It’s always a great time here in Cannes. Not only for the location. It’s the energy around the people. It’s the intoxication of the ideas. It’s the inspirational work and results. This year I am really pleased to see so many senior agency, media and marketers here from the Asia region. To all the Aussies I have run in to this year, well done on making the trip. You will take home a new fire in your belly and raise the bar on quality work.
What’s so evident now if I reflect on my 8th year at Cannes is that digital has truly moved to be at the centre of advertising. This journey has been led by consumers, enabled by technology and finally embraced by the industry across the board. Great progress, but I wanted to spend a moment calling out some work we still have left to do as an industry to complete the journey into mainstream.
Ever heard of Photokeratitis? It’s a painful eye condition. You and I would more commonly know it as snow blindness. This debilitating condition is caused by over exposure to UV rays. Common symptoms include pain (described as like having sand poured into the eyes), intense tears and eyelid twitching amongst other reactions.
During the Microsoft Advertising session at Cannes this week we spoke about the online version of this condition. Digi-keratitis. An equally painful condition caused by over exposure to excessive flashing online advertising. You know the ones I mean, gawdy colours with strobe light flashing click here boxes etc. Interestingly, the common symptoms for consumers exposed to these type of advertisements are exactly the same as snow blindness: pain (described as like having sand poured into the eyes), intense tears and eyelid twitching.
Together we can stop this. That’s right. Together we can stop inflicting this pain on your consumers as a result of poor advertising. Be gone Digi-keratitis! Imagine being part of the movement that eradicated this debilitating condition. We have the technology. We have the capability- let’s face it- Asia has some of the best creative talent in the world (http://www.canneslions.com/work/pr/). People – we can stop this abuse of your customers. Imagine the opportunity: your target audience - more engaged than they were before. And the ROI? Better, stronger, faster. Just like the six million dollar man was after his bionic implants.
This week I am surrounded by people who are doing more than their fair share in leading that charge. The work on display is truly inspirational. Beyond the innovative use of technologies and big bold creative ideas, research is taking its rightful place in deriving key insights to help brands find their unique activation triggers with their consumers. Data, or rather patterns in data are revealing key trends that are playing a much needed role to help reboot marketing strategies more suited to today’s consumer.
Now imagine if technology could enable you to interact with advertising through motion and voice- taking the in-person experience onto a screen? That’s an exciting proposition and one to spend your experimental budget on. Announced this week at Cannes, Microsoft’s Natural User Interface ads or NUads allows us to see the future right before our eyes.
So the challenge is out there. All brands have a story to tell and it’s up to all of us to tell that story in as rich a way as possible. The technology is there and evolving every day. Digital media is mainstream in our daily lives. Together this provides the canvas to build truly valuable advertising that not only pleases the eye but inspires and excites. We’ll be able to check back in on our progress at Cannes 2012 and I hope to see you there.
Jason Scott
General Manager, Microsoft Asia
Jason Scott: Beware of Digi-keratitis
24 June 2011