Everyone is embracing the shift to digital, driven by the current unprecedented circumstances. Individuals have expanded their digital footprint, and lifestyles now revolve around the use of the online space—whether for shopping, working, dining, live selling, gaming, finance, learning, dining, and even celebrating of personal milestones. “Can you see my screen?” and “Your mic is on mute” have become the new “Have you eaten?” or “Hope to see you personally, post-Covid”. With the disruption comes new mindset and fresh skills set for everyone with just a few taps on a screen or the keyboard.
Believing that digital is the new way of life, Internet & Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP) organized DigiCon POP 2021 that gathered Thought Leaders and digital marketing experts around the world, to discuss digital marketing trends and how global brands have thrived by adapting to these innovations.
The more than 2,000 attendees listened to world-class keynote speakers including author Adam Grant, Organizational Psychologist, The Wharton School of Business; Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy-UK; Scott Galloway, Professor on Brand Strategy and Digital Marketing at New York University-Stern School of Business; IBM’s Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Gill Zhou; and Laurent Ezekiel, Chief Marketing and Growth Officer of WPP. Joining a huge roster of speakers is DigiCon’s “baddest” speaker and global digital influencer, Bretman Rock. This Filipino breakout content creator is known for trailblazing the advocacy for both the LGBTQIA+ and Asian-Americans through his social content followed by millions of fans.
The five-day virtual conference dived into a deep framework which consists of four programming tracks or breakout rooms: Disruption, Expansion, Emerging, and Possibilities—which brought together over 50 keynote speakers from all over the world. The Disruption track covered innovative trends and digital excellence and featured speakers such as Michael Patent, founder of sports and entertainment agency, Culture Group; and Todd Schweizer, co-founder and CEO of independent financial platform, Brankas. The Expansion vertical tackled key sectors which are uncovering new opportunities through data. Key speakers for this track included Nicholas Kontopolous, APAC Regional Head of Growth Marketing for Adobe DX; and Bea Atienza, IBE Leader for Colgate-Palmolive.
In the Emerging breakout room, discussions were about evolving digital trends and tools such as the new media and e-commerce platforms and speakers included Ash Mandhyan, CEO of Quanta Digital; and Carlos Alimurung, CEO of ONE Esports. The final leg, Possibilities, brought together Budjette Tan, writer and co-creator of hit comic series, Trese; and Grace David, CEO of Edukasyon.PH who discussed understanding new potential markets that also span multi-generations through innovative strategies.
“Digital is the new masa,” as Leigh Reyes, Board President of IMMAP and Creative Chair of MullenLowe TREYNA Group of Companies, would put it. “From village Viber groups, to live selling, from learning how to navigate by QR code, to Zoom e-numans and Zoomba, digital made a full shift to the mainstream.”
Pivoting creatively
Digital has been pivotal even to well-established business models like ABS-CBN, the commitment of which, has recently been disrupted. But as an organization founded on a mission of being in the service of the Filipino and all of its stakeholders worldwide, the company has been driven to pioneer, innovate, and adapt to the times through the digital space. Despite the Covid crisis and the non-issuance of the franchise renewal, ABS-CBN continues to provide information, news, and entertainment that connects Filipinos with one another and with their community, wherever they may be through their social media and other platforms.
The network has utilized online streaming for their live shows and zoom for talk shows, script analysis, and workshops. It also encouraged their talents to home shoots, do their production casting auditions online, and has employed all digital assets including Tiktok and other platforms like the Kumu app, and podcast. Turning adversity to opportunity, the network currently has 36.7 million YouTube subscribers, 7.6 million and 31 million Twitter and Facebook followers, respectively, while its IWantTFC has 4 million subscribers.
Digital is where ABS-CBN wants to break the news. “Our game plan is simple: to tell the most meaningful stories, to tell it to as many people as possible, hence our renewed focus on digital,” shared Eugenio Lopez IV, the ABS-CBN’s honcho who led the network’s swift digital transition.
Rethinking one’s business model, thinking out of the box, and unlearning old established business strategies are the only ways to stay relevant in a world where the market is thriving, and ever-changing. Brands should know when to let go, accept partnerships and collabs, and pivot creatively. They should take time to invest in unlearning, as much as they are investing in learning. “In this rapidly changing world, we need to rethink three things: our mindset, priorities, and vision. Build a challenge network—as opposed to support network—and revisit your past work. Keep evolving as the world around us evolves,” Keynote speaker Adam Grant, shared.
Authenticity is key
A Fireside chat with social media sensation Bretman “the baddest” Rock revealed his secrets for being a global trendsetter: “You have to be genuine, use your imagination, and live your authenticity,” he said. Based on his contents, this “internet entertainer” has always kept his content fresh, even while he shares antics and make-up tutorials with her sister Princess Mae or simply showing off his OOTDs—anything and everything to connect with his millions of subscribers, fans, and followers.
But ironically, Bretman does not really think about these numbers and revealed how he acknowledges that content creation feeds his soul. “I grew up with these people, my subscribers, they can relate with me as an immigrant and a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community. So, I owe it to them to live my truth and keep it real,” he said.
He admits to being appalled by people who use their social media platforms for perks and self-entitlement, sheds light on the issue and called on his counterparts to collectively help make the internet a better place where accountability and authenticity reign. He also encouraged everyone to stop misusing the internet to cancel someone, spread lies, and hate. He also finds it so amazing seeing people who look like him, use their creativity as power and tools not to be famous, but to show the world who they are.
