[ Expert Talk Series ] Interview with Mathieu Genelle (Publicis K1)
Q: Hi Mathieu, could you define in a few words what’s your job about ?
I works as a strategic planner at Publicis K1. Today I stand at the crossroads of the agency’s departments as strategic planning takes place ahead of client campaigns and I get to I help creatives to turn an idea into a digital object/campaign.
We create relational desire
I try to find the right insight that will enable our Clients to put forward the right brand promise. My role is to understand how consumers perceive, understand the brand, what shape their opinions and emotions towards a brand. For example, coffee is not only a beverage, it can be described as a discussion starter and a way to make friends. This insight will give our creative teams the view point which will be used to craft the campaign.
We must leverage all their brand history and assets
Second, I think my job is that of a translator. Brands come to Publics K1 with their brand platform, and we must leverage all their brand history and assets, what it is and what is aims to be, and adjust it to a new digital and relational advertising campaign.
Q: From your expert and day job perspective, what changes have you observed over the past years that will affect how we make online advertising ?
The main change I see for the next years is that we’ll be able, at last , to use the wealth of data created by people. Brands will get better at creating personalized brand messages and relational experience with consumers. They’ll be less using data as a gadget but more to make useful advertising and communication experiences. Imagine what we could do with Nike’s data for its 11 million connected runners ! We’re just at the beginning of a data revolution in advertising.
Big data will shape the way for true relational advertising. In the end consumerts and brands will win: they will share personalized stories.
The second type of change I’ve seen is communication temporality for brands. It has definitely changed the way we work as we must deal for our Clients with real-time communication. But the main challenge for brands is not necessarily to respond as fast as possible IMO but to provide the most releveant signals.
Consumers have started putting in question brands. The internet has reshaped the relationships of people to brands and gave them new tools to express themselves. We published by the way a report on this ever changing relationship.
Furthermore, we can’t deny the rising part of content creation in advertising. For example, we created hundreds of dynamic and original content for [“Ma Vie en Couleurs” (Unilever)](www.unilever.fr). That’s a massive challenge to scale quality content at that level but that is increasingly what it will take for large brands to communicate efficiently.
And finally, if you look at our jobs as strategic planners, a major change has occured with the opportunities created by the digital era: we put into question our methods and beliefs every day. We can and must test and iterate designs and ideas, thanks to new tools such as A/B Testing. All these new tools have impacted our mindsets and force us to speak differently, to create new services. It creates an obligation to use the right tone and the right message. And that’s a good thing !
Q: Could you give us one online campaign that really got you excited or caught your attention last year
Well, the stories and campaign created around “Top Chef” for Auchan is for me a great example of how an agency can craft a quality and content-tich digital campaign.
Beauty Sketches is also a great example because the idea is so powerful that they did not try to constrain it.
Q: According to you, what will it take for the future digital agency to be successful ?
As the agency/brand relations are changing, I think the successful agencies will be those who manage to make the various functions and roles (creatives, planners, producers, …) work together efficiently.
Q: What is the main difficulty you usually face when crafting digital advertising campaigns ?
The first challenge for us is when brands wish to make complete or too abrupt changes on their brand communication. If you change every year your brand messages, you’t create a strory that will truly resonate with consumers.
Another challenging aspect of our job is the timing of communication: it has to meet nearly real-time consumer demands but we need time at the same time to be able to think campaigns through and to project the message and story of a brand on a much longer term for the brand to be successful at creating a relational tie to consumers.
Q: What blogs or websites do you follow?
I usually read a selected set of good websites: psfk , Creativity online and I often check Zite app, a sort of better flipboard app:)
Q: Do you have any advice for readers who would like to get deeper knowledge in strategic planning and online advertising?
First you must be highly interested in understanding consumer habits and people in general. do not stay in front of your laptop but adopt a “just go out of the building” approach!
I think that loving to tell stories is also a must if you want to work as a strategic planner and in advertising in general.
And being able to be synthetic, to sum things up not in a few pages bu in 5 words is a great asset if you want to work in our field.