Goafest 2016: '''Different' doesn't have value, 'better' does" - Carter Murray

 

"The fundamentals of our business remain the same," said Carter Murray, the 40-year-old global CEO of FCB Ulka, in his talk on the third and final day of Goafest 2016. The journey of gathering insights, coming up with beautiful ideas and taking it to consumers' lives remains, he said, adding, "What we put in and how it comes out has changed."

 

He noted that the advertising industry was today competing with people who only go into business when they see a growth multiple of 10x, and suggested an approach that uses brakthrough technology to create radical solutions, thereby solving huge challenges.

 

Corresponding to 60 trillion web addresses, there are only 4 million apps, pointed out Murray. Quoting figures from Google (US), he noted that while there were over 3 billion searches on the web per day, 15 per cent of them were never seen before.

 

He explained, "This means that each day, there are 450 million searches for something that's never been asked before. When there is a 0.5 second delay (on a search), there is a 20 per cent drop in traffic. Amazon sees a 1 per cent drop in sales when there is a delay of 0.1 second. We need to understand the real time world we live in." 

 

"We have to start being aware of fake prophets," noted the FCB head, adding that seeing the statistics, witnessing what Silicon Valley is doing, and listening to some speakers at forums, clients and agencies start panicking. "You have to trust your own instincts. We don't need to throw everything out of the door and start again," he observed, advocating thoughtfulness in moving forward and embracing change.

 

'Better, not different'

 

Marketers, he noted, use data to make just 6 per cent of their decisions, while pointing out that there is a move in the right direction. In a message to all creative people, he said, "Data is waiting for its (director Martin) Scorsese. When are we going to use data to improve the creative product (not just improve sales)?"

 

The speaker pointed to the tendency among marketers and agencies to try and be 'different' in a changing and challenging environment, and urged them to try to be 'better' instead. He explained, "When you think about a marketing brief, think about 'better' - it is liberating. 'Different' doesn't have value; 'better' does. Steve Jobs did not invent the telephone; he made it 'better'."

 

'Hero', 'Hub' and 'Help' work

 

The CEO bucketed work into three buckets: 'Hero' work that is memorable and earns the brand glory (Volvo Epic Split), 'Hub' work where consumers and brands can participate, and 'Help', that aims at being useful, delivering what the target market is seeking. 

 

He cited some pieces of 'Hero' work from the agency, two of which were created for brand Nivea in Brazil.

 

Nivea Protection, which won the Mobile Lions Grand Prix at Cannes

 

Nivea Doll

 

Valspar Paint - Glasses for the colour-blind

 

 

"The world we live in allows us to do the things we could not have done before," surmised Murray, referring to the possibilities technology allows, and urging creative people to make use of it.