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Advertising Week Asia 2016: The Audience Above All Else - The Question is What Content Builds Relationships
Advertising Week, the major event by the American Advertising Federation that covers industry trends, made its first landing in Asia this year. "Advertising Week Asia" was held at Tokyo Midtown for four days from May 30 to June 2. With the cooperation of 50 partner companies and organizations, nearly 90 seminars and workshops were held, attracting over 11,000 participants. Notable executives and marketing leaders from Japan and abroad served as keynote speakers. Seminars featured sessions focused on content and those provided by media companies.
Web Dentsu Inc. News covered the event from its preparatory stages in the series "Advertising Week is Coming!" (http://dentsu-ho.com/articles/3814). This article provides an overview report, focusing on the keynotes from perspectives including digital marketing and global trends.
Building Perfect Relationships with Consumers
With the spread of digital tools and the normalization of consumers actively sharing information, modern "advertising" may refer to the act of constantly building good relationships with consumers. Mr. Umang Shah, who has worked at Microsoft and Walmart and has been the Global Director of Social & Digital Marketing at Campbell since spring 2014, cites the example of BlackBerry smartphones, which once held nearly half of the market share, and explains that the reason for their decline was their failure to fully understand customer needs. As the iPhone and Android gradually became more popular, and despite the desire for openly usable messenger services, the company continued to push services that could only be used with its own products.
In order to maintain audience support, it is sometimes necessary to make tough decisions. Shah emphasizes "not being afraid." "When I was in charge of corporate communications at Walmart, I would contact reporters and critics about inaccurate articles or respond on the platform. Shortly after I left, the team carefully corrected a misleading New York Times critique on our blog. This resulted in a positive follow-up article highlighting that response, which was then picked up by other media. Setting fear aside, it's crucial to tell and share your own story."
Shah outlined five principles for building perfect relevance with consumers and ensuring a brand's continued acceptance: Bet on great ideas, even if it means scraping together the budget. Don't just set easy goals; instead, proactively fail and learn. Audience trumps everything. At certain stages, retreat is also crucial. Don't cling to your original definition of "success"; redefine it. Shar delivered a powerful message to the audience: move forward without fearing change or failure.
The mobile era, where SIM cards outnumber the world's population
The Facebook app currently has 1.65 billion users worldwide, while Messenger, a messaging app for small groups, has 900 million users. Messenger and WhatsApp, a messaging app acquired by Facebook in 2014, together handle 60 billion messages per day, which is three times the peak volume of SMS (short message service) messages, which was 20 billion.
Dan Neary, Facebook's Vice President for Asia Pacific, presented the roadmap for the next decade announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg at this spring's developer conference, reiterating the key technology areas of focus: connectivity, AI, and VR/AR.
He also presented four key approaches for leveraging Facebook in future business. First, reach and engagement. 66% of Facebook users access the platform daily, using it once every five minutes. Its "family" apps, like Instagram, are also expanding.
Next, mobile. "It's not 'the future is mobile,'" Neary emphasized. "The world is already in the mobile era." Currently, the world's population is 7.3 billion, while active SIM cards number 7.5 billion. That's how many mobile devices exist. "In Japan especially, mobile internet consumption time averages about 2 hours, 1.5 times the global average. Yet advertising spending lags behind media consumption. With apps now dominant, investment won't increase unless we shift from the PC-era mindset where cookies were effective."
Third is the creative canvas. In other words, how to communicate through expression. Neary states that video communication is now commonplace, and VR/AR will likely be the next frontier. He also notes that "Facebook Live," the live streaming feature officially launched this year, is strongly capturing user interest.
Fourth is value. How do we quantify business outcomes? While various metrics like CPC and share counts have evolved, the most crucial factor is tangible business growth. "The focus is shifting to whether brand value is genuinely increasing and whether it contributes to purchases. Because we can provide evidence of such results, we're driving a major leap forward in this industry," he stated.
Shiseido's thorough delegation of authority and focus on "Execution"
"Approximately 50% of companies listed in the 'Fortune Global 500' have a CMO. On the other hand, from what I hear around me, it seems that less than 10% of Japanese companies have a CMO. Brand value for customers is created through marketing and innovation. Japanese companies must think more about strategic marketing centered on the customer."
This is the perspective of Masahiko Uotani, Group CEO of Shiseido. After 20 years at Coca-Cola Japan managing various brands, he joined Shiseido in 2013. At that time, the domestic business was struggling to grow, while overseas operations were experiencing rapid expansion but faced challenges with low profit margins.
In response, he visited not only offices but also stores and factories worldwide, stating, "I spent the first 100 days listening directly to about 4,000 staff members." On the ground, a vicious cycle had emerged: insufficient investment forced reliance on short-term sales pushes, damaging brand image and stalling sales growth. "To break this cycle and create a positive one, individual awareness is crucial. I believed talent development was the key."
To achieve this, Mr. Uotani prioritized several elements: thinking globally while acting locally; recognizing diversity as a source of innovation; leadership that fosters high performance and an attractive culture; and above all, "Execution" – driving reforms with speed and focus.
Based on this philosophy, Shiseido established regional headquarters across six global zones and implemented a matrix organization—rare for a Japanese company—fully delegating authority to each CEO. "They are not subordinates, but we provide necessary resources." In fact, to enhance brand value, the company allocated a global budget of ¥100 billion over the three years starting in 2015. Finally, Mr. Uotani emphasized the goal of increasing female managers in Japan from 25% to 50% by 2020, stating, "We aim to become a global winner by leveraging the traditions of Japanese brands."
Diverse themes unfolded from creativity to AI
Each afternoon featured diverse sessions across five tracks, exploring creativity and innovation. In "How to Create Content That Sparks Frenzy," moderated by Koichiro Shima of Hakuhodo Kettle, speakers included Yohei Sadoshima of Cork, who supports hit works as a writer's agent, and Nobuyuki Sakuma of TV Tokyo, known for unique programs like the variety show "SICKS" that blends drama and comedy. They revealed approaches to content in the SNS era and their methods for engaging with writers and comedians.
In a Google-sponsored session themed "Creativity × Technology," Yasuharu Sasaki of Dentsu Inc. introduced "Digital Gentle Sports" – activities that allow even seniors to move their hands effortlessly while stimulating their minds. Additionally, Yosuke Suzuki from Google's global creative team ZOO and Yusuke Tominaga from dot by dot introduced "SUUMO SOUND VIEW," a player that generates and plays music specific to each area using data like location and movement speed.
The session "Digital Intruders: Crafting Meaningful Advertising Experiences," presented by WPP and its digital media agency Essence, featured Scott Spiritt, CDO of WPP APAC, and Kyoko Matsushita, CEO of Essence Digital APAC. They discussed the need for more strategic creativity in both content and media, given that up to 50% of people in developed countries reportedly use ad blockers.
TBS Television presented a session using the sports entertainment program "SASUKE / Ninja Warrior" as an example. Produced in 12 countries and broadcast in a remarkable 165 countries and regions, the session covered the factors behind the content's global success, as well as the development of a European version and sponsor development efforts conducted in collaboration with Dentsu Inc. Dentsu Inc.'s session explained trends in Asia's sports business, which is driving the global sports industry. Another Dentsu Inc. session focused on AI and data, showcasing examples of next-generation marketing like Shiseido's "uno SOCIAL BARBER" promotion, which utilizes deep learning.
Additionally, the Advertising Week Asia official website (http://www.advertisingweek.asia/) features event highlights and on-demand streaming of most sessions.
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