"Embrace platforms and technology, but obsess over the consumer." - Daniel Shearer (Executive Vice President, General Manager, Cossette)
On February 22, 2017, I had the pleasure of attending the RED Talks event on The Future of Advertising at the RED Academy in Toronto. Not only did speaker Daniel Shearer of Cossette engage the crowd with his use of comedy, he also had some insightful things to say about how human behaviour drives brand and culture.
Shearer, who describes himself as "not digital focused" but "consumer obsessed", opted to focus his talk on the consumer, instead of getting lost in platforms and evolving technology. According to Shearer, the future of advertising is "about total customer experience" and is "idea driven". Shearer points out that while advertisers must embrace platforms, platforms are not what people connect with; "people connect with ideas." Essentially, "if you don't have an idea, it doesn't matter." In order to connect people and brands in a meaningful way we must understand human behaviour. (Shearer)
According to Shearer, the aspect of advertising that will continue into the future is "personalized, emotional, and relevant consumer journeys". Shearer gave a powerful example of personalized donor journeys that comes out of Cossette, the SickKids VS campaign. When the donor first enters the fund the fight site they are asked to provide their name and select their fight. The donor is then lead to a variety of stories (photo and video content) related to the fight they selected. The data collected by the SickKids campaign regarding the fight the donor selected is used to tailor future correspondence with the donor.
What is Shearer's advice for people looking to go into advertising, or for those who are at the beginning of their careers? "Be a student of culture, be interested, be interesting, be adaptable, be flexible, always ask why, and be (at least) t-shaped." What Shearer means by be (at least) t-shaped is to "be a little bit good at everything, but excel at a few things." Shearer reminds the audience to "be generous, be gracious, and big up (show support or encouragement to) others."