Best Sessions from the Final Day of Advertising Week Europe 2018

Trevor Robinson has a right laugh at comedy advertising

Done well, humour is a powerful force in advertising. Make people laugh, and they're more likely to remember and feel an affinity with your brand. But there's a fine line between striking comedy gold and a punchline that falls flatter than a half-arsed souffle. Who better to guide us through the changing world of comedy in advertising than the creative behind Tango's still-hilarious 90s ads, Trevor Robinson? The founder of Quiet Storm (and current shots cover star) kicked off with a selection of his favourite funny spots before taking a deep dive into the creative process behind Orange Man, Seduction and the hugely successful Kids Voices campaign for Haribo, which is still running in more than 10 different countries, proof that a humorous concept can successfully cross borders. However, as Robinson pointed out: "What's interesting about comedy is how it can go horribly wrong - it can fall down on the actors you cast, the structure, the editing" which was borne out in the way that one spot, Cinema, bombed. 

If this has piqued your interest, you can read more about Robinson's journey to the top in The Way I See It. SS

Does Gen Z really hate brands?

In a panel led by Jonathan Kitcher, Gen Z creators and their more - ahem - mature counterparts discussed the attitude of this new generation of consumers towards brands. To set the mood and give the audience a refresher on who Gen Z's are, the event began with a colourful graphic design video set to Kanye West's Black Skinhead which established and questioned stereotypes of the generation. The panel came to a general consensus that Gen Zs do not hate brands, and Jordan Schwarzenberger, chief creative officer of the James Grant Group, argued that they might even love them. As a Gen Z himself, Schwarzenberger explained that Gen Zs love brands that are functional and gave the examples of Netflix, Uber, and Airbnb as brands that are more about the service they provide rather than the brand itself. Sarah Lazenby, entertainment editor at Channel 4, added that the programmes on her channel - like the Great British Bake-Off - receive huge numbers of Gen Z viewers because young viewers get FOMO and want to be a part of the global conversation surrounding big brands. 

Gen Z vlogger and influencer Amber Doig-Thorne knows a thing or two about new versions of advertising, and she suggested that diverging from the traditional model of advertising is necessary for brands to stay relevant with a young audience - using technology to create exciting and interactive advertising experiences, as well as influencers who provide an accessible and relatable perspective. The panel also unanimously agreed that advertising geared towards Gen Z must be sincere. Schwarzenberger argued that it is OK for brands to dip into activism to connect with their politically-active audience, but it is a turn-off as soon as it comes off as patronizing or fake. 

Much of the session involved presenters debunking the common stereotypes of Generation Z, and when asked about the 8-second attention span of the average young person, chief creative officer of Brave Bison, Will Pyne, pointed outthat they have that short span because they know what they like and there is so much content at their reach. So, if your ad doesn't pull them in at once, they will simply move on. So Gen Z isn't a horde of angry teens to be feared, treat them like adults with their own set of tastes and brands will reap the rewards. EB

What is the future of search? 

At one of the final sessions of the week, a panel of experts, presided over by Campaign gloabl technology editor, Emily Tan, talked about what the future of search might look like. Kevin Mathers, country sales director at Google [above left], Eric Edge, head of global marketing comms for Pinterest [above, second from left] and Axel Steinman, vice president for EMEA for Bing ad sales [above, second right] spent much of the session discussing the impact of voice-based search which, Mather explained, "passes Google's 'toothbrush test' in that millions of people use it every day".

With the explosion of devices such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Microsoft's Cortana, Bing's Steinman suggested that there wasn't much scope for marketing opportunities in voice search because much of it is 'task completion commands', ie, 'Alexa, turn off the lights/order more milk'. Steinman went on to say that with digital assistants taking over more and more of users' lives he could see a time of machine-to-machine marketing, where "machines market to other digital assistants who will be making a lot of the [purchasing] decsions for people". He also suggested that "[the different] digital assistants will have to talk to each other and co-operate so as to benefit users because no one company has domination over the internet of things".

As you would expect, Pinterest's Edge was full of positivity about the abilities of visual search; "visual search can be really beneficial with less specific searches, like if you're looking for a recipe but don't know exactly which one, or an outfit, or what goes with a particular pair of shoes... what people want is not a plethora of information that they have to sift through but specific, helpful info that is relevant to them."

Steinman added that voice and screen search together would be a powerful thing; "We are visual creatures and we speak three times faster than we type". Ultimately the panel agreed that the future of search, whether type-, voice- or image-based, will come down to consumer trust and how well technology companies and their products build relationships with their users. However, if the last week or so is anything to go by, some of them have a way to go. DE