On the closing day of Goafest 2012, Rishad Tobaccowala, chief strategy and innovation officer at VivaKi, shared his thoughts on the future of creativity in advertising, as well as the importance of storytelling. The theme of this year’s Goafest, “Let’s Talk Magic,” centered on the realization of ideas into successful marketing. Tobaccowala’s presentation entitled “The Future of Creativity” focused on connecting the four “dots” essential to creativity: words, sound, picture, and video.

In his presentation, he elaborated on these basic “dots” and a few additional, enhanced dots such as participation, mobile, and connection. Participation refers to consumer interaction with advertisements, including commenting or resharing with others in their network. Mobility refers to the consumption of media and advertising while on-the-move, and connection encompasses the social networks that connect every human being to one another.  Tobaccowala personally believes that “Creativity is connecting the dots in ways that resonate with people, culture and brands.” Most importantly, successful advertising revolves around creative and inspiring storytelling.

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Starcom MediaVest Group had an outstanding showing at The Festival of Media Global Awards 2012, held April 15-April 17 in Montreux, Switzerland.  In total, SMG was recognized for its work across six categories and took home the revered “Agency of the Year” honor, which was given to Starcom Australia.

SMG Australia also walked away with the award for “Best Entertainment Platform” for its work with client Shannons Insurance on “Supercar Showdown,” a reality TV show that let consumers gain behind-the-scenes insight into the world of a professional V8 racing team.

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Publicis Groupe

Flip Media Acquired by Publicis Groupe. Wamda

Publicis Groupe Announces Buy-Back of 18 Million of its Own Shares from Dentsu. Publicis Groupe Press Release

Publicis Groupe Accelerates China Expansion with Acquisition of U-Link Business Solutions. Publicis Groupe Press Release

Team Sprint’s First TV Spot Stars Durant. Adweek

Publicis Groupe Acquires Indigo Consulting, Award-winning Indian Digital Marketing & Technology Agency. PRNewswire

Publicis Groupe announces the appointment of Anne-Gabrielle Heilbronner. Newsflash Publicis Groupe

VivaKi & VivaKi Nerve Center

VivaKi’s Hecht: Many Intermediaries Won’t Last. Digiday

InsightExpress Selected as Research Partner by VivaKi for “The Pool”. MarketWatch.

My Media Week: Marco Bertozzi. Brand Republic

If Real, ‘Mad’ Draper Would Succeed Klues At VivaKi. MediaDailyNews

Publicis Groupe Announces Sébastien Danet’s appointment as Chairman of VivaKi France. Publicis Groupe Press Release

Weather Channel Hires Another Ad and Tech Pro: Vivaki’s Curt Hecht. Advertising Age

New President Kurt Unkel Talks Vivaki’s Future. Adexchanger

VivaKi promotes Bertozzi to executive EMEA role. MediaWeek

Alex Saber Interview: VivaKi. ArabianBusiness.com

Connect dots in new ways that resonate: Rishad Tobaccowala – Video & Session report. Exchange4Media

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Today, ZenithOptimedia (ZO) launched its new global strategic positioning, ‘Live ROI,’ along with a comprehensive rebrand across all of its agency brands including Zenith, Optimedia, Newcast, Performics, Moxie, Ninah, Sponsorship Intelligence and Scoop.

Formerly known as the ROI agency, the new positioning reinforces ZO’s same rigorous approach to improving marketing effectiveness but also stresses its commitment to delivering state -of-the-art data analytics and breakthrough creativity in real-time.

“We were the first media agency to put accountability at the core of everything we do, and our pioneering expertise in this area has driven our success and underpinned our growth” comments Steve King, Global Chief Executive Officer for ZO Group. “Consumers increasingly live their lives in a digital world in which traditional ROI techniques no longer deliver everything our clients need. Live ROI does. It takes ROI to the next level and ensures a real time approach that identifies how and where budgets can be invested to deliver the best returns.”

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Let’s face it, it’s often easier to make a purchase once you’ve envisioned wearing your new clothes or had your close friends or significant other give you their approval (or lovingly ask you, “What were you thinking?”).

Luckily for all shoppers who value a second opinion, the Razorfish Emerging Experiences team has reimagined personal shopping. The team unveiled its innovative, new digital platform, which integrates five core technologies-devices, content, experiences, analytics and CRM-at the NRF Convention & Expo  in New York City this January. The team partnered with Microsoft and NEC to develop a prototype for the fictitious brand “Ravorfashion.”

Last year, the Emerging Experiences team collaborated with Microsoft’s Kinect for Windows to create KinectShop, technology that mapped clothes onto 3D models to see how the clothes would fit when worn by real people of various shapes and sizes. This year, the EE team at Razorfish spearheaded the customer-service, experiential component of the Kinect technology, creating their answer for a new approach to personal-shopping.

Code-named “5D,” this digital technology provides shoppers with an experience that, to merely label it as “interactive,” would be an injustice to the 5D product. “You have to come up with an experience that isn’t intimidating to consumers or the retailer,” said Jonathan Hull, the lead of the EE group at Razorfish.

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