Adrian and I were kindly invited to talk at this year's Brazilian Account Planning conference. Adrian's already posted on this and I share a lot of his thoughts. Amazing energy and optimism at the conference, a real sense of possibility and like Adrian I believe it will be cultures like this that may drive the discipline forward.
It was a great conference put together very quickly by some really passionate planners led by the president of the APG, Ken Fujioka (I'm backing the unofficial campaign for his re-election) with a great mix of speakers that puts a lot of other similar conferences I've attended to shame.
Not just due to a good variety of provocative talks but also a really positive energy in the room and a lot of conversation. One of the speakers showed some data that showed how pervasive social media is in Brazil and the live feed of the conference reinforces that.
Highlights of the day:
Tiago Pinto, the head of marketing for Nike in Brazil was more proof that a) Nike have some of the smartest, most progressive clients and b) are one of the few global brands that can seamlessly mesh themselves into local culture.
Marcelo Tas was someone I knew nothing about before the day. Turns out his career has been a mix of Douglas Rushkoff, Dennis Pennis and John Stewart. He currently hosts a provocative, funny take on news but as also one of the first people to study the internet in the late 80s at NYU. He made some great points on how to be interesting online, drawing on his own, and his children's, experience. (Impossible to follow, so guess who got that honor...)
In the afternoon, after the breakout sessions, there were three great, very different, speakers. Jovem Nerd were hilarious and talked about how they created a cultural phenomenon (the Nerdcast) from scratch. (I'm convinced if Crispin ever get wind of this stuff they're going to be working together).
The were followed by Fred Gelli, the founder of Tatil Design. Great talk on his career in sustainable design and the influence of nature. Lots of echoes of the unproduct stuff Russell, among others, has been talking about.
Finally, Adrian gave a fantastic, personal and brave speech on how failure has taught him some powerful lessons, lessons powerful enough for him to leave Fallon to start Zeus Jones. I guess he summed it up as, "I felt that most of the time I was talking about things that I do not believe, just bullshit. I thought I better get out of advertising."
He made a fantastic observation that advertising limits the power of strategy. All the richness, depth and nuance in the strategy that makes it powerful becomes lost as you hit the thin end of the wedge of making an ad. You can see his presentation here.
A great day. I want to thank everyone there for their warmth and the conversations, and particularly thank Ken, Daniel, Caio and Joao and Paulo for the invitation and their hospitality above and beyond the call.
Congratulations Gareth. You did such a great and a provocative lecture.
Thanks, Danilo
Posted by: Danilo | December 04, 2008 at 07:20 AM
Gareth. Thank you very much for being our 'gringo planners'. It was great to have your fresh and honest view about planning and the enthusiasm about football ;-). We'll keep talking. Best, Caio
Posted by: Caio Del Manto | December 04, 2008 at 07:52 AM
Gareth,
Thanks for being so generous.
Abraço,
DDT
Posted by: DDT | December 05, 2008 at 07:56 AM
Gareth,
"O-bri-ga-do" for inspiring us. Corinthians game next time in Brazil? (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30529466@N05/sets/72157610706260293/)
Cheers,
Joao Gabriel.
Posted by: Joao Gabriel | December 05, 2008 at 04:22 PM
Ow yeahh..
Marcelo Tas had a great TV Show few years ago, that he used to talk about what was going on on the internet. Great guy.
Posted by: Gardy Helena | December 19, 2008 at 10:31 PM
I've heard good things about this Conference. Nice to see here good things about what's going on in Brazil.
Hope be there next yr!
Posted by: Gardy Helena | December 19, 2008 at 10:33 PM