IAA Leadership Forum begins:

Create wildfire brands globally

Hiran H. Senewiratne

The Sri Lanka Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) held its second IAA Leadership Forum at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel aiming at leading Sri Lanka’s marketing communications industry and to help Sri Lanka be up-to-date with global trends.

This year’s forum focused largely on the evolving environment driven by technology and the youth.

In keeping with this goal, this highly anticipated event in the marketing communications industry invited two international speakers including Engagement Planning Director Leo Burnett Richard Dale and Michael Conrad, President of the Berlin School of Creative Leadership.

Local market researchers Ravi Bamun- usinghe and Janaki Bamunusinghe also participated. The brands have to be created in a way to inspire the minds of the people, is now the most important factor in brand developing, “One of the most important things is to create wildfire brands globally. These brands will create the deep connection for the minds,” Dale told a media conference before the event.

Dale said that in the world wildfire is new concept, which symbolises the brands that have been deeply connected through traditional and non-traditional ways for the community. This concept was developed two and half years ago.

Dale made the same presentation on wildfire created by Leo Burnett in conjunction with Contagious magazine, which was premiered at the Cannes 2007 film festival.

Dale said that certain brands like Apple, Nike and Hobbe are Wildfire brands, which have deep relationship with the customers. At present Asia represented in Wildfire community, which has great brands in Asia. Some of the Asian countries like South Korea achieved a high standard. South Korea has wildfire brands.

Conrad said that everyone should think globally and act locally. Therefore centralisation does not go.

He said that every marketer should consider more on psychological and technological aspects when promoting a brand. Everybody should push brands to global standards and have to connect to the target audience.

It is the need of the hour to set new standards in communication which could attract the global standard as every market competes either locally or globally, he said.

The brands have to start with an innovation and the strategy today is innovation when making powerful brands. He said that today’s focus on brand created by financial and business personnel which cannot more or less create quality brands, he said. He said the most important thing is to think out of the box when creating brands, he said.