Creat_ve _ndustry Summ_t #2
As promised in my day #1 blog post, here is my experience during the second day of this two-days Creative Industry Summit event. I still focused on the Advertising, Media and Marketing track with a sneak peak in the Food track to hear from Amina Rashad around her Glow Healthy Smoothies journey.
The day went smoothly, with the help of our host from the World Youth Forum coverage Passant El Husseiny. And the beautiful inside out, the founding partner of the Creative Industry Summit, Mai Salama.
A special thank you goes to Uber for their collaboration with The Doodle Factory for their CSR project. Uber is taking part in renovating & refurbishing a primary school on the island of Heissa in Aswan along with Mashrou El Saada.
Is China a copycat nation?
It all started with Zak Dychtwald's keynote speech around whether China is a copycat nation or not?! He is the author of Young China, and the founder & CEO of Young China Group USA & China.
China is not a copycat nation, as it has a rapid change nature.
There is a Chinese saying that reflects the rapid change they are currently in "Crossing the River by feeling the stones.".
From 1990 and 2017 the per capita GDP for Chinese people enhanced by 27x, per capita GDP indicates the standard of living for the country.
China nowadays is open to the outside cultures than ever before through Chinese students studying abroad & the internet usage.
What makes China unique, is the fact that it is a "mobile payment" economy which leads to innovation.
One of the case studies was around a beggar that innovated in his job after Chinese citizens stopped holding physical currency with them. So, he has created a QR Code for people to scan & donate money to him.
Another case study was the "We Chat" mobile application, which includes nearly everything. On this app you can basically chat or call your friends, arrange an outing. You can check recommendation & book your place on the same app. Then, you can start sharing pictures or videos without leaving the same application.
Generally, people use "Modernization" and "Westernization" interchangeably. However, in real life there is a huge difference.
Chinese people has changed their mindset over the years through a set of practices, such as: having young people in the business, being open to interact with people from different backgrounds, traveling abroad & inviting people to travel to China, and finally changing their consumption pattern from "looking to the future" to "living in the moment" which changed a lot of things.
How to innovate bigger, bolder, better?
Then came Rana Mandour from Nestle, to discuss how to innovate bigger, bolder, and better through their latest innovations "Fitness Toasties" which is manufactured from oats to be a healthy snack counting for 133 calories of your daily intake. To innovate, you need to check the below!
Innovation has 5 Bs, which are: believing in your reason, befriending your target, breaking the norm, building the total experience, and better as you go.
Believing in your reason through starting with the "why" in mind. Then expanding to the "how" and "what" with your reasons on top of your mind.
To test your innovation there is a nice 2-axis graph consisting of "novelty" & "value". This quadrant has "new but not valuable" or "not new and not valuable" or "new and valuable" or "not new and valuable". Your innovation should be in the "new and valuable" quadrant.
Befriend your target through studying and resonating with them. You need to ask your target audience the right questions to get the right answers that will help you innovate for a better live for them.
Build experiences through the packaging, messaging, and everything around your product.
Better as you go through learning with your customers through your journey together.
How to act to bad publicity?
Mai Abaza from Publicist Inc rocked the stage through her presentation around handling your brand crisis. As every brand has its failures, you have to be prepared to act mindfully. And to know that the number #1 failure is "customer service" failures.
The higher your brand equity is the harder you fail & the higher the exposure is the worser you fail.
Samsung batteries were exploding & there was a crisis that Samsung acted upon correctly. And this led to maintaining their market-share through the crisis & to date people are buying Samsung mobile phones.
Another case study is "Tylenol" which is a medicine years ago caused deaths & with good crisis management people are still using it to date as a medicine.
"Crisis management" is either a short-term solution or a mid-term solution, however "Reputation management" is the long-term solution.
When a crisis happens, you should work on a concrete plan backed up with facts before responding to the public. And the rule of thumb is to communicate the truth.
Assess the situation through knowing your stakeholders, knowing the damage caused, and knowing the platforms that published the crisis. Then create scenarios with possible outcomes.
The first 48 hours in the crisis are the toughest hours.
How Content is evolutionized?
Then came Herve Bizra & Ricky Baba from Verizon Media's RIIOT in the USA. Working on Hollywood animated movies & they are on stage to speak about the content evolution.
Discussing the milestones in the "content evolution"; in 1440 printing press was launched. In 1731 magazines started to spread. In 1925 television started to spread. Before 1990 is the pre-internet era. In 1991 internet started to flourish for customers. In 1995 computers started to generate imagery. In 2009 4G LTE started launched. Now, we have more technologies such as: motion capture, livestream, user generated content, or augmented reality.
In Hollywood, the movies take 3-4 years to be finalized due to the long process they go into from creating a story board to creating the characters & digitizing them. Then they works on the crowds, effects, movement, extensions, and lighting. Then refining everything to be ready for showtime!
Who wins business results or award-winning ideas?
