach audiences with ideas that inspire. “Great brands ideas thrive in bringing people together,” he cited.
Unruly’s Chief Commercial Officer for APAC Phil Townend and Futurist Elena Cochero reveals what might be the future of advertising look like in the age of ambient technologies like Voice, AI, AR, and Lens.
The session “Hakuhodo Mix Tape Vol. 2: Let Creativity Flow” by Hakuhodo Asia Pacific Chief Creative Officer Woon Hoh, Hakuhod Inc Asia Pacific Co-Chief Creative Officer Kentaro Kimura, SIX Inc. Creative Director Jin Saito, and Spa-Hakuhodo Inc. Client Service Director Jeed Thanthip dug deeper into the process of how to ensure creativity flows. They also shared how they came up with the award-winning campaign for client Double A Paper, “Obsession for Smoothness”, dubbed as the “World’s First Paper Mapping” project.
Eight Inc. Principal Richa Menke highlighted how can Singapore address challenges and pave the way by using experience design as solutions with her session, “Singapore – Where Design, Business, Innovation Through Experience Come Together.”
Dentsu Inc. Creative Technologist Kyoko Yonezawa shared how she integrates design and engineering by working together with engineers and multiple talents in her talk, “The New Creative Approach – The Fusion of Design and Engineering.”
Meanwhile, Social Deviant CEO and Founder Marc Landsberg shared how to build a Magnetic Brand by creating a personality, a point of view, and personal relevance through his talk, “How to Build A Magnetic Brand.”
Yessian Music’s Partner and CCO Brian Yessian, and Senior Sound Designer and Mixer Jeff Dittenber, also held a workshop entitled, “The Ambisonics of Virtual Reality”, where attendees explored the depths of immersive sound in the VR World.
Delegates also dug deeper to the concept of blockchain and opportunities it can unlock – specially in the marketing industry – in his talk, “Omnicom Media Group: Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology – The Future of Advertising?”
Hip-Hop performers in the East, true creatives who have had to fight censorship, stereotypes, and cultural biases to stay true to their craft are the focus of the session by Iris Worldwide entitled, “Building Powerful Brands and Culture within Emerging Asia.”
Jones Knowles Ritchie’s Partner and Managing Director Rene Chen discussed “Made in China – Branding Lessons from an Innovation Circus,” while Warner Music’s Director of Sync, &ENT Tim Miles shared the top three myths about the music industry in his talk, “Is Music Dead?”
Cheil Worldwide’s Global Creative Director Bill Yom
Cheil Worldwide’s Global Creative Director Bill Yom also delivered a very inspirational session entitled, “Growing up With Technology, But What Matters is Creativity” where he highlighted technology leverages creativity and how it opens endless creative possibilities. “Thanks to technology. We have more Possibilities to create a change. A chance to create relevance and value.”
Closing the Day 2 of the festival are sessions from Dentsu Webchutney’s “Pause the Resume – Disrupting the Agency-Employees Relationship” and iProspect’s “The Future is Voice-Activated” which provided an in-depth look into a bespoke research that looks at Voice adoption and usage in Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, and Singapore.
