media update’s Adam Wakefield was at the Durban International Conference Centre to hear about how creativity is changing advertising and vice versa.

The Seminar opened by Loeries® chairperson Suhana Gordhan, followed by introductory words from Loeries® CEO Andrew Human. The first speaker to take the stage was Weera Saad, head of the creative shop at Facebook MEA, in Dubai.

Saad told the audience that humanity’s brains are being rewired, with its ability to process a thought speeding up, as communication has sped up.

“In 2001, we used to think that it took 300 milliseconds to process a thought. In 2013, 13 milliseconds to process a thought. That is how fast our brains have become. Eighty-six billion neurons are firing in our brains, 10 times a second,” Saad said.

“That means our brain is streaming 40 HD movies every single second. We are wired to absorb and process that, but the side effect is that attention is becoming the most important currency because our brain has become really good at processing and has also become a superhero in rationing attention.”

Creatives and communicators, Saad explained, have to evolve, as they are the custodians of culture. They need to evolve to catch up with where people are.

“The big wave is here. We need to surf,” Saad said.

Principles to get there include:

• Co-create – Collaborate and blur the lines;
• Build for people when they are, not where they are, which means producing immediate, interactive, and immersive content;
• Be brave – Showing courage in real time;
• Move fast and break things – “If you are not breaking things, you are not moving fast enough”; and
• Know your playground.

African creativity and common sense

Unilever South Africa CEO, Luc-Olivier Marquet, then spoke about African creativity taking charge of the African story and why this is important.

“Simply, Africa herself has, over centuries, for numerous historical reasons, elevated offshore creativity to be perceived as being of greater value than what is generated on the continent,” Marquet said.

“This single reality is what is keeping Africa’s creativity chasing after international validation in their creative endeavours – and that needs to change.”

The continent has an opportunity to question the assumptions being made in the creative process, as well as to challenge the assumptions the world makes about African creative output.

“Perception is probably Africa’s most damaging stumbling block. The challenges we face on the continent are very real. Social and economic issues both inform the views held of Africa globally and on the continent itself,” he said.

This means that whenever Africa is competing or sitting at a global table, it has already been compromised.

“Creativity must, first and foremost, resonate with the vast majority of consumers on this continent. We cannot do this without committing to un-stereotyping and de-colonising the image of Africa. If we don’t do this, they simply create the space for others to make dangerous assumptions about us, and to write their owns stories without our permission,” Marquet said.

CCO of Munich-based Plan.Net Group, Markus Maczey, spoke about the current environment creatives worked in today, the value he found in what he called the ‘What-If-We’ formula, and gesunder menschenverstand.

Maczey explained that gesunder menschenverstand is a common sense, though it does not have a direct translation to English. He stretched this out, explaining that gesunder menschenverstand is “an average intelligent human being with a certain amount of experience and an average interest in upcoming technologies and people’s interests, who is working in advertising, and is able to say what’s good or not.”

When it came to the ‘What-If-We’ formula, it is basically that point within the creative process when someone just steps aside and says “I got everything you guys said, but what if we do that instead?”

In a nutshell, Maczey said the ‘What-If-We’ formula is “(talent + braveness) / gesunder menschenverstand = awesome stuff.”

The rules of the ‘What-If-We’ formula are: “Don’t work, play. If you work, work like a student. If it gets serious, be brave. If you f**k it up, try again. It’s only advertising, no one’s gonna die.”

Lessons for work, and creativity

Keith Cartwright, executive creative director at BSSP in California, spoke about the five rules he uses in the execution of his work, which were influenced by his religious upbringing.  

They are:

• doubt yourself;
• steal;
• be stupid; 
• fail harder; and
• give it all away. 

“It is very important to doubt yourself. You have to put a lot of self-doubt into everything you do. This idea of a God complex is actually the antithesis of getting good work,” Cartwright said.

“I always say be self-critical. Perfection is the enemy of good, but good is the enemy of great and you know people say 'it doesn’t have to be perfect, absolutely not, but sure as hell, it needs to be great. If it isn’t, maybe start over'.”

Stealing meant being curious and learning from others’ work, and about the process others use in the execution of that work to make you better.

“Always remember that nothing belongs to you. We are only borrowing things that already existed,” he said.

Being stupid meant coming into the room and admitting you know absolutely nothing. Cartwright quoted Greek philosopher and academic Socrates on his deathbed, who said, “I know one thing. I know nothing."

Failing harder meant learning. If you are going to fail, do it fast, do it hard, and do not waste time so you can try again. Learning from failure is the process.

Lastly, Cartwright urged attendees to remember that the product they, as creatives, advertising, and marketing professionals put out into the world is very influential.

“Put everything you have into what you do, and leave it all on the floor. Have absolutely no regrets,” he said.

For more information, please visit www.loeries.com

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The business environment is a punishing one, especially for smaller organisations. Read more in our article, Loeries® 2017: Seven reasons why small creative agencies fail