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Latest Episodes

The NOW Gen

Creativity

Video in Digital Platforms from Char Alfonzo’s Creative Perspective

In today’s age, digital platforms are one of the most used ways to consume video. This trend has pushed brand marketing to move toward becoming entertainment channels for their consumers. In this episode, the VP of Global Creative from Fresh, Char Alfonzo, talks to us about his take on digital platforms, marketing campaigns, sustainability, and customer-centric branding. His experience in the beauty industry and creative digital marketing allows him to see the consumer’s needs and figure out the best way to approach them with impactful storytelling. He also tells us about his work at Fresh and how the luxury of self-care can be a sustainable indulgence.

Guest

Char Alfonzo

KEY POINTS:

  • His background in the creative industry: from marketing to the beauty industry.
  • Fresh’s sustainable indulgence.
  • The internet’s impact on the NOW Gen’s way to consume video.
  • Telling impactful stories with a 360-degree angle.
  • Instant convenience and core brand values move customers.
  • Brands are turning into entertainment platforms.

RELEVANT QUOTES:

“I’m more of the creative guy. Let’s just say that. I lead the team into thinking 360. So, how do we tell beautiful stories? How do we engage with consumers? How do we tell all of the DNA of the brand? Fresh is a beautiful brand, and we have beautiful stories to tell.”

“Fresh has beautiful, sustainable efforts on not just how we extract our ingredients, but how we respectfully do it, and how we ensure that the local communities that we work with are also part of that.”

“Millennials and Gen Z are just far too smart right now. Claims and benefits are just, you know, they’re not fooled by them. They’re also predicting the information they’re going after is really where the secret sauce is.”

“Taking care of yourself, it’s now the ultimate, ultimate luxury. And it’s, you know, affordable and it’s available for everybody. So, you know, a brand like Fresh that it’s, you know, we’re a brand of indulgence, and we can take this in the two different ways. You know, it’s also the indulgence of using the product, right? And also the taking the time how we prep them as well. You know, we take time to do what we do here.”

“I mean, we live in an entertainment-first world now, and brands now are turning into entertainment platforms, you know? I think the future is gonna be kind of like that. No, I think the brands will turn into little tiny Netflix, little tiny Hulus, just kinda entertaining consumers on what their product delivers, really expanding that universe and the lifestyle that they’re trying to push.”

“This generation cares about what brands’ values are, and what their missions are, what they stand for. And we’re not shy about it. You know we don’t have to be shy about it. We should not be shy about it.”

“It’s a really interesting world. We are all the future entertainment entertainers. We are all the future influencers. We live in a world where we’re moving into micro-influencing. I don’t think we’re ready. I don’t think we’re ready to see how grandmas will be influencing us on recipes and on ingredients. The world is shifting and shifting fast.”

“Brands are relying more on content creators now to facilitate that speed that is necessary right now to be engaging with consumers constantly.”

“People also wanna see themselves; they wanna see a mirror on their mobile devices. And, you know, and the mobile devices, it’s really where 60% of consumers are interacting with their mobile platform.”

“It’s the same way that we’ve been approaching advertising for a very long time. The difference now is that the message and the visual need just to be more digestible, where people, our brains, are on overdrive.”

“So come from a place of entertainment, escapism is huge right now. People want just to get away. People just wanna a break from reality for a second.”

The New Value Proposition Agencies Must Offer Now

Beautiful and creativity are important in your marketing strategies, but the value proposition you offer needs to speak louder. In this fast-paced world, consumers are looking for the best they can get, and the first option in front of them. In this episode, our guest Gabriel Schmitt, Co-Chief Creative Officer at FCB New York, spoke with our host, Francisco Serrano, about creativity and value proposition. The multiple award-winner shared with us the importance of listening to your customers in creating trends. And having fun in what you do. Listen to this episode full of incredible advice.

Guest

Gabriel Schmitt

KEY POINTS:

  • Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
  • Brazilian advertising.
  • Imagination vs Reality.
  • Persuade with creative messageSs.
  • Value Proposition.
  • What Agencies must offer NOW.

RELEVANT QUOTES:

” I think even harder is not to be reactive though. And to, instead of reacting to what’s going on in pop culture is to really shape pop culture.”

“You really need to be akin to what the trends are and what it’s not bubbling it up, or it’s bubbling, but it’s not above the surface yet.”

“I think that you start having a conversation with the audience that is more interesting because sometimes they didn’t know they wanted to have that conversation with a brand. But if you start that, you jump ahead, we end up creating trends, which is great. “

“To me, it’s all predicated on partnership. I think the more space you give to the relationship, and the more you make sure the agendas are aligned the more you’re gonna get to amazing results.”

“It’s a fine line between making sure people are engaging the message and not having fun with the message.”

Brand Purpose and Engaging Marketing Strategies for The NOW Gen

Client engagement is essential for any brand, but it should always come with solutions. Jos Harrison, Global Head of Brand Experience and Design at Reckitt, tells us all about connection. His experience in different industries, from interior design to consumer packaged goods, has given him a broad understanding of this matter. Jos also talks about the way brands manage to connect with people on The NOW Gen and create a meaningful purpose and connection between them. This episode is full of invaluable insights and great tips.

Guest

Jos Harrison

KEY POINTS:

  • From the interior design industry to the CPG and OTC industry.
  • Delivering solutions is of more importance than engagement.
  • Engagement needs to have an inner reason than just connecting.
  • Brand-consumer engagement comes from understanding their needs.
  • Changes in the creative industry are the most rewarding.

RELEVANT QUOTES:

“I don’t think there’s such a thing as a low engagement category. If we are asking people to hand over their hard-earned cash, uh, in exchange for a product or service, then it’s simply not that engagement. You know, it’s, it’s something that we, we as brand owners have to respect. I think we’ve got to deliver solutions that, um, that can engage with people all the way through their journey.”

“The purpose has to sit at the heart of the engagement between the brand and that that end user because if it doesn’t have a reason to exist why would I buy it? Why would I engage with it? I have hundreds of choices plus I can choose to find my own making a solution myself necessarily.”

“Everyone is managing their own individual brand platforms.”

“I think that demonstrating your empathy with the person that’s trying to solve a problem can come in 70 different ways. And that’s what tends to generate those little moments of gratification, because that person feels that you actually care as a brand. You prepare to take action based on that.”

“The constant changing is always massively and refreshing. And I think anyone in any creative industry probably feels that same constant refresh of the challenge, which is brilliant. I would have to say that the work I do now is by far the most rewarding.”