MANILA – For the first time, social good marketing gets the attention it deserves by way of the adobo Tambuli Asia-Pacific conference. The conference was well-attended by advertising agency people, marketers, public relations practitioners, some members of the press and special interest groups.
An impressive line up of eight creative social marketing gurus shared nuggets of practical wisdom and sample reels of social marketing case studies. They covered facets of social marketing which included ways to establish trust and loyalty, and consequently influence the consumer to either take social action, patronize brands or do both.
There was also a concise and succinct discussion on maximizing the power of digital media and a very detailed take on evolving business and marketing models including a media framework for harnessing velocity. The speakers, who come from different parts of the Asia-Pacific region, also shared notes and insights culled from years of practice and being immersed in the region’s varied cultures.
A recurring theme in the talks and subsequent discussions were questions about the ability of social good marketing to deliver beyond spreading goodwill but also its capacity to draw sales. They shared strategies and warned against possible pitfalls to avoid but also imparted social marketing values.
They were one in saying that social marketing is not limited by consumers’ perception of whether a brand is good or bad but is highly dependent on what the consumers’ think are the brand’s intention: whether it’s pure or if it has a hidden agenda. Good intentions earn trust and trust earns loyalty. Goodwill begets goodwill that even when a social good marketing campaign has no intention to push a product, the goodwill it creates can actually drive sales. In essence, all eight of them agree that doing good can do you good.
The conference was opened by McCann Worldgroup’s Asia-Pacific President Charles Cadell, followed by Tay Guan Hin, Global Executive Creative Director for Lux Southeast Asia/Executive Creative Director of J. Walter Thompson. The afternoon offered practical, positive and optimistic insights from Yaroslav Orlov, Executive Creative Director, Instinct & More, BBDO Moscow Group, Thomas Hongtack Kim, Chief Creative Officer & Founder of Playground Korea and author of the book ‘Digital Playground’, Ranganathan Somanathan, Chief Operating Officer of Southeast Asia Starcom MediaVest Group, Erick Rosa, Executive Creative Director of Mullen Lowe Singapore and the tandem of Dick Van Motman, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Dentsu Aegis Network Southeast Asia, and Ted Lim, Chief Creative Officer of Dentsu Asia-Pacific.
