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'The big ideaL': Ogilvy's framework for giving brands a
purpose
David Tiltman
Warc Exclusive
November 2010

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Title: 'The big ideaL': Ogilvy's framework for giving brands a purpose
Author(s): David Tiltman
Source: Warc Exclusive
Issue: November 2010
'The big ideaL': Ogilvy's framework for giving brands a purpose
David Tiltman
Warc
The Spikes Asia Advertising Festival, held in Singapore in September, celebrates creativity. But the strategy behind the
creative work was the topic of Ogilvy & Mather's talk on a process it terms 'The big ideaL'.
The session, given by Ed Bell, the agency's Shanghai Group Planning Director, and Paul Heath, its Asia-Pacific CEO, looked
at the thinking behind the 'The big ideaL' and how it had been applied to several brands in Asia.
The basis of 'The big ideaL' is consumers' desire for authenticity. This, argued the speakers, has become one of the driving
forces of marketing in the 21st century. In the 1970s, a "commodity economy", the key was availability; in the 1980s, a "goods
economy", the key was cost; in the 1990s, a "service economy", the key was quality. Now, in what the speakers termed an
"experience economy", authenticity can make or break a brand, and consumers "will expose half-truths".
"Consumers want something to believe in," said Heath. "An ideal is more important than an idea".
'The big ideaL', then, is a process to help brands find a platform they can speak from authentically. Bell referred to it as an
"organising principle". He added that the goal was for brands to take the initiative and find a platform that suits them. "Why
don't we focus on something we can create and do something about it?"
The starting point is to look at the brand's market and look for a "cultural tension". This can be a very narrow idea, and often is
a cultural assumption that consumers may only subconsciously be aware of. Focus groups are often little use in this;
uncovering a cultural tension could involve research with ethnographers, editors, creative people and others plugged into
cultural change.
An example of a brand that identified a cultural tension as part of this process is Louis Vuitton. After examining the travel
market closely, it came to the conclusion that the act of travel had lost its special quality in an age of mass transport. Travel
was no longer a luxury activity; the thought of travel had become less exciting.
The next step is to identify what the speakers referred to as "The brand's best self". This sounds easy, but can often take the
most time to work out (Bell said the whole experience takes about a month). The goal is to find what the brand looks like when
it is performing at its absolute best. "What is the one thing we love doing as a brand?" said Bell. "You need to find things no
other brand can rival."
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In the example of Louis Vuitton, the brand's best self was that it embodied the spirit of travel in beautifully crafted luxury goods.
The crossover between the cultural tension and the brand's best self is the basis of the ideal. A handy way to think about this
is to use the following sentence: "Brand X believes the world would be a better place if..."
For Louis Vuitton, the answer became: "Louis Vuitton believes the world would be a better place if we lived life as an
exceptional journey". The resulting print campaign used various celebrities and other high-profile figures, with a focus on their
lives as exceptional journeys.
Other brands have used 'The big ideaL' process to find platforms they can talk about with authenticity. High-end hotel chain
Shangri-La ads identified a cultural tension in the isolation that comes with business travel. The brand's best self was to treat
people like family.
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The resulting theme was: "Shangri-La believes the world would be a better place if we all treated each other as family". The
campaign tapped into these themes:
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Both Louis Vuitton and Shangri-La are upmarket brands with strong heritage, making them good contenders for a position of
'authenticity'. But 'The big ideaL' has also been applied to more mainstream brands. An example is Nestlé's chocolate drink
Milo, a big brand for children in several Asia markets that had been connected with sport. It unearthed a cultural tension that
children were being discouraged from playing sport in markets such as Malaysia. In fast-growing economies, there was
increasing pressure on children to focus on academic work. The brand's best self was supplying the fuel for kids to succeed.
'The big ideaL' became a belief that play is the essential work of childhood; that kids learn by playing. The eventual campaign
used the strapline 'Play more, learn more' (see video).
Bell and Heath argued that having an authentic point of view was more than just a boost to CSR activity. It can affect long-term
performance and lift a brand above the competition. The duo used the global BrandZ research from WPP to show that there
was a correlation between brands with a high 'point of view' score and brands that have high 'voltage'.
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'The big ideaL' has been soft-launched and is being rolled out to Ogilvy brands around the world – brands that are looking for
renewal or reinvention are particularly appropriate. "We've got something we feel very comfortable with. We're asking every
office to supply two or three clients we could build an ideal on," said Bell. "This is one thing we have found consistently works
in a shifting world."
About the author:
David Tiltman is Warc's International Editor.
He has been writing about media and marketing for more than a decade, including six years at Haymarket Media Group.
There he was features editor on Marketing magazine, based in London, before moving to the Hong Kong Office to become
Managing Editor of Haymarket's Media magazine (now Campaign Asia), covering marketing and media across Asia-
Pacific.
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