Goafest 2010: "Unsexy can be the new sexy," Will Collin

In the first session on Day 2 of Goafest 2010, Naked Communications' founding partner, Will Collin spoke on the various ways communication should be "freshened" to be effective

On the second day of Goafest 2010, Will Collin, founding partner, Naked Communications conducted the inaugural seminar, 'Path to Freshness', in line with the festival's theme - 'Survival of the Freshest'.

Collin began by incorporating the popular adage into his idea, saying that freshness is not about trying different things, but doing things differently. "The problem is that we forget that only through process, we arrive at fresh ideas. Freshness in communication means asking what you are actually planning for," he said. Collin resented the fact that fresh communication is often thought of as doing "cool stuff".

"Challenge everything! If you want to make a difference, go to the core of the problem," he suggested.

He added that fresh communication is not about chasing "shiny, new things" or about finding different routes to reach the same place. "Start conversation in a different place. Recognise there is a need to change. Start a conversation to find the core problem, than jumping straight to the solution," he elaborated.

He cited an example from a 1940s Clark Gable movie, The Huckster, where in a particular scene, a marketing official insists on forcefully pushing the brand to the consumer. "How much has really changed from those days? How much have we moved from the marketing paradigm we choose to work in?" he asked.

Collin, thereafter, proceeded to share some 'lessons' for fresh communication.

The foremost lesson, he said, was that freshness in communication was no longer about irritating the consumer; this legacy needs to be challenged.

The second lesson, he said, was to develop a communication strategy built around the needs of the consumer.

He cited the example of a campaign by a bank in the UK, which claimed to put the consumer first. To test this claim, a telephone call was made to the bank; and the caller, posing as a potential customer, asked the bank representative how the bank put the customer first. The results revealed a rather callous approach, with one of the eventual responses being, "That is just something they say in the ads".

Collin reiterated that this was definitely not a case of integrated marketing, which is critical for freshness in communication.

The third lesson, he said, was to avoid living in a silo and being isolated from things that are important for business. Both the client and the agency were guilty of this, said Collin, adding that it is imperative to work as a collective home.

The next lesson, according to Collin, is to never be compromised. "Media neutrality needs to come from objectivity - free from bias. Think objectively what combination of services would work best," he said.

He reiterated his earlier point of not chasing shiny, new things as the fifth lesson. Most new initiatives are recommended more for the novelty factor, rather than being the right solution to the problem, he observed.

"Freshness does not essentially mean you have to be sexy," was the sixth lesson. "Unsexy can be the new sexy," he added.

Collin urged that the audience needs to be understood better. Explaining the dangers of taking the audience for granted, he quoted another dialogue from The Huckster, "Someday, 50 million people are going to just reach out and turn off their radios."

Collin remarked that consumers should not be seen as the "target audience", but as partners. He attacked the jargon used in marketing lingo, which he termed as "military language". "It is not about carpet bombing or guerilla warfare, but respecting the audience," he said.

The next lesson, he said was to overcome "muscle memory" and following a monotonous routine at work. "There is a better way if you unlearn your muscle memory. Everything your brand does is communication," he said.

He proceeded to cite case studies of work done by Naked as examples before closing the session. "If we want to be successful, we need to acknowledge our weaknesses," Collin said, as part of his closing remarks.