This is the seventh installment of our ‘Rising Young Media Stars’ series, in which we profile the next gen media minds. Media pundits have been adamant that to succeed in the new mediaverse, agencies require new ways of thinking. Curious as to who these new thinkers were, and what they were thinking, strategy and Media in Canada canvassed the industry, asking media shops to single out their top innovative and strategic recruits. And we’re scouting for more of the same – so tell us about the hot talent in your shop.
Andrew Braunston
Communication planner, Carat Canada
Claim to fame: Recently part of the Carat team on the Adidas account and the brand’s World Cup activities, which involved a TV campaign and assisting Adidas in various projects outside of that medium.
Background: Before moving to Canada about two years ago, Andy worked on an advertising project for the British government. He’d always wanted to be in advertising and decided that media was the area in which he could thrive. Carat is his first job on the agency side. ‘I think I’m fairly imaginative and creative, yet I don’t have the artistic background. I took economics at school.’
What new media destination should everyone check out? ‘Secondlife.com, a 3-D version of myspace. It’s like a grownup Habbohotel. You can go in and create a personality down to the tiniest clothing detail. You can purchase the currency of this 3-D world and then buy land, set up stores and trade within the virtual world. It’s got all the components. You can blog, upload photos and videos and get into community chat groups. You can walk down the street and see billboards and you can actually purchase those billboards for advertising as well. Adidas, for example, could go in and open up a store.
Who’s getting it right? ‘We created a Canine Care Crew program for IAMS dog food last summer. Reps visited dog parks in the major cities in Canada with samples and information about IAMS and really engaged the (dog-owning) consumers. In addition, the reps took photos of the owners and their dogs and then emailed right to their inboxes.
Are opportunities being missed due to caution? Absolutely. But the traditional media expectations have to be satisfied first on a campaign, and these new and exciting ideas are difficult to measure in terms of sales and ROI directly related to that advertising. Coming from the U.K., I think the European advertising style is very much ‘give it a shot”- and more often than not the feedback is tremendously positive.’
What common industry belief would you love to whack?That a good campaign relies solely on good creative. Great creative is all good and well, but if it’s not placed correctly, then it’s not going to work. A truly great campaign is a harmony between the creative and the media placement. We try to have everyone at the table whenever we can to create holistic campaigns.’
