The document summarizes key insights from the Festival of Media jury room and trends that emerged. It discusses how the best work balances doing good through causes and doing well through business goals. It also examines how brands navigate sincerity versus surprise approaches and the growing importance of leveraging data to meet consumer desires. Additional trends highlighted include simplifying complex media, returning to basics like reach, new and old media inspiring each other, and pushing for marketing metrics over media metrics.
2. 1
TRENDS & INSIGHTS
1
TRENDS & INSIGHTS
INSIGHTS FROM THE
FESTIVAL OF MEDIA
JURY ROOM
Kathy Kline, Chief Strategy Officer,
Starcom Worldwide
Festival of Media (FOM) is the only global competition to focus exclusively on excellence in the media craft. As a final judge
at this year’s competition, I convened in Rome with a jury group representing a myriad of geographies, specialties and
perspectives to review 235 shortlisted entries and honor the very best. A few key themes surfaced from the experience:
Doing good vs. doing well: The age-old debate between cause marketing and
business-building work was alive and well at FOM. While the ability to drive
results within difficult business situations is admired, it’s more often within the
CSR realm where creativity flourishes. When it comes to doing good versus
doing well, the very best work does both, as we saw exemplified in work like
P&G Always’ “Girl Emojis.” Brands should let go of historical constraints and
category conventions. Unleashing creativity can drive a magical blend between
human connection and brand-building goals.
Sincerity or surprise: Brands wager on whether brand sincerity or elements of
surprise and delight best connect with consumers. For some, pulling back the
veil and inviting people into the brand process drives high value, like we saw
from Tata Motors in India when renaming their Zica automobile to Tiago. There
is also impact in the intentional misdirect, as Kraft witnessed in the US with its
Macaroni & Cheese “Blind Taste Test” and McDonald’s achieved with the “C&H
Food Truck.” It can be a risk, but those who do this best understand situational
brand context and cultural moments.
Data & desire lines: The growing power of data and technology to drive
consumer connections was pervasive across all FOM finalists. The jury saw
several winning cases whose exemplary use of data leveraged consumer
insights and technology to meet people on their desire lines, closing the gap
between what people want and what the brand needs. Airbnb’s “Love This?
Live There,” McDonald’s “Capacity-Based Delivery,” and Linicin’s “Sales Data
Crossed with Google Data” all understood people’s behaviors and desires to
offer them relevant and timely brand solutions.
P&G Always’ “Girl Emojis”
Airbnb’s “Love This? Live There”
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese’s
“Blind Taste Test”
3. 2
TRENDS & INSIGHTS
TRENDS FROM THE
FESTIVAL OF MEDIA:
SIMPLICITY, BASICS,
FLEXIBILITY & METRICS
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
James Shoreland, Global Managing
Director, Blue 449
Given Festival of Media’s “demystify the new world order” theme, one could be forgiven for expecting a big reveal.
While the reality was less dramatic, it was certainly pragmatic and four core themes emerged:
1. Work hard to make it simple: Gerry D’Angelo, P&G’s Global Media Director, emphasized that too much time is spent
untangling the complex media chain and change requires investment in understanding the detail in technology. He
cited his own experience where he had 20 separate partner meetings and didn’t let them leave until he fully
understood the offering. Marketers should leverage their agencies to set up learning sessions that increase tech
understanding, enabling more time to discuss strategy and execution, instead of mechanics.
2. Get back to basics: The illusion of an endless supply of inventory in the digital age is being replaced by the reality of
retrenchment. Spotify highlighted the opportunities of time and place audio plans, while Burberry, Lastminute.com,
Bacardi and P&G talked about shifting back to prioritize reach over targeting and personalization opportunities.
Marketers should focus their media briefs around the role media can play in helping marketing reach its objectives as
opposed to what one can do in specific media.
3. New and old media inspire each other: An interesting paradox between new and old media played out. Channel 4, a
British broadcaster, demonstrated how they use data to create audience segments as opposed to demographics.
Conversely, Spotify compared their platform with “drive time” opportunities of radio’s past. Advertisers should bring
media partners in early as they become more flexible in their approach to both increase understanding of their
offering and identify the right solution.
4. Push for marketing (not media) metrics: A united plea resounded to get back to metrics closely linked to marketing.
GSK shared its pivot from measuring engagement in social media and replacing it with reach. Online ad
measurement company Moat highlighted how they are changing the digital measurement foundation by assigning a
value to a consumer’s attention, not a platform’s delivery mechanic. Marketers need to interrogate their briefs and
ensure campaigns’ KPIs are about media’s value to business, not media tactics.
4. 3
TRENDS & INSIGHTS
Festival of Media Global Awards 2017 Winners
Gold
Best Targeted Campaign –Airbnb, “Love This? Live There,” Starcom USA
Best Launch Campaign -- 20th Century Home Entertainment, “Deadpool: A Unicornicopia of Marketing Wins,” Zenith USA
Creative Use of Media -- City Gross, “Size Does Matter to Mice (The World’s Tiniest OOH Sign),” Starcom Sweden
Best Social Media Strategy – P&G Always, “Girl Emojis,” Starcom UK/USA
Silver
Best Communications Strategy – Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, “Blind Taste Test,” Starcom USA
Best Use of Mobile – P&G Always, “Girl Emojis,” Starcom UK/USA
Effectiveness Award –M&Ms, “Celebrate with M,” Starcom USA (secondary credit)
Bronze
Best Use of Content – Samsung, “The First Olympics in Virtual Reality,” Starcom USA
Best Communications Strategy – P&G Always, “Girl Emojis,” Starcom UK/USA
Effectiveness Award -- Great Barrier Reef, “Safe Passage for Sea Creatures,” Starcom Australia
Best Use of an Influencer -- COVERGIRL So Lashy! Mascara, “Celebrating the Diversity of Beauty,” Zenith USA
Publicis Media Brands received 37 shortlists as well as 4 Golds, 3 Silvers and 4 Bronzes as the primary or contributing agency. You
can read more about the winners and watch the case study videos: here.
