Starting Sunday, it’s time to abandon the old rules of marketing and help reinvent it all at the Dubai Lynx, the two-day marketing conference dedicated to inspiration and insight. It brings together top creatives, the world’s revolutionary marketers and smart brands, fledgling start-ups, and everyone in between to learn, network and celebrate creativity in communications. The traditional advertising model is obsolete, knocked sideways by consumers who enact zero tolerance towards unimaginative brands. At Dubai Lynx, expect to hear from the leading minds in marketing about the profound change by which brands conduct consumer relationships. The changes are fuelled by the sheer volume of content being put into the world by brands — and by us all — plus the sheer fatigue at the volume and homogeneity of traditional TV advertising.
Speakers will include Adam Kerj, the creative guru at global consulting firm Accenture, who will be speaking about the demise of the huge corporate advertising agency networks in favour of a different, better approach. He will point to the intersection where creativity and tech collide, as that is where new elements are shaped that ultimately will push brands, societal issues, culture and our industry forward.
On the other wide of the scale will be the large corporate advertising agencies represented by Rob Reilly of the McCann Worldgroup and the legendary Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy, Piyush Pandey. In the middle are companies such as StrawberryFrog, the “movement marketing” company that led the brand-fuelled “Hello Tomorrow” movement for Emirates airline, the development and launch of Emaar’s Downtown, Dubai South and the “Grow Stronger” campaign for FAB based in Abu Dhabi. On Monday Ruzbeh Irani, Chief Brand Officer for the Mahindra Group, one of the most powerful companies from India, will take the stage with me and we will talk about the “RISE Movement”. How this movement strategy and marketing helped transform the industrial group into an innovative global company. As technology encroaches on every sector, large established corporations need to transform their employees and culture to capture the spirt of start-ups and entrepreneurial organisations that innovate and move fast. The RISE movement inside a global corporation empowered new behaviours from leaders and employees who were focused on operational excellence and efficiency. It worked because culture change can’t be achieved through top-down mandate. It lives in the collective hearts and habits of people and their shared perception of experiences.
Someone with authority can demand compliance, but they can’t dictate optimism, trust, conviction, or creativity.
The most significant change often comes through social movements, and that despite the differences between business and society, leaders can mobilise the principles of movements to drive innovation. And for consumers, Movement outside ignites passions among consumers to engage with brands.
With public attention increasingly focused on how corporate brands behave, those that don’t take a stand, don’t ignite a marketing movement (not just a brand purpose) will be left behind or be forced by consumers to get their act together.
Scott Goodson is the founder and Chairman of New York based strawberryfrog.
