http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/01/business/media/advertising-week-marketers-are-urged-to-become-fearless.html 2014-10-01 02:12:44 Advertising Week: Marketers Are Urged to Become Fearless An executive of Mondelez International, which ran a spot featuring nontraditional families, said, “Being fearless is the only answer right now.” === IT is rare on Madison Avenue to hear, at least publicly, suggestions that executives are scaredy-cats who are afraid to take risks. But those attending Advertising Week in New York are being advised — sometimes gently, sometimes forcefully — that to produce campaigns that will more effectively resonate with contemporary consumers, they must risk failing and risk alienating their target audiences. The purpose of “Fearless,” a lively panel on Tuesday, was “encouraging and saluting marketers who say ‘yes’ ” to risk, according to Dana Anderson, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Mondelez International, the global snack giant. She moderated the session with her colleague, Bonin Bough, vice president for global media. “Being fearless is the only answer right now,” Ms. Anderson said, because “if you play it right up the middle you really don’t” accomplish much. “If it’s not good enough to tell somebody about,” she added, referring to the propensity of consumers to share what they like in social media, “then it’s not good enough for you.” Panelists offered two examples of risk-taking campaigns. One, Although the concept of wholesome families was “an idea that was rooted in the brand,” said Kevin Brady, an executive creative director Gary P. Osifchin, senior marketing director at Mondelez, said, “Bold, indeed it was.” But he and his colleague, Jill Baskin, vice president for brand strategy and communication, were undaunted, he added, because the core of the campaign was “focusing in on the brand.” They subsequently approved the production of a video clip in which artists fashioned printouts of the complaints, and the positive comments, into the word “Love.” “There were over 10 times as many” positive comments as negative ones, Mr. Osifchin said. Ms. Baskin said, “While we were fearless, we weren’t stupid.” (The Honey Maid campaign was discussed at another event on Tuesday, sponsored by Glaad, formerly the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.) The other risk-taking campaign was for a partnership between Although “embracing fear has been about trusting each other,” said Linda Boff, executive director for global brand marketing of G.E., “our greatest challenge, to be very honest,” was to figure out marketing that would appeal to consumers and be approved by both firms. Bret Kovacs, chief marketing officer of Quirky, said, “My biggest fear, quite honestly, was that we’re going to look like G.E.” The partners decided on a, well, quirky commercial for Aros, by Partners & Spade in New York, in which the chief executive of Quirky, Ben Kaufman, gives a General Electric plans on Thursday to begin running an offbeat commercial of its own, for a new product, G.E. Link LED bulbs, being sold at Home Depot. “Maybe a little bit of Bret and Quirky has rubbed off on me,” Ms. Boff said. The According to the Among the most risk-taking individuals in media are radio personalities. In one of several panels during Advertising Week being presented by the Radio Advertising Bureau, “Voices of the Original Social Media” on Tuesday gathered four major radio personalities to talk about the connections they forge with listeners and the value of those connections to advertisers. