Page 62 - Adnews Nov-Dec 2022

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“That was a real passion point for me which kept my creative brain going, outside the coms and the corporate side of new busi- ness,” Coady said.
While the first two parts of the role takes up most of Coady’s time, he still gets tapped on the shoulder every single week to sit in on crea- tive sessions because “I’m an EP at heart,” he said.
What is a CMO’s biggest challenge?
“I think internally, the compression of time is always the biggest thing.
“Sometimes more bureaucratic activity can take considerably larger amounts of time and that eats into the productivity of new business which takes productivity time away from creativity.
“Personal life is another thing as I have a two-and-a-half-year-old baby, but it's just a fine balancing act that I have to manage.
“Externally, I am surprised that there's still a lot of learning around the power of entertainment in the advertising industry.
“Now the industry is starting to
“I recognised that Havas Media could benefit from the effort and energy Francis delivers. His ability to celebrate our talented team in a way that piques interest is exceptional.”
CEO Havas Australia, Virginia Hyland
Francis Coady presenting at MFA EX 2022, a day where our industry comes together en masse to connect, share knowledge and tackle challenging conversations.
understand that entertainment is a great driver and a connector to con- sumer’s passion, but I think it was a problem that the advertising industry wasn't looking at that earlier.
“Prior to that they were looking at a creative idea in isolation of the passions of the consumer and not looking through the eyes of the con- sumers to see their passions.”
How to tap into the consumer’s passions
“A consumer might be interested in croquet or ballet or politics or cor- porate social responsibility or whatever it is, but understanding that passion and really getting into the intricacies of why a consumer is pas- sionate about something will enable brands to target better.
“It's been great to see this transformation over the last eight years to hyperfocus on consumer passions, but I still don't think we were doing that enough.
“The Americans have been doing it for 60 years; just look at the foot- ball halftime shows with its integration of Pepsi and hip-hop.
“Look at cigarettes and film – it’s a great tragedy, but they understood that the passion of the consumer was going to films, so shove a cigarette at them to influence smoking at the cinema and then you’ve got them hooked on a product.
“When targeting any audience, we have to be agnostic about the chan- nels and find out the specific passions those consumers are interested in. “For example, look at the young hipsters in New York right now, they're all switching off social media and writing letters to each other, so Out-
Of-Home could be a good option to target them.
“When those Hipsters walk out of a Brooklyn cafe and see this massive
Out-of-Home ad for Apple, they might go and buy a new iPhone - but more importantly, we're not targeting them on digital because they're not looking at Instagram anymore.
“It's funny with new recruits, they all say they have digital experience because they think that’s most important. I’m more interested if they have brand experience or an understanding of cultural insights, because that creates the ideas that goes into the award-winning campaigns.”
The power of entertainment
“Our job as marketers is to entertain the idea of consumption - I have to entertain you somehow, whether it's through your passion of saving koalas for NRMA, right through to passionate cricketers for Gillette.
“If I'm entertaining you, you will connect to that moment and you'll consume - sounds simple, but it's hard to do well because if the stories aren't done well, you have a problem.
“Far too often vast sums of money are spent on campaigns and are detached from people's passions; they're not even embedded, they're standalone creative pieces which do not connect.”
Coady’s case in point is Menulog, which as an emerging brand, used cul- tural icon Snoop Dogg.
“Menulog ostensibly used hip hop culture to sell an app that drives food consumption. That use of him as an entertainment driver is mas- sively powerful and now Uber are too using that idea.”
Uber Eats followed with big name talent, from Kim Kardashian to Elton John.
“You connect to the consumer's interest through entertainment and if the products are good - boom, I've got you,” Coady said.
And this works for all audiences regardless of age.
“When you're older, your passions will change and morph, but you still have passions. Look at gardening! I don't think anyone's tapped gardening properly which is one of the single biggest passions people develop.
“Look at my mother; she is passionate about dance and will seek out high-end premium dance experiences such as Sydney Dance Company Australian and the International Ballet.
“Guess who is marketing at those moments? Premium high-end brands such as Lexus, LG TVs and Emirates Airlines.”