In today’s marketing world, people are constantly talking about AI, data, insights, Gen-Z, and Purposes…, which made marketing sounds more serious. However, I personally think I am more likely to remember and recommend a funny or imaginative ad. At Cannes Lions 70, I noticed that many of the awards went to BBDO’s creative works, and I was so curious about how smart and creative those award-winners are, therefore, I decided to attend the events and speeches given by people from BBDO.
The session called “Why we need to make people laugh” was very impressive. The speaker, CEO of BBDO worldwide, delivered the speech in a very hilarious way which was aligned with the theme. It was sad to see humor was in decline, and even in Cannes Lions only 1 in 10 gold and grand prix winners used humor in 2022. However, humor could be vital to brands. It can make a brand become more memorable and build a distinctive brand image. Consumers are anticipating sense of humor in brands, and they are more likely to be persuaded and then recommend brands by their humor. I like the new definition of LMFAO given by the speaker, which was “Laughter means financial achievements optimized”.
Another speech given by BBDO talking about strategy also mentioned the importance of "not being too serious". It is the imagination that enable the success of creative works. Strategies is imagination, is about future creating, is about revolution, others are just tactics. Although logic is important, it might sometimes restrict creativity, while imagination can "take us to places logic never will".
In the award show, one of the award presenter from the jury demonstrated that although trendy things like data, Gen-Z, and algorithm matters, we still need to remember the most important thing is our human imagination. I deeply agreed with her and could see strong imagination and creativity in those award winners' masterpieces. I would never restrict my imagination in my future study and career, always have fun in the creative world, and try to bring joy to target audiences to be more persuasive.
Comments