Two 4As Takeaways

Last week, the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) held its annual Transformation Conference in New Orleans. CEOs from some of the largest media agencies gathered to discuss technology, media channels and platforms that are existing, emerging and constantly redefining the industry.

For those of you who missed it, we’ve complied two takeaways from the three day event.

 Brands Need Relevant Real-Time Content

Remember those old supply and demand charts from Econ 101? While consumers ultimately drove the demand, they worked off of existing products. In a sense, the brands still had the power—they decided which products to offer. If the demands were high, they increased the supplies (and vice versa). Well, social media has given consumers a voice—a truly demanding one at that. With real-time content, consumers have the ability to tell brands exactly what they want and dictate the supply in an entirely new fashion.

Case in point: Griffin’s, a New Zealand cookie company, responded to a Facebook campaign consumers started to encourage the company to bring back a retired brand. The company listened to their consumers, and, within a matter of months, the consumers pushed the brand to the “number one biscuit brand in the country.”

So, yes, demand still and will always dictate supply, but social media lets consumers communicate their demands directly to brands. Listening to them is essential for all brands moving forward.

The Industry is still about Innovation

While (as I just pointed out above) social media is a major asset and influencer, the industry can’t shy away from what it does best: generate creative ideas. Marc Pritchard, a global brand building officer for Procter & Gamble, opened the conference stressing “the idea.”

Pritchard noticed a trend. The industry is so technology driven that innovation has taken a back seat. While the virtual world is a large part of our modern time, we still live in a real world; one where actual, authentic events and happenings can drive creative content and opportunities for brands. Surely technology can support that, but advertisers should not solely build technologically driven campaigns. Rather, Pritchard stressed that brands must focus on creativity—“the idea”—and let technology support it (not hinder the creative process).

Cover Photo Source: Dan Mason via Flickr
Photo Source: US Embassy Canada via Flickr

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://wpmaster.sjadv.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Cassandra-Bremer-Our-Space-Photo-e1402061863316.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Cassandra is a Content Manager and Developer at SJG. She earned her BA from Fontbonne University in 2011. Outside the office, she enjoys an active, healthy and well-rounded lifestyle including reading, writing, running, golfing, watching films, listening to music, taking photographs, and consuming media and social media.

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