Cannes Lions 2015: “I don’t care about ideas being digitally inclined”: Jon Hamm

Geometry Global has been on a high, and the icing would be the Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2015 for its ‘Lucky Iron Fish’ entry from Dubai.

 

Explaining the importance of Dubai and other emerging markets (including India) in the global scheme of things, Jon Hamm, global chief creative officer,  said, “Asia is a pretty significant market for us. We have big offices in India, Malaysia, China, Singapore and Vietnam. These are fully integrated offices which have a work force of the full skillset.”

 

Without giving a specific number, Hamm said that of the 4,200 people across Geometry Global worldwide, a third would be in Asia. He said, “I reckon we are pretty balanced in our offices between Asia, Europe and North America. While, the USA would be the largest market in terms of revenue, in terms of scale, Asian offices would be very strong. It’s a significant market for us and our clients.”

 

Speaking about work from these markets which include the Lifebuoy Roti Reminder project done in India, Hamm said, “In a funny way, they’re technology-inspired, but they’re done through a very old piece of technology. The Lucky Iron Fish project is an amazing idea. It’s solving a problem in Cambodia about a lack of iron in the diet. Since a lot of them eat on fish and rice, there is a lack of iron. The brief was to get people to consume more iron. So, if you put an actual brick of Iron in the rice or water, consumers will get that. People weren’t doing it. So, we created a bar which looked like a fish. Similarly, the Lifebuoy Roti Reminder too, was based on a simple technology idea about reminding people to clean their hands before eating. This is modern marketing and advertising. I come from a digital background and I don’t care about ideas being digitally inclined or stuff like that. It’s about doing stuff to be fresh and relevant.” 

 

(Read the full interview in the issue of Campaign India dated 10 July.)

 

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