Even digital at JWT is about creative storytelling: Matt Eastwood
The Worldwide Chief Creative Officer of JWT makes a strong case for creativity over hard-core technology and insists the agency will always be driven by ideas, human insight
Matt Eastwood joined JWT as Worldwide Chief Creative Officer in July 2014, assuming a position that had been unfilled ever since Craig Davis left in 2009. One of the most awarded Chief Creative Officers worldwide, Eastwood’s illustrious career includes working for agencies like DDB New York, DDB Australia, Y&R New York, & M&C Saatchi London.
In a conversation with exchange4media, Eastwood, who believes in being ‘nice to the people, tough on the work,’ talks about the positive pressure that comes with the job, his observations on Indian advertising culture that borders on ‘gossipy’, factors that give a campaign an ‘edge’ and creativity becoming less of a commodity. Excerpts.
What was your approach to taking on a leadership role that hasn’t seen a leadership since 2009, and was handled by regional leaders prior to your joining ?
The interesting thing is that there are things that have fallen away during that time, things that we haven’t done, that we need to do. The exciting thing for me is that some of those solutions are so obvious so they just need to be put in place. The fact that there hasn’t been a Global Chief Creative Officer for that many years, I have found that people within our network have embraced me in such a fantastic way. They really want creative leadership, when I give creative presentations they are really crying out. People are not angry that they didn’t have anyone but they are excited that they have someone.
What is your agenda?
The big thing is a focus on creativity. The great thing is I have a partner in Gustavo Martinez who is really committed to that idea of creativity being the differentiator. If you look at the fact that he started in February and his major hire was me, it signifies that this is the most important thing for him and for the network. We are a great creative brand and in India we are probably the No. 1 and the most awarded agency this year. It’s not like we have a deficiency but globally putting that emphasis on creativity is a big thing. Playing off that, the second biggest thing is creative consistency. It’s really important; particularly for our global brands. We can’t just be good in 12 markets. We have 200 offices, we have to be good across the world. That’s one of things I am doing, working on creative consistency, how can we bring all our work upto the quality of our best work. It doesn’t happen overnight but holding people’s feet to the fire and giving them a benchmark to judge themselves by and then encouraging them and giving them tools and programmes to be able to get there, is how we will eventually lift the quality across everything. Like any other network, our digital revenues continue to grow. We want to make sure we continually bring in new and interesting talent in that space to cope with what’s happening.
What are the factors that give a campaign an edge in your view?
The best advertising comes from a really strong human insight. If you don’t have that, you don’t end up doing work that resonates and is relevant to people. It is all about spending enough time on strategy coupling it with human insight and finding a unique take on it. I think we’re in an era where people are less and less differentiating advertising from content. If you want me to watch your ad, then make it great, interesting, funny, emotional. That’s great for the industry because it puts pressure on clients and agencies to deliver work that consumers are going to want to view, whereas in old days you could just push out whatever you wanted.
How is JWT coping with disruption that technology is bringing in?
For me there’s either a pure sort of systematic technology-driven ideas or there’s story telling advertising… At JWT we’ll tell stories and we will be idea-led in terms of the digital approach, whether Facebook or wherever it might be. There’s a whole other group of companies who are much more about hard core technology and we’ve made the decision as a company that we don’t want to be that. We will always do digital-led idea story telling.
What about Indian advertising needs to change in your view ?
The thing I’ve discovered is Indian advertising culture can be really gossipy and talk about each other and I much prefer an industry that supports each other. If we’re positive about each other and the industry and don’t say negative things about other agencies and other people, I think the industry gets better. Our reputation gets better and clients value us more.
Do you think creativity is increasingly viewed as commodity?
I actually think the opposite. Creativity is becoming less of a commodity. I think clients have become much more aware of the value of creativity, particularly driven by social media and digital in a way that a great idea will be seized by people and viewed and shared. Creativity is the differentiator and that’s made evident by some of the world’s biggest clients. In the old days they were with networks that could deliver their work around the world and that was fine but now they are very happy to go to small, independent shops and get creativity from them. They don’t care… they’ll get someone else to do the delivery but they just want great creative. That means creativity is high on their agenda. Pressure is on network agencies, it’s a positive pressure. It’s more of a joyful pressure than a scary pressure.
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E4M Our strategy is to target younger audiences through Sports: Rajiv Dubey, Dabur
The Head of Media at Dabur India spoke exclusively to exchange4media on the World Cup, associating with Indian Idol, the company’s digital spending and much more
With quirky campaigns, memes and moment marketing, timed with the ongoing World Cup and particularly the India-Pakistan matches, Dabur India has got considerable consumer attention for its popular brands – Red Paste, Cool King Hair Oil, Chyawanprash, Dabur Vita and the recently launched Bae Fresh Gel toothpaste.
