MUMBAI — Mark D'Arcy, VP and chief creative officer of Facebook Creative Shop, visited the Ad Club here on Friday to speak about new ways technology has aligned creativity and business.
The meritocracy of information, according to D’Arcy, is fundamentally altering the way in which people and brands interact.
"We grew up with linear forms of entertainment; there were only a finite number of things we were watching," he said. "You would watch something once, you could never revisit it. Today, that is not the case. We will soon be able to put reusable content in the hands of everyone."
Building ‘creative capital’
The connections the Internet has opened creates new competition for consumer attention, D’Arcy said, and as technology evolves this competition will only increase.
That means creative people must act as guides in this new media landscape. "No matter how powerful any technology is, I believe that creativity is the key to unlocking that technology," he said.
D'Arcy advised agencies to build "creative capital."
"Creativity is not some abstract form of crayon drawing," he said. "The more time I’ve spent with technology, the more I’ve realized that technology is aligned with creativity, and technology is enabling new kinds of creativity."
D’Arcy said marketers can no longer assume their work will capture consumers' attention disruptively. "It is far more valuable to stop what we’re doing and think about marketing as the manifestation of purpose — where we connect to people with things of value to them. We’re moving from disruption to connection.
"If we look at marketing as the manifestation of service and brand purpose, we go from marketing ‘at’ people to marketing ‘for’ people. That changes everything.
"We need to build experiences in a way that respects people’s time," D'Arcy said. "People in business always talk about ROI, but the viewing audience always talks about ROA (return on attention)."
Distribution
Creative people must get more involved in the science of media distribution, D’Arcy said. "When you get creative people involved in the process you will save money, and it will be the best way to make sure your work will get realized.
"Filmmakers and musicians obsess not only about the making of their product but also the distribution," he said. "I think if creative people re-engage in this, they will advance their story."
This story first appeared on Campaign India.