Brands 'must shed concept that consumption is goal of society'

Dubai: Delegates from 45 countries including the UAE gathered at the Kremlin in Moscow for the 42nd International Advertising Association's World Congress.

Marketers, media owners and agencies convened to consider key issues facing the industry and hear the latest thinking from speakers including Martin Sorrell, Chairman of WPP; Marc Pritchard, Global Marketing and Brand Officer at Procter & Gamble; Serge Dumont, Chairman Asia Pacific of Omnicom Group; Maurice Levy, Chairman and CEO Publicis Group and Alan Rutherford, Chairman & World President-elect, IAA.

Brands must serve a greater purpose in consumers' lives than their functional benefits, and even abandon the idea that consuming more is the goal of a prosperous society, according to many of the speakers at the congress.

Pritchard urged marketers to "move from marketing [to] consumers to buy your brands to serving consumers with your brands."

He outlined P&G's commitment to "purpose brands," or brands that serve a broader social and emotional role in people's lives than their simple functional attributes.

He noted a campaign linked to P&G's Pur water-filtration brand that's providing clean drinking water to millions of people in an effort to combat the global shortage of clean drinking water as a blueprint for changing the nature of marketing globally.

Levy described in his keynote speech the young and idealistic "Millennial Radicals" who are coming of age with the power to change older, mainstream opinions about the world and big business. They often, for instance, favour new brands that represent their views.

"Ultimately, we need to question the very idea that "consuming more" is the goal of a prosperous society," Levy said. "Couldn't consuming less or consuming better be a goal in itself? Can we really afford concepts like ‘built-in obsolescence' and ‘disposable fashion'?

"Surely it is better to replace them with products that have greater value because they last longer; with products that you can hire rather than own, that you can upgrade rather than throw out?"

Mainstream

Levy addressed the congress by describing today's younger generation of "Digital Natives" as being at the forefront of changing the definition of mainstream. Today's consumers have unlimited access to information and therefore we all have to operate transparently. The digital age giving rise to the myriad of social media sites has meant brand builders have to relinquish an element of control.

According to Pritchard, today's consumers are asking more from brands. "They want to help the world, not just themselves, and as a result will choose from brands that share their values and beliefs."

Virtually every global market, including the UAE has experienced the pressure of economic uncertainty coupled with dynamic and unprecedented change in the industry. The business landscape, business models and ways of doing business are being re-defined. Old is just that — old. What worked in the past will not work in the future.

A recurring interesting theme was how the agency's role has become transformed in that it has become a content provider in which all the communication disciplines from PR, copywriting, journalism, research, and design have all become mashed together. We must understand this and learn the role of digital and social media in this mix.

There is a need to understand what changes are taking place, the consequences and opportunities presented by those changes, and have the tools and information to act on these.

"We as market makers need to understand both sides of the coin... the changes and the consequences," said Alan Rutherford, vice president of Global Media at Unilever and the IAA's new chairman and world president.

The 42nd IAA World Congress was the largest gathering of its kind this year. The IAA created a programme designed to bring together the best minds in the industry to help navigate the change taking place in the industry.

The mixed format of the three-day programme, including exhibitions, Q&A sessions, panels, and keynote speeches, provided a variety of ways to access and digest the information and insights, whether for those just beginning their careers or seasoned practitioners

The forum was an opportunity for our local UAE Chapter members and others to engage with other known industry figures and share their views and insights on the trends and issues confronting the industry on a regional and global level and to network and do business with delegates from across the globe.

The Middle East region was cited among the fastest-growing regions, along with Asia Pacific — (less Japan/Australia) Latin America and Africa. There were more than 20 businesses from the UAE represented at the congress.

Key sessions focused on topics including: consumer marketing challenges, the digital influence on consumer behaviour, how do key advertisers see the new world, the rise of challenger brands, the reaction of challenged categories, key trends in media and consequences for TV, print and Out of Home priming in developed against emerging markets, new advertising models and their implications and improving creative effectiveness.

 Faris Abouhamad is the General Secretary of the UAE Chapter of the International Advertising Association