<ul><li>Ari Weiss, Chief Creative Officer, <keyword id="819172" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="DDB-Worldwide">DDB Worldwide</keyword> and Rahul Mathew, National Creative Director, <keyword id="910338" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="DDB-Mudra-Group">DDB Mudra Group</keyword> spoke to us recently about the changing face of advertising.</li><li>Weiss and Mathew told us what it takes to create an impact in an ever-changing ecosystem.</li><li>Weiss also tells us about his enthusiasm about the Indian market, which he believes will soon be counted among the top markets for the agency.</li></ul>
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<br />The world of advertising is right now in a phase of disruption. Technology is changing how things work. Data is making it possible for advertisers to target consumers directly, and more effectively. The rise of digital, while making it easier to reach out to consumers, is also making it difficult for advertisers to break the clutter. In such a scenario, what are the essentials that a new-age advertiser needs to take care of, to make sure they not only solve their client’s problems, but that they are also able to make a difference to the lives of consumers too? How does a creative break the clutter in a world that has suddenly become so much noisier than it was a decade ago? What elevates a good idea and takes it to the next level, making it a brilliant idea? And how are agencies coping with the ever-evolving world of advertising?<br /><br />These are a few, among the many questions I threw at Ari Weiss, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide and Rahul Mathew, National Creative Director, DDB Mudra Group. Weiss was in India as a part of DDB’s first global creative council meet held in Mumbai last month. Weiss, who was elevated to the role in July last year, and the trip to India, and other markets the agency is present in, was aimed at helping him deep-dive into these markets.<br /><br />That he considers India to be a critical market is clear from Weiss’ palpable enthusiasm about the work coming out of the country. He is also confident that India will soon figure among the top markets for the network. <br /><br /><strong>Looking back at the last decade</strong><br /><br />The last decade saw the advertising industry go through massive disruption. With the growth of internet, and the increasing use of data in tech in determining consumer behavior and working around that to deliver creatives, the way the ad world works, saw a huge change.<br /><br />Speaking about some of the biggest changes he witnessed, that has brought us where we are today, Weiss said, “We've seen the media landscape shift quite a bit in the last decade. The digital transformation which was already underway at the start of the decade, matured as a market and made it clear that it was here to stay. We saw a lot of experimentation in the early days. We have seen an evolution where from the earlier gimmicks of the platform experimentation, we have now come to longer, effective storytelling and brand building across these platforms. Today we’re seeing more of sustainable brand-building. It's an interesting time for both the creative industry and brands because you have to find simple and striking human truths that can live anywhere and can be built into one big story.”<br /><br />When the entire ecosystem is changing, it’s obvious that the way brands tell their stories will also change. Pointing towards one interesting change, Mathew said, “There is definitely a trend towards brands becoming more conscientious, and that's going to go into the next decade. Brands are now seeing themselves as citizens who live in the environment that everyone else is a part of, and they have to play their role as conscientious citizens of the world that we live and operate in, instead of simply having a capitalistic approach.”<br /><strong><br />The evolution of creativity</strong><br /><br />In today’s world, the way you tell a story is very different from what it was even till a decade back. So from a creative’s lens, how different are things today? What does one need to do to be a good story-teller, while being relevant?<br /><br />“The beauty of creativity is that ultimately it never changes from the fundamental perspective. We have to come up with really interesting ways of telling stories,” explained Weiss. “How we tell the stories, however, has obviously changed. In this fragmented landscape where narratives can take place over hundreds of different platforms, it forces us to come up with a creative idea that is incredibly simple, and has to be incredibly intoxicating at first glance. We talk about the simplicity of a great creative idea. Before, when ideas were living on fewer platforms, you could have some complexity to the idea because it did not have to travel so fluidly. That was a great moment in time as well. But this evolution is a new place to play and these huge ideas living across something of a 3D landscape than a linear landscape, is a wonderful place for creativity and story-telling,” he added.<br /><br />Weiss has also been very vocal about his thoughts on data and technology coming into play in the industry. He has always believed that the data handing creatives with human insights is only as good as the person interpreting it. “I think a mistake we often make is that we let data lead us. But today, there can be so many different ways of interpreting data. Ours is an incredibly human business. And as much technology as we get, it will still need to be processed by incredibly intelligent humans because that's how you pivot between the data and a great insight, and a great creative articulation of that insight,” he explained.<br /><br />And how do you turn an average or a great idea into a brilliant idea? “From day one, we're taught that we're uninvited guests in this world and it requires a lot of creativity to turn that uninvited guest into an invited one. A great idea surprises you, it can be where it lives, what it says and how it can be brought to life.”<br /><br />Pointing to the fact that clients play an equally important role in immortalizing a piece of creative work, Mathew says, “What makes an idea great also depends on the number of people believing in that idea, and the clients rallying behind you. I don’t think we have come up with a great work where our client wasn’t equally great. It’s not tough to come up with a great idea but it’s really tough to protect it which is where great clients come in.”<br /><br /><strong>Looking at India’s growth story</strong><br /><br />Despite the overall industry slowdown, DDB Mudra had a good year. With a slew of new clients coming on board, 2019 also became the most-awarded year for the agency as the agency put up a good show at global as well as domestic award shows. The <a href="https://youtu.be/yVjY-doL9n0" data-type="tilCustomLink">Stayfree Project Free Period</a> and ‘Hastagsdontheal’ for Khalsa Aid won the agency a lot of accolades. Moreover, it launched the first ever NBA game in India through the campaign #<a href="https://youtu.be/edMrK7vdqEg" data-type="tilCustomLink">NBAInMyBackyard </a>which focused on the social currency of the game in India and created a sporting spectacle while building a community and coding in culture.<br /><br />Weiss said that the Stayfree campaign particularly impressed him because of it ticked all the right boxes. It was an idea that could be relevant anywhere. “It wasn’t social purpose for social purpose’s sake. It was an incredibly well-told story that landed a brand truth in a very emotional and impactful way,” he said about what he thought worked in the campaign’s favor.<br /><br />Speaking about the energy that the young team in India brings to the table, he added, “When I first met Aditya and Rahul, I felt this youthful, disruptive energy in this team. When you look at the clients who are being attracted to them at the moment, and you look at this disruptor energy from a very young, ambitious and talented team, you just get very excited. You pair the culture, the market and the talent sitting behind it and think that you have to embrace and support it however you can because there's so much potential here.”<br /><br />Sharing his enthusiasm about India as a market, Weiss also said that the sheer size of the market presents a huge opportunity. “This is a market of immense creativity and it's absolutely not lost on me that this is a region of immense growth,” he said. On being asked when he thinks India can be counted among the top markets for the agency globally, he added with a smile, “Today! India is a culture rich in art and you realize that from the moment you land in the country. There are other markets that have the growth potential but not the creative culture that is true to the core DNA of this market. To find that combination of the DNA and the growth, I think India is already there today. We simply have to feed it.”<br />

