Day 1 of the seminar “Creativity: The Game Changer” on 19th November 2020, with the theme “The Power of Creativity”, was a success with three keynotes/discussions with the participation of experts in the communications and advertising industries. Let’s take a look back at some highlights in the event!
The first keynote named “Creativity is in Crisis” with San Vu and Huy Nguyen, respectively the General Manager and Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi, was an insightful discussion moderated by Dr. Ho Phu Hai – lecturer at RMIT University Vietnam.
The talk focus on the changes based on the right/left brain model in Vietnam’s advertising industry, especially with TV commercials (TVC). Both San Vu and Huy Nguyen agreed that the golden days of commercials in Vietnam were in 2000 – 2010, with many of those focusing on evoking emotions – a right-brain approach – and were always clear about the brand’s message. Meanwhile, many of today’s commercials provided too much information in a “top-down” approach, placing the brand above the audience. The two leaders of Saatchi & Saatchi then continued on the fact that information was taking up major advantages, including target audiences segmenting, or for example – applying on Vietnam the strategies from other ASEAN countries such as the Philippines or Indonesia, making them less realistic. Throughout the conversation, many TV commercials from the 2000-2010 period and in recent years were shown for comparison. According to Huy Nguyen, the shortened commercial duration, with many only lasted 15 seconds, posed a constraint for creative content.
In the second session, Ngo Thuan – manager at DNA Digital delivered a speech on the Creative Culture for the New Normal. He believed that with the fast pace and constant presence of communication technologies, it became urgent to drive everything quicker and more effectively. Thus agencies need not only to transform in their strategies in each campaign but also from the inside, creating a diverse, technology-adaptive business – where people work in teams, are able to equally raise opinions and provide constant feedback – rather than the top-down, one-sided hierarchy in the past.
The third talk was an industry sharing from Ms. Luong Xuan Mai on the topic of Creativity for the New Normal era. As Head of Strategic Planning at Adtima, ZALO group, she had plenty of experience handling crisis during COVID. Zalo was actively innovating and adapting to assist health workers and to provide continual updates on the pandemic. Many other brands, such as Coca-Cola or BeckIce, underwent the same transformation, with the aim to adhere to their core values while still adapting to the new situation – with BeckIce using QR code for payment, or the creation of Syncdinner allowing people to dine together even when being apart. What all these successful campaigns have in common is digitalisation during the period of crisis, as well as focusing on core customers, offering realistic benefits, placing customers at the centre, and optimizing investment funds.
The first event of “Creativity – The Game Changer” concluded with interesting knowledge on digitalisation and understanding customer psychology. The seminar series continued with the theme “Drawing the Future” on Day 2 and “Personal Development” on Day 3. Stay tuned for more recaps of these events!