“This is a progressive world. Audiences crave for what real and authentic! Brands tend to use beautiful faces and not real people who their market could relate to. I’m a real person, and my audience can see through that. Use your data expertise but learn to reach out and collab, work seamlessly with talents for a valuable and genuine content,” Bretman advised.
Brand safety is human safety
Growth comes to those who use tech to improve the lives of their community. As Chandan Deep of Twitter pointed out, “If you’re going to make real lasting change, it’s time to move from more reactive to proactive. Keeping people safe keeps brands safer.”
People are at the core of everything that brands do because it is us who use their products and services, and it is us, the market, who return to work every day to make brands what they are. When people express what they crave for, where they want to go, what they want to watch or wear, and what they care about, these voices impact businesses and the world around us. As this movement for conscious consumption grows exponentially, brands find more ways to support them and put people on top.
Another keynote speaker Rory Sutherland emphasized the importance of finding the balance between innovation and the human factor. “We are so thrilled with automation that we tend to ignore the downside. We are so beguiled by technology that we forget the effects. We need to explore rather than exploit people and technology. We should start experiment language and perfect targeting, and focus on making customers, not merely finding them. A great brand knows how to balance automations,” he conveyed.
Focusing on people should be everyone’s priority The social media landscape should be a place where people feel safe and protected—especially when engaging in a public discussion. It should have an atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable, secure, and confident enough to share their voice. By using the right tools and ideal partnership is vital in creating a safe digital environment and increasing consumer confidence. Listening is an essential key in making powerful engagements. This way, people can see your genuineness and celebrate your brand.
Marketing messages
As they say, storytelling is so much more than just telling stories for brand marketing and communications; rather, it is an essential content marketing technique that will make a difference in this content-intensive times. There is a huge difference between a dismal content vis-à-vis an engaging one that has visual and aural recall. Brand messaging, therefore, has shifted to a more connected sharing where people’s experiences and voices about what they want to like, share, subscribe to are not only heard but also incorporated.
APAC Hyper Island’s Masters Program Director Peachy Pacquing pondered the true purpose of awareness: “Education isn’t about filling buckets, it’s about lighting fires,” which begs the question: what do you want your audience to care about and what can your brand do to help them do that.
These times call for transmedia storytelling, when companies should optimize the function and ignore the old form to deliver enhanced messages. The market is already saturated with thousands of competing brands and standing out with a compelling type of storytelling that is participative and engaging makes a massive difference. “Know what’s at the core of your story. That’s the story you’re going to tell,” Budjette Tan, the co-creator of comic phenomenon Trese, reminded marketers
In the post-Covid world, people with hybrid skills will be essential. They are the “creative technologists” who are able to innovatively pivot using the three Cs: Connecting with customers, Crafting the right creatives, and Consistent point of view (making a balance in the online and offline messaging).
Creating meaningful and profound relationships
It is a known fact that there is so much more to brand than a profitable bottom line. However, we tend to focus on hitting goals and increasing conversion rates that we forget about the most important part of creating a great brand: our relationship with the market. Any customer who feels emotionally connected to the brand because their experience and perception is positive. Best-selling Author and NYU Stern Marketing Professor Scott Galloway pointed out: “The meaningful opportunity is to work the competition, but the profound opportunity is to repair and cement meaningful relationships.”
Galloway also emphasized that empathy is a function of proximity. “Being too big and contented is bad, as it is stifling to both competition and innovation. We should maintain a healthy digital ecosystem where support is given and gratitude is articulated,” he added.
In a digital universe, we also establish connections when brands use technology to help others. This is what McDonald’s Philippines’ Margot Torres highlighted when tackling issues bigger than any brand. She elaborated that “digital can magnify purposeful and meaningful campaigns during this time of crisis.”
Medium is the message
The successful week-long virtual festivity also tackled how marketing agencies have shifted to the online space, and how brands have diversified employed fresh avenues such as SHAREit and even gaming for a more direct and expansive costumer reach. The e-vent concluded with the much-anticipated comeback of the Boomerang Awards, this year with the theme Unmute. The prestigious awards show was streamed live on IMMAP’s Facebook page.
In times of epic shifts, innovation and creativity are key in order to stand out in the sea of noise. We now live in a reality where digital transformation is not only for a few early adopters. As 2020 disrupted the way we do business, digital adoption was fast-tracked by companies big and small, leaping years ahead. As IMMAP’s Reyes emphasized: “To go fast, go alone. To go far, go together.”
Indeed, digital is not only the new pop, or mainstream. It is the new way of life.
(Concluded on October 15, IMMAP DigiCon POP 2021 was made possible by Platinum sponsors ChatGenie and SHAREit; Gold sponsors Manulife Philippines, McDonald’s, PMFTC, and Spotify; and Bronze sponsors Facebook, MediaDonuts, Metrobank, and PayMaya Enterprise; and Media Partners: ABS-CBN, the Manila Broadcasting Company, and Rakuten Viber; Gold Media Partners CNN Philippines, Manila Bulletin, One Mega Group Inc., Podcast Network Asia, and Rappler; and Silver Media Partners BusinessWorld, Fully Booked, Inquirer.Net POP!, and The Philippine Star. For more information about what went down at IMMAP DigiCon POP 2021, visit the official website at www.digicon.com.ph. Follow on DigiCon PH on Facebook or Instagram for more updates.)
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