Interview With Niku Banaie, Director Of Innovation At Naked (Part I)

Q. What do you see as the main challenges for brands trying to ‘advertise’ to their audiences these days.

People still like ‘advertising’ but some of the rules have certainly changed driven by the obvious things like technology and the breadth of new and alternative media channels, but also more interestingly by what people actually perceive advertising to be.

Would an old school brand manager think Nike Run London was advertising? It certainly communicates all the right things and ticks all the marketing boxes but would not have necessarily come out of an ‘advertising’ agency.

So, in answer to your question I would say that the biggest challenge to brands is to challenge what they actually perceive advertising to be. Some brands already do this but many do not.

Q. We’ve been noticing a shift from classic advertising to brand experiences. Would you agree?

We have seen some big bold statements from the likes of Coca-Cola and P&G in regards to how they perceive communications and how they will be spending less on some of the traditional channels like TV and re-addressing there budgets to content, interactive and experiences. This is a sign of the times and once these guys speak up others seem to follow.

This wave of thinking has been supported by brands that have launched and grown without the assistance of traditional broadcast channels. Examples include amazon.com, innocent smoothies and red bull who have demonstrated that its possible to grow and engage with customers without massive budgets and the use of channels like TV.

When you start looking at the media consumption of the younger generations coming through it starts to throw up some very interesting insights. A study in the US found that the internet surpasses TV as the primary media choice for teenagers, when asked which they would prefer to live without, the TV set came out the loser. These new generations where born into the mobile and internet world, and the thought of shopping, interacting with friends and consuming content online is second nature to them. For them its all about the experience – how can they interact with something and who does it connect them with – elements that brand experiences, whether online or in the real world can deliver really well.

Q. How will brands use portable wireless devices to interact with their audience as they become more prominent?

The obvious idea is to transplant existing traditional ideas onto this medium, kind of like what happened with the web and people directly placing their print ads on this medium and thinking its going to work – very naïve!

The way forward and most engaging way is to think from a service design perspective – what can you do that would really add value to the lives of your consumers? Orange in the UK had a great service initiative with the Orange Wednesdays 241 txt cinema offer, where by texting 241 on a Wednesday you receive two for the price of one cinema tickets. By designing ideas like these you start to build long term relationships versus flash in the pan awareness. Wouldn’t it be great if a travel company like Virgin started to offer location based travel guides – once the technology is ready, it is examples like these that will make the real difference!

Q. Do you think that the video equipped mobile phone could save the 30 second TV spot?

I don’t think video equipped mobile phones will save the 30 second spot as it wont be long until these phones have TIVO style ad skipping functionality built in as well. So the same issues the ad industry is facing now in regards to ad skipping, especially in the US, will apply on mobile TV. What will be needed are clever ways to understand what types and length of moving image will actually work on the mobile platform. Are people really going to watch full length movies on there phone – probably not. Are they going to watch a short story that has been optimised for the mobile platform and treats the medium as unique – most probably.

Q. What key issues should a brand/marketing manager consider when they next plan their communications strategy?

To be honest with you the old classics still apply. The Who,What, Where, When and Why . What’s needed now more than ever is creativity applied to each one of these areas. A particular style of creativity that has no pre-conceived perceptions of how things should be done.

Q. With the multitude of channels and creative executions to consider – how does a brand/marketing manager keep sane these days?

Surround themselves with agencies and people who don’t waffle jargon, give informed solutions based on real and simple insights and who are on culturally on it. Quite simple really.

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