Global Brands vs Global Celebrities: Who’s the Smarter Marketer?

SapientNitro’s 2012 Cannes Lions presentation on Global Brands vs Global Celebrities, by my good friend Freddie Laker, who moderated a debate beween Daz McColl and Omar Epps.

SapientNitro seminar at Cannes Lions 2012

SapientNitro hosted a seminar Monday at Cannes , called Global Brands vs Global Celebrities: Who’s the Smarter Marketer ?

As globalisation and digitalisation continue to break down the barriers between cultures and geographies we’re seeing a rapid rise in global brands, but also in true global celebrities. Celebrities, for better or worse, are brands in their own right and they operate in areas that are passion points for consumers and frequently leverage immense social currency. To some celebrity marketing is a lazy option but celebrities aren’t lazy marketers.

Omar Epps, who plays Dr Eric Foreman on the global TV hit House, joins SapientNitro to explore the way celebrities are leveraging cutting-edge marketing techniques and leading in adoption of new digital platforms such as Pinterest, Instragram, or Beeyoo. Global brands can learn from global celebrities to be more effective, but can global celebrities learn from global marketers?

Our open dialogue debate the strategies and communication tactics adopted by both global marketers and celebrities while sharing some of our experiences and insights around supporting global brands. Can ‘brand purpose’ compete with ‘celebrity brands’ or do they exist in harmony?

Who’s the smarter marketer? In asking who is winning consumer interest we will explore the differences to find new ways to reach consumers, build brands, and drive sales.

Check out this little excerpt from the seminar.

Official Facebook Places Video

Check out the official teaser video for Facebook places. What I really love about it is that it maps exactly to SapientNitro’s PoV on the space-time continuum for experience mapping; in layman terms what we believe is that every moment should cross space and time. A moment crosses spacewhen multiple people in different locations can live the same moment .. for example, you share a live video feed, lifecast, share status updates, photos, and your friends all over the world can interact with this content in real time.

SapientNitro at SXSW 2011

It always amazed me how SXSW calls for speakers about 11 months in advanced and has to lock down all sessions 6 months in advanced. Of course there could be some timeless sessions that will always make sense, but it’s hard to know how topics will be relevant 9 months from now … With that said, SapientNitro submitted 19 visionary topics that I think will make great sessions; some returning speakers (including Freddie and myself) and some great new speakers.

It’s great to see so much variety of expertise: creative, strategic, business, technology … from SapientNitro, Government Services, Financial Services, and from so many different people like our CCO, Business Lead, Creative Directors, Technology Directors, developers, and even recruiting. Tells a lot about the diversity, multifariousness, mixture of SapientNitro ’s capabilities and expertise.

Please read below and provide feedback or questions on these topics … what else would you like to see us cover? If you like a topic please take the time to follow the link and vote for it to make sure we have the opportunity to share it with you.

Bringing the Love Back to Brands by Gaston Legorburu

Technology has liberated the dialog between brands and customers, sating consumers’ love of sharing, connecting, raving, venting… But in many ways, it’s also driven isolation as we press “skip intro” to proceed to our desired action. In this discussion, Gaston Legorburu, SapientNitro’s worldwide chief creative officer, will explore the unique paradox that technology has introduced to the consumer/brand relationship. From isolation to sharing, technology is driving a massive social revolution. Learn the art of combining design and engineering to create relevant experiences, experiences that transform barely personable brands into “builders of moments.”

Location-Based-Services is so 2010 - Behold Context-Based-Services by Rob Gonda

Defined as using large mashup of data services to enable amazing experiences through mobile devices. What’s not digital nowadays?! Mobile is replacing the pc and becoming that unique personal technology gadget that no one lives without – and with it, comes connectivity, content, productivity, and entertainment. The magic is that mobile links the gap between digital and real world, extending experiences, and more importantly, making is easy, simple, and intuitive. Foursquare and Gowalla gaining momentum, Twitter added Places, Facebook launched their location based service and integrate with the Open Graph, Google “Me” relies on Latitude, location-location-location. But checking-in requires too much effort… Location will evolve from a reactive engagement to a proactive engagement … background services will be always-location aware. Apps will automatically react to actual location, history, friends, places, and a new set of data source mashups such as weather, humidity, light sensitivity, noise ambiance, and more. If you want to get inspired by innovations galore, this is a session you can’t miss.

Found the Crystal Ball - Unveil the Future by Freddie Laker

The world is evolving at an amazing pace and if companies want to keep up they need to evolve too; but evolution is not a simple concept; what are the right choices? where should you invest? what do your customers want, and what are your competitors doing about it? The best VC firms in the world cannot predict the future, but a good understanding for trends, culture and behavioral shifts, technology advancements, brand evolution, micro and macro economics, and having insights on R&D and new product launches. The best brands in the world excel in designing amazing experiences. Loyalty driven through rewards, direct response advertising, and frequency / reach is a concept of the past. Loyalty is a consequence of providing great experiences across any touchpoint with the brand. What if you had a crystal ball that hint you on upcoming trends that will drive and set customer expectations? Good news, we found it!

Latest Foot Locker ads by SapientNitro

The “Art Class” spot for Foot Locker by SapientNitro features a purportedly nude male model, being described by students as “leathery” and “crooked.” Very nicely done. Second spot takes a spin on the old butterface and introduces the concept of buttershoes.