By Rahul Chandawarkar
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the social sector was the common thread that bound most presentations together on the final day of the third day of Goafest which concluded at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Bambolim, Goa on Saturday, April 13.
Matt Eastwood, global chief creative officer, McCann Health who spoke in the National Geographic knowledge seminar in the afternoon said that while the world was going through tough times, it was also a time for advertising professionals across the world to be agents of positive change.
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Day3@Goafest2019: Key Takeaways
:: Increased involvement by corporates in CSR projects had given rise to the concept of ‘return on doing good’ (RODG).
:: Hi-end technology platforms like Artificial Intelligence (AI) were helping creativity reach new heights.
:: The United Nations were keen that 50 per cent of its sustainability development goals (SDG) should emerge out of India.
:: One of the speakers redefined the four Ps of marketing as purpose, people, passion and physical.
Rahul Chandawarkar, a former newspaper editor, is a communications strategist and active triathlete based in Goa. He has been covering the Goafest for mxmindia.com since 2017. |
Eastwood said that in a competitive world, business enterprises had realised that if they made a positive impact on society though the corporate social responsibility route, their brands stood to gain. Eastwood went on explain how increased involvement by corporates in CSR projects had given rise to the concept of ‘return on doing good’ (RODG).
Citing an India example, Eastwood explained how the Kwality Dairy milk company had chosen to address the problem of Vitamin D deficiency among Indian school children through a very innovative CSR project.
Kwality Dairy had managed to convince 50 schools in the Delhi region to shift their open-air assembly timings to 1130am, so that children could be exposed to peak sunlight for at least 20 minutes of the day. Several hundred more schools had shown interest in implementing this idea. According to Eastwood, this innovative initiative on the part of Kwality Dairy would directly benefit the brand, as the brand would have top-of-the-mind recall when parents made a decision to buy milk for their children.
Among the several, international CSR examples that Eastwood shared with the audience, was the one initiated by Microsoft where, they created an information technology supported game which enabled physically disabled children to play video games. According to Eastwood, this ‘let everybody play’ philosophy of Microsoft would positively impact the brand.
Earlier in the day, Ross Jauncey, Head of Create at Google spoke along similar lines in the Google keynote address and said: “The best time for creativity was now.”
Jauncey was of the opinion that hi-end technology platforms like Artificial Intelligence (AI) were helping creativity reach new heights. Demonstrating this through a video clip, Jauncey showed how the recently launched Kupu app was helping people shoot photos on their android phone and learn the aboriginal, Maori language in New Zealand.
Similarly, Jauncey pointed out to a Nike advertisement campaign on multiple digital platforms which supported the anti-racism movement by featuring several sporting champions across the various continents of the world.
Society and the social sector once again resonated in the joint presentation made by Navi Radjou and Jaideep Prabhu, co-authors of the popular books, Jugaad and Frugal Innovation. Radjou and Prabhu who spoke in the Lokmat Knowledge Seminar maintained that while the spirit of ‘jugaad’ or innovative business practices was ingrained in the Indian business person’s psyche, the concept of doing business with less had spread across the globe.
Citing some examples, the authors said that a major consumer clothing brand like Levis had recently launched their ‘wasteless jeans’ created from plastic waste. The company had also promoted their ‘go water-less’ campaign where they recommended that their jeans did not have to washed regularly and that you could even shower in your jeans, the next time you want them washed to drive home the recycle-reuse mantra.
Turning their attention to India, the authors said that the United Nations were keen that 50 per cent of its sustainability development goals (SDG) should emerge out of India. The authors were confident that this was completely possible as they discussed chapters from their latest book, ‘Do better with less!” which showcased many an example of Indian innovative entrepreneurship (jugaad) across India.
Later in the early evening, Phil Kemish, co-founder of Disrupt Marketing speaking at the MTV knowledge seminar redefined the four Ps of marketing as purpose, people, passion and physical.
Exemplifying some of these Ps, Kemish stated how UK’s new chocolate brand, Tony’s Chocolonely had launched their product by pointing out that they were against all cocoa farms in Africa which employed children. Kemish pointed out that the brand had mentioned their values and beliefs on their wrappers and had launched their product solely on the basis of word of mouth publicity.
Finally, Ambarish Mitra, co-founder of Blippar who spoke at the Jagran Knowledge Seminar had the audience in awe as he introduced them to the relatively new, hi-tech concept of augmented reality (AR). Mitra did this by virtually creating a retail store on stage complete with garments etc which he could literally sift through. According to Mitra, AR and visual reality (VR) were the fourth and latest stages in the evolution of computing interface.
The final day also stood out with India’s boxing icon, Mary Kom surprising everyone by giving a near-professional rendition of the popular, Alanis Morissete song, “What’s going on!”. Likewise, Bollywood singer Mohammed Irfan and actor Pankaj Tripathi entertained everyone with their songs and anecdotes respectively.
By Anil Thakraney