The 140-year-old company is going big on key sporting events, World Television Premiere (WTP) movies and reality shows. It is now gearing up to become the title sponsor of popular talent show ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony TV for the first time, shared Rajiv Dubey, who leads the media strategy at Dabur.
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ShareSwapan Seth's new book 'COOL' is out
The book is a reflection of the author's 'eclectic taste across categories'
Advertising professional and art collector Swapan Seth has announced the launch of his new book COOL. The book is described as "a ready reckoner to the hip and the happening, of the known and the very unknown."
The book is a reflection of the author's "eclectic taste across categories: from boltholes to exotic hideaways."
COOL has been published by Simon & Schuster India and is available on Amazon.
Seth is an ad veteran with a long and illustrious career in the industry. He became the youngest-ever Creative Director at Clarion at age 24. He was VP at 26 at Trikaya Grey. Two years later, he started his agency Equus.
He writes for publications such as The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and India Today. This is his second book and he has previously published THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.
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Disney Star signs 9 sponsors for Asia Cup PAK
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up come on board
e4m Staff Disney Star has signed nine broadcast and digital streaming sponsors for the upcoming Asia Cup.
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up have come on board for the upcoming tournament.
As reported earlier by exchange4media, Disney Star has sought Rs 26 crore for the co-presenting sponsorship on TV and Rs 30 crore for Disney+ Hotstar.
According to industry sources, the associate sponsorship on Star Sports has been priced at Rs 19.66 crore, whereas for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship on Disney+ Hotstar, the broadcaster is seeking Rs 18 crore.
As per the information available with exchange4media, Disney+ Hotstar has three sponsorship tiers-- co-presenting (Rs 30 crore), powered by (Rs 18 crore) and associate sponsorship (Rs 12 crore). The broadcaster is offering an estimated reach of 120-140 million for co-presenting sponsors, 90-100 million for powered by and 60-70 million for associate sponsorship.
A spot buy for 10 seconds has been priced at Rs 25 lakh for the India vs Pakistan matches, while for the non-India matches, the ad rate for 10 second is Rs 2.3 lakh. The India matches plus the final for ODIs has been priced at Rs 17 lakh per 10 seconds.
Asia Cup is scheduled to be held from 30 August, 2023, to September 17, 2023.
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Sorted 360 wins creative & social media mandate of Reliance Mall
The agency will manage offline and online campaigns for Reliance Mall
Sorted 360, an integrated creative and social media agency, has won the mandate to providing brand solutions for Reliance Malls across India.
“Sorted 360 is set to enhance Reliance Malls' market presence with their unparalleled creative prowess and strategic thinking,” read a press release.
“Sorted 360's commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative communication aligns perfectly with Reliance Malls' ethos. With a pan-India presence spanning across 19 cities and growing, Reliance Malls has consistently captivated customers by offering an array of Reliance brands and third-party fashion & lifestyle brands. The mall has established an unparalleled connection with its patrons through superior quality, a remarkable value proposition, and an unmatched shopping experience,” it read further.
"We are thrilled to welcome Sorted 360 as our trusted partner in advancing our brand presence across the nation," said the Head of Marketing at Relaice Malls. "Their proven expertise in retail, shopping center management, and innovative creative strategies make them the perfect fit for our vision."
"Partnering with Reliance Malls is a testament to our commitment to shaping extraordinary brand experiences," remarked Prerana Anatharam, Co-founder of Sorted 360. "We are excited to leverage our strategic and creative acumen to further elevate Reliance Malls as the epitome of convenience, choice, and excellence."
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KlugKlug onboards Hemang Mehta as Country Manager for Indias
Mehta was most recently Head of Agency Relationships at Network 18 Media & Investments
KlugKlug has appointed Hemang Mehta as its Country Manager for India.
Mehta will play a pivotal role in driving KlugKlug's growth and expansion within the Indian market and be responsible for Sales & GTM Strategy
Prior to that, he has also represented organisations like Exponential (now VDX.tv), India Today Digital and Rediff.com. His expertise spans various domains including digital media sales, mobile marketing, media planning, and buying, social media marketing, and more.
Hemang Mehta expressed his enthusiasm about joining KlugKlug, saying, "I am thrilled to be a part of KlugKlug, a forward-thinking platform that is reshaping the influencer marketing landscape. As much as I look forward to collaborating with the exuberant team at KlugKlug, I am super excited to interact with the brands to deliver powerful data-backed Influencer solutions that will guarantee business outcomes."
Commenting on the appointment, Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of KlugKlug, stated, "We are excited to welcome Hemang Mehta to our team as the Country Manager for India. His extensive experience in digital media sales and marketing will be instrumental in driving our efforts to provide influencer marketing solutions to our clients. We believe Hemang's leadership will be key in scaling our operations and expanding our reach within the Indian market."
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