The evolution of advertising into participatory acts of social change

In their joint presentation titled 'Acts Not Ads', Bali, who is vice-president of Procter & Gamble Asia, and Thomas, chairman and CEO of BBDO Asia, Middle East and Africa cum chairman of Proximity Worldwide, detail how for much of history, advertising revolved around the creation of an expertly crafted message conveyed through traditional media and consumed passively by end audiences.

However, this is no longer the case as digital and social media have upended this model. "The internet was a catalyst for change," Bali says. "Consumers now want to express themselves and don't want to let brands control the conversations."

She sees marketing messages now getting more visceral and participatory as the roles of companies and meaning of brands in people's lives become more exposed and even challenged.

In today's multi-dimensional media landscape, Bali says on one hand the media environment may be becoming fragmented, but on the other hand, the impact of truly creative advertising can multiply tenfold. "You can get not just the impressions you pay for, but way beyond that".

Thomas examines the different case studies in which effective creativity was delivered, citing Yellow Pages, which after being disintermediated by the likes of Google, demonstrated the effectiveness of the product by convincing businesses that it is still relevant to them with its 2010 'Hidden Pizza Restaurant' campaign in Australia.

"That required a dramatic shift and tectonic change in strategy," he says. "Creative ideas now must be crafted not in the simple linear way like before but be launched in a pinball machine - to use all kinds of triggers and patterns to keep the ball spinning." Effectiveness means to keep your campaign ideas in play, and in play for longer in an accelerated way, he feels.

Bali adds that the drivers of effectiveness are fame and emotional involvement, referring to research that showed a purely rational advertising strategy ranked the lowest in terms of results.

"You can no longer think about effectiveness without thinking about creativity, and within creativity are the elements of fame and emotions that give the explosive impact we as marketers dream of," Bali says.

Brands are familiar with the power of word-of-mouth marketing, but most have never thought about the likeability issue from the viewpoint of their target audience. "I don't tell my friend I like your brand because I like your brand," Thomas reveals how a consumer thinks. "I tell them because I like my friends."

Thus, Bali emphasises that it is more and more important to generate trust in corporations, which is at an all-time low. Financially, brands with ideals drive shareholder return, and brands rooted in purpose are the creative ones. "What makes us at P&G wake up in the morning and go to work is not selling another shaver, but putting meaning to the work we do".

That kind of meaning, says Bali, was ignited in a 2009 Gillette campaign called the 'Women Against Lazy Stubble (WALS)' movement targetting men who refuse to shave as they think their facial hair makes them cool and desirable, contrary to what women feel, Bali elaborated. To encourage a clean shaven look, like-minded Indian women rewarded their partners with kisses as signs of appreciation if they use Gillette Mach3 razors.

In this era, consumers themselves can play the critical part of conveying brand promise while energising others to greater levels of awareness, empowerment and inspired action. Advertising messages are also evolving into social movements that drive positive change, according to Thomas. "Powerful advertising can keep brand conversations going, these are the ideas steeped in activation and activism".

For instance, using social upheavals and discontent of the ruling class as an opportunity to increase Gillette's brand equity was initiated by the men's grooming brand in Mumbai in 2011. By petitioning the government to re-dedicate the Gateway of India to 'everyday soldiers' instead of 'kings and queens of the past century', Gillette wanted to commemorate these characters respected by the average commoner in the country as they embody noble values and "the way a man should be", Bali says.

From a client-side perspective, Bali gave these instructions for fellow marketers: always think and dream big, look for life insights and not just category insights; develop an experimental 'do & learn, learn & do' culture as everything cannot always be tested and quantified; as well as have courage and passion.

The implications for agencies, according to Thomas, are that the primacy of the campaign idea must be based on a profound human insight to keep the idea alive; use creativity beyond the normal channels of communication; structure your agency to match the always-on connected world and have content curators on hand.

Read all of our Asian Marketing Effectiveness Festival coverage.