The first panel discussed business results vs winning awards. With representatives from Marketing Mix, Bank Misr, P&G, and FP7. And the moderator was Ahmed Emad a marketing communication professional.
Awards are won for the creative ideas or the fluffy ideas that are aligned to the business targets. So, we should mix both creativity and the message.
We can do both through building long-term relationship with our customers as always people comes first.
Whether to focus on business results or winning awards depends on the industry you are in as well.
Awards can come for business results as well, not only for creative ideas.
How to become a genuine influencer?
The second panel discussed the rise of genuine influencers. With Coucla Refaat specialized in Advertising & Creative Content, passionate about traveling & documentaries, the author of "Dance of Life" book and launched #CouclazMuse. Ismail Kassem who is an entrepreneur, content creator and coach on a mission to create the biggest Arabic speaking life support platform. Osman Badran who is a brand architect. Rana Arafa who is a mum & TV presenter, passionate about fitness, nutrition, stress management & weight management. And Mazen Yassen or the just a fo proer, inspiring you to step out, do more and believe in yourself while also entertaining you.
Influencer dictionary meaning is to use your power to affect your audience.
The trend now is to close the gap among the influencers, the clients and the agencies.
Being genuine is the key to win the hearts.
The key is to share instantly & raise questions that people can relate to.
You need to find your passion & follow it.
The influencers advice to deal with negative comments is either to take it genuinely or to put it in consideration.
You should plan your content with all data in mind to be a successful influencer, in addition to adhocs whenever you feel the urge to share something.
Don't stick only to what you know, as you should keep learning on the go.
To share a product review, you need to try the product first then review it honestly to keep your credibility with your audience.
The influencers advised the agencies to take things easy by Ismael, be genuine by Rana, listen to exposed ideas by Coucla and choose the brand advocates by Osman.
What is a Format?
Then came to the stage Dine Hashem the general manager for Green production, speaking about the case study of Crazy Market. Crazy Market is cooking competition that they shoot in Fresh Foods Market with a jury to decide who to win every episode.
A very important event to attend if you are a content creator is "MIP Formats", which is an international content showcase.
TV Format is a localized version replicated from a show, such as "The Master Chef" being replicated in many different countries or "The Voice" or "X Factor".
For a show to become a format, it needs to travel to different territories, be unique, has many seasons and has a unique factor such as the rotating chairs in "The Voice" or the buzz in "X Factor"
Who is Number #1?
Then came to the stage the controversial actor or singer Mohamed Ramadan, whether you agree or disagree with his lifestyle we have to admit that he succeeded in winning the hearts of a big chunk of people's hearts. Maybe because he is down-to-earth or he looks like one of us or any other season. His talk was a bit different as well, he didn't prepare a speech however he asked the audience to ask him any question that crosses their minds & he will answer honestly.
Whether you agree to the idea of hosting him on the Creative Industry Summit stage or not, I have seen big names looking forward to this talk & listening carefully to his words. I have seen a success story of a man who reached where he dreamt to be whether we agree on his movies' or songs genre.
Passion led Mohamed Ramadan to become professional.
Persistence for him is more important than talent.
When he was a young boy living in a house with worn-out walls, he kept creating vision boards with Lamborghini cars. Years later, he owns it!
To be successful surround yourself with successful people is one of the key advices Mohamed Ramadan gave to his fans.
Mohamed Ramadan genuinely replied to a question around showing off his luxurious cars that he is showing his possessions to his fans same as showing them to his family or friends. Because since day one he has decided to count his fans as family.
Regarding his songs, he has discussed that this is a new genre that matches his personality in singing about himself instead of singing for love or break ups.
What it takes to go international?
The third panel around promoting Egypt as a destination through glamour and events. Having Yasmine Shihata the founder & CEO for Super Publications LTD & Venice Media PR as the moderator. Amr Mansi the CEO of I-events working closely in the Gouna International Film Festival for two consecutive years. Mohamed Hefzy the Festival Director for the Cairo International Film Festival. To market your events for the international markets you have to do the following:
You have to work hard more than being talented to succeed.
You have to be connected with international partners.
You have to build & leverage the history.
You have to search for sponsorship.
You have to offer a full experience.
Can we integrate games to our marketing plans?
The last panel was around what is behind the Esports, its rise & what it can do for brands. With Islam Risha the creative strategist for Facebook & Instagram in MENA as the moderator. Ahmed Helal the co-founder & managing partner for SND E-Sports. Hesham El Borno the co-founder for Gamers Lounge. Hazem Ahmed Abdelfatah a professional gamer. Youssef Mohsen the founder & managing partner for Anubis Gaming SAE.
You can integrate your events with games to promote it, such as fashion brands creating games to help you customize your outfits or creating it.
They believe that technology can beat corruption surely.
By this the 10th edition of the Creative Industry Summit came to an end! Stay tuned for the upcoming event in Lebanon.