India is a market of fascinating creativity and an immense growth potential: Ari Weiss, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide

Ari Weiss, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide walks us through his idea of the evolution of creativity

<ul><li>It is for the first time that <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> and <keyword id="128682" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Netflix">Netflix</keyword> will speak at the Cannes Lions.</li><li>The speakers from the two organizations include Claudine Cheever, Global Head of Brand and Advertising, Amazon, Chris Breen, Chief Creative Officer, Chemistry and Jean Tanis, Global Marketing Creative Lead, Netflix.</li><li>The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will be held this year between June 22-26.</li></ul><br />In a first, Amazon and Netflix will speak at the <keyword id="8414828" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="cannes-lions-2020">Cannes Lions 2020</keyword>. <br /><br />Claudine Cheever, Global Head of Brand and Advertising, Amazon will be speaking at the festival. She will talk about how Amazon continues to build a sustainable and authentic brand by ‘focusing on creating the best customer experience in every communication, being self-aware but not self-obsessed, and staying humble.’<br /><br /> Chris Breen, Chief Creative Officer, Chemistry and Jean Tanis, Global Marketing Creative Lead, Netflix will speak at the event on behalf of Netflix. Their talks will revolve around how Netflix creates anticipation around programming that hasn’t yet landed. They will also share the story of how this now-iconic brand has built a business on world-class storytelling.<br /><br /> Other prominent speakers this year include David Droga and The New York Times' Chief Marketing Officer David Rubin who will reflect on the creative partnership that led to their work on the ‘The Truth is Worth It’, a double Grand Prix-winner in 2019 - the year that the publication reported record digital growth.<br /><br /> Kathleen Hall, Corporate Vice President of Brand, Advertising and Research, Microsoft and Rob Reilly, Global Creative Chairman, McCann Worldgroup will talk about the partnership between the two organizations.<br /><br /> Other speakers this year include <keyword id="7455510" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ari-Weiss">Ari Weiss</keyword>, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide, Michelle St Jacques, Chief Marketing Officer, Molson Coors, Marc Pritcard, Chief Brand Officer, P&amp;G, <keyword id="6644845" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="fernando-machado">Fernando Machado</keyword>, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Burger King, Lynne Biggar, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Visa, Johan Pihl, Executive Creative Director, RBK, Mathias Wikström, Executive Creative Director, RBK, Mie-Leng Wong, Head of Global Brands - Cadbury, Halls &amp; Tang, Mondelez International, Ben Wicks, Global Brand Director, Cadbury, Mondelez International, Darren Bailes, Executive Creative Director, VCCP, Lidia Fonseca, EVP Chief Digital and Technology Officer, Pfizer, Michael Treff, President, Code and Theory, Mindy Grossman, President and CEO, WW International and Charles Day, Founder, The Lookinglass.<br /><br />  <br /><br />

Amazon and Netflix to talk for the first time at Cannes Lions this year

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58a5e5be5490578d0d8b4f01-1875/keith21.jpg" alt="keith reinard" data-mce-source="DDB" /><p class="source"><span>DDB</span></p><p class="caption">DDB Worldwide chairman Keith Reinhard in the 1990s.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Show an episode of "Mad Men" to Keith Reinhard and he's probably been there, done it, and written the ad jingle.</p><p>The DDB Worldwide chairman has spent more than five decades in the ad business, creating memorable ads such as McDonald's 1970s "You Deserve a Break Today" campaign to "Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is there."</p><p>Last year, he was honored with the <a href="http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/keith-reinhard-receive-clio-lifetime-achievement-award-166787/">Lifetime Achievement Award by ad industry show the Clio Awards</a>. It's fair to say when Reinhard has an opinion on the ad industry, the ad industry sits up and takes notice.</p><p>Reinhard, who has a piece of cave art printed on the back of his business card to remind him and everyone he meets that storytelling has been the most effective way to communicate since the beginning of time, believes it's time for the industry to "get back to the basics".</p><p>Speaking to Business Insider, Reinhard said he was optimistic about the next "phase" of <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword>, when marketers and creatives are less obsessed with shiny new objects and will "get back to some of the basics," including consolidating their businesses.</p><p>Here are his predictions for that next phase:</p><h2>1. The "disappearance" of native advertising.</h2><p>Native advertising is best described paid-for content that fits the style of an online publication. But Reinhard believes this form of promotion "breaches both the integrity of the media vehicle and the brand itself."</p><p>Reinhard says not all branded content or product placement is necessarily bad. He referred to "cast commercials" on TV in the 60s, when the cast members of a TV show would appear in the next ad break to promote a relevant product. His issue is when a brand tries to modify its narrative to fit in with the context of the media vehicle.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58a71daf01fe5847368b4e30-754/keithtrain.jpg" alt="keith reinhard" data-mce-source="DDB" data-mce-caption="Reinhard in the 1970s at the Glenview, Illinois train station as he headed for work in Chicago." /><p class="source"><span>DDB</span></p><p class="caption">Reinhard in the 1970s at the Glenview, Illinois train station as he headed for work in Chicago.</p></div><p></p></div></div>"For a TV show, if it was a comedy, you would write comedic [ad] material for the cast to [promote] on the show. Or a recent good example in the US was for our client State Farm, where they had a kids athletic team all in State Farm jerseys as an essential part of the plot of the show," Reinhard said.</p><p>Asked for bad examples of native advertising, Reinhard did not want to pick out specific advertisers, but said: "I think some of the online content that pretends to be a news blog but is a really an advertisement is the stuff we are still seeing - and still in print media."</p><h2>2. Losing the "obsession" with the shiny new objects.</h2><p>Reinhard thinks contemporary advertising history will be divided into three separate parts: The beginning of what he calls the "creative revolution," brought about by ad legends like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bernbach">Bill Bernbach (The "b" in DDB)</a>; "digital disruption," which came about at the end of the century; and "the next revelation," which we are just entering into.</p><p>He said: "Digital disruption, which for a while I began describing as 'digital distraction', was taking our eye off the basics. But the basics of human nature does not change. The need for brands does not change. The need for brands to connect with the consumer and drive to succeed and be admired, to be loved, to belong - all those stay the same. And the need for creative ideas to connect brands with those stays the same."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58a7244854905720098b5455-2400/krnelsonvedderlandsman1970jpg.jpeg" alt="reinhard" data-mce-source="DDB" data-mce-caption="Pete Nelson, Blair Vedder, Keith Reinhard, and Dale Landsman just after DDB won the McDonald's account in early 1971." /><p class="source"><span>DDB</span></p><p class="caption">Pete Nelson, Blair Vedder, Keith Reinhard, and Dale Landsman just after DDB won the McDonald's account in early 1971.</p></div><p></p></div></div>The next phase is all about the industry losing its "obsession with the shiny new objects."</p><p>One of those is the idea of "big data." The surprise election wins for Brexit and Trump highlights the "fallacies" of big data, according to Reinhard, who said the industry is beginning to realize it can't just rely wholly on the data it is given.</p><p>"For years, left-brain thinkers thought storytelling and emotion were squishy. They wanted fact, not fable. But [studies show] storytelling makes your bottom line grow. The problem is that it takes three to six months of commitment to something before you see that inflection point," Reinhard said.</p><p>"The industry has to do a better job of selling that and convincing people to commit ... [there is a] profound difference between creatiing a buzz and creating a brand."</p><h2>3. Creative agencies and media agencies merging back together again.</h2><p>Media-buying agencies - which advise clients on where to advertise and buy their ad placements on their behalf - are only a fairly recent phenomenon. In decades-past, the agency that created a big TV ad would also be the same agency that bought all its media space.</p><p>"We only had two questions to answer in the creative department: What shall we say? And how shall we say it? The research told us what and it was up to our imaginations to work out how to say it on TV, radio, and press," Reinhard said. "The question of when and where [the ads were placed] was left for the last five minutes of the presentation, when we'd hand off to the media department and they'd place it on the most strategic TV [slots]."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58a71e2f01fe5851008b536f-2400" alt="Jackie Vernon keith reinhard" data-mce-source="DDB" data-mce-caption="Keith Reinhard in the recording studio with actor and comedian Jackie Vernon circa. 1964." /><p class="source"><span>DDB</span></p><p class="caption">Keith Reinhard in the recording studio with actor and comedian Jackie Vernon circa. 1964.</p></div><p></p></div></div>But now - as the revenue models of media agencies have become a lot more complicated that simply taking a 15% margin - nearly all advertisers have a separate creative agency and creative agency. Often those agencies may be ultimately owned by the same parent company, but the two will have very different P&amp;Ls.</p><p>Reinhard believes the two should "never have been separated."</p><p>He said: "When the media explosion began in the US with the introduction of cable TV and multiple channels, we moved that when and where right up to the top. We asked when and where the consumer was most likely to engage with the brand message, and that started to influence the where and how."</p><p>Reinhard said many people in the ad industry tried to fight the separation, but clients couldn't argue with the economics: "When [media agency] Carat said GRPS [gross rating points - the metric by which TV ads are bought] are like pork bellies and soy beans - the more you buy the cheaper it is - clients couldn't resist."</p><p>But within Reinhard's parent company, Omnicom, there are already examples of the recombination of the media and creative functions. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ddb-ceo-wendy-clark-mcdonalds-2016-9">The company set up its "We Are Unlimited" agency late last year to serve McDonald's</a>, which includes staff from its creative, digital, and media units. DDB New York, a creative agency, has begun hiring people like channel planners - media agency-type roles - to work with its creatives.</p><p>Reinhard said: "It [advertising] couldn't effectively work without that media discipline wedded to creative."</p><h2>Setting DDB up for the "next phase."</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58a7217e5490572c008b556b-1079/screen shot 2017-02-17 at 41359 pm.png" alt="keith reinhard ari weiss" data-mce-source="DDB" data-mce-caption="Keith Reinhard and Ari Weiss in Bill Bernbach's original office." /><p class="source"><span>DDB</span></p><p class="caption">Keith Reinhard and Ari Weiss in Bill Bernbach's original office.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Business Insider spoke to Reinhard on <a href="http://www.adweek.com/agencyspy/ari-weiss-becomes-ddbs-first-ever-north-american-chief-creative-officer/122461">day two for DDB North America's first ever chief creative officer, Ari Weiss</a>. DDB poached Weiss from BBH New York, where he worked on clients such as Netflix, Axe, and PlayStation as the agency's chief creative officer.</p><p>Weiss said he and Reinhard's viewpoints are "remarkably similar," despite peers thinking they may have a "radically different" point of view, given the points they are at in their careers. Throughout our conversation, Weiss chimed with Reinhard's view on where the ad industry is headed.</p><p>We ask for Weiss' predictions for advertising in 2017. Our conversation takes place just days before the Super Bowl, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/all-the-ads-that-ran-during-the-super-bowl-in-order-2017-2">where a handful of brands decided to make political statements with their big game ads.</a> Will we see more of the same this year? And is that the right thing to do?</p><p>Weiss said: "The piece I have taken out of this election the most is that our job as advertisers is to service the country and share the brands that have meaning. I think when you have a very divided country - and I'm taking my political views out of this ... one of the great insights I've always gleaned is that nothing brings us together as a community better than great stories that are relatable. We have a responsibility, more than ever, to be aware of the consumers we serve and their different viewpoints."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/budweiser-super-bowl-commercial-anheuser-busch-statement-immigrants-2017-1">Watch Budweiser's Super Bowl ad - it makes a strong statement on immigration</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="84cjViOTE66uf5D6w7RMRpuK04n2M-1G" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '84cjViOTE66uf5D6w7RMRpuK04n2M-1G',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

You Searched For "ari weiss ddb interview" and got 4 results

India is a market of fascinating creativity and an immense growth potential: Ari Weiss, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide

Samarpita Banerjee

Ari Weiss, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide walks us through his idea of the evolution of creativity

Business Insider India

Amazon and Netflix to talk for the first time at Cannes Lions this year

BI India Partner

Advertising legend Keith Reinhard's 3 predictions for where the ad industry is headed

Lara O'Reilly