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WORD FROM THE WISE
‘Success in the next few years in Ireland will belong
disproportionately to the swift. Bravery, daring, ambition
and boldness are the characteristics that
will own success in the years to come
O’Bric is scathing of the “tyranny of the big idea” in advertising. way of thinking about it.”
“Everybody bangs on that you need a big idea,” he says. “It’s true: He believes that many brands are currently grappling with the
a brand needs a big idea. But when it comes to communications, issues of global brand versus local activation, interruption versus
they have to be rich, they have to be diverse and they have to be engagement, and content versus advertising. “Mother doesn’t do
constantly fresh. Big ideas can sometimes inhibit that – if your that, which is the really exciting thing,” he says. “They think that
advertising is based on a big idea, then it becomes repetitive. We approach belies the fundamental problems at the heart of commu-
can all think of brands today that suffer from what one might call nication today. All those discussions reduce the debate around the
sequel syndrome. In communications you need an ongoing, enrich- future brand communications to one based solely on channel.
ing and fulfilling dialogue with consumers and you just don’t get that Mother elevates the debate to one based on quality – quality of
through a big idea. It’s about expansive, not reductive, thought. strategic idea and of creative expression, irrespective of channel.”
“I’m bored with hearing people at conferences asking where the
big idea is in advertising. Tell me where the big idea is in Apple’s Richer, deeper and more meaningful
advertising for the Apple iPod. The brand is the big idea.”
relationships
O’Bric’s outlook has found a fitting home at Diageo, where he says:
Mother of all agencies
“Everything we do is about creating a richer, deeper, more mean-
O’Bric’s thinking has been influenced by his time at London-based ingful relationship with consumers where we’re adding real value.
agency Mother, where he spent three years immediately prior to That’s the thing that gives us permission to continue that dialogue’
moving back to Dublin and to Diageo. He previously worked at and continue to build that relationship and drive brand loyalty.”
HHCL & Partners and Leo Burnett, having started his career in MTV He uses Budweiser as an example of this. “Our whole communi-
Europe. The news that Mother was named Campaign Agency of the cation platform is all around the brand idea, which is ‘Unite, good
Decade at the end of 2009 came as no surprise to him. things happen when people get together’. It’s about mass partici-
“Mother has a very distinct approach to the development of pation, emotion and occasion. It’s not about telling you what the
advertising,” he says. “It has no account men. You literally just have product does – people know that.”
creatives and strategists working hand in hand with the client. It’s At Diageo, the customer is viewed as a partner rather than a tar-
about putting the problem at the heart of how work is developed get, he says, citing the Guinness 250 programme as an example of
rather than the process.” this. “It was very much by the people for the people. It was the con-
At the agency, O’Bric worked closely on the Boots account, sumer who ultimately made the year, but particularly Arthur’s Day in
working to reposition the brand which was being challenged on September such an incredible day. Almost three-quarters of a mil-
price at one end of the spectrum and by premium, luxury brands at lion people went to the pub and partook in this immense mass
the other. “We had to completely rethink the purpose and the func- national movement.”
tion of the brand,” he explains. “What is the role this brand plays in A key challenge for Diageo, he says, is to ensure that its iconic
people’s lives and how does it add value? Brands have to get into brands – such as Guinness, Carlsberg, Budweiser, Smirnoff and
modern culture by positive contribution. The big step change in Johnny Walker – are constantly relevant and evolving. He describes
Boots was to shift the marketing thinking from a retailer into a solu- Madonna as the quintessential brand that understands this and has
tion provider.” the ability to evolve and reinvent herself to reflect the zeitgeist.
Mother recognised that consumer empowerment was pushing “Catching those zeitgeists, catching society as it evolves is what
excellence in creative expression harder than ever before, he says. defines an iconic brand.”
“Brands no longer have access or the recourse to old-fashioned He believes the company’s recent changed communication
tactics like bombardment and repetition. We live in a world of OTS around Carlsberg demonstrates this. “Previously we celebrated
– one opportunity to see. If people don’t like it, they won’t watch it. Carlsberg being the best, we didn’t have to substantiate it,” he
Conversely, if they do like it, not only will they watch it again but they explains. “As a consequence of the recession in Ireland, there’s
pass it on or customise it and send it on. It’s a completely different been a massive shift in values. Interrogating spend, making
18 Marketing Age Volume 4 Issue 1 2010
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