Digital has changed the communications game, and creatives who want to win need to learn the new rules. As the space continues to evolve, change is constant, but there are certain ideas that digital creatives would do well to keep in mind.
While most digital creatives learn on the job, there are some learning opportunities, such as the Digital Creatives workshop held on April 28. The workshop was organized by the Certified Digital Marketer Program, the International Institute of Digital Marketing, and the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines. The speakers were Peter Juan, head of social media at Wunderman Philippines and Manny Nepomuceno, Digital Black Ops consultant.
“The challenge is how do you really execute in digital?” IMMAP president Michael Palacios said as he welcomed the participants. The diverse group included writers, designers, and managers, with one common goal. As the speakers pointed out, everyone wanted to level up, but didn’t know how.
Nepomuceno began by emphasizing the need for digital creatives to bring back what they learn to their organization. “Digital doesn’t happen as one person’s responsibility. If you want to ignite passion for your brand externally, you have to ignite it internally,” he said.
When trying to find what works in digital, Nepomuceno and Juan said the key is to find a balance between best practice and innovation. “You have to know the rules before you break them. And if you break the rules, you have to have a good reason,” Juan said.
There was a strong focus on content, which Nepomuceno said is the foundaition stone of digital. “If you want to grow your page, create great content,” said Juan, noting that good content is relevant, attractive, emotional, and convenient. As an example, Nepomuceno showed a couple of case studies: Ogilvy’s ‘Send your Facebook profile to Cape Town’ campaign, and Driving Dogs.
In creating content, it’s important to put the audience first. “If you consider how it will be consumed, you can become more creative about how you craft the content,” said Juan. “You need to understand the people who will be consuming your content,” Nepomuceno added, noting that relevance should be a priority. Over lunch, participants were given an exercise that allowed them to brainstorm about a hypothetical target audience. By putting themselves in their audience’s shoes, they worked on identifying the best approach.
Another way to achieve relevance is through cocreation, which engages the audience. “Experience is the new disruption,” Nepomuceno said, explaining that in order to understand the audience, digital creatives must be insightful. “Insighting needs to be more powerful and more data-driven,” he noted.
He also urged the participants to think ahead. “As creatives you have to be futurists. You can’t just design for now,” he said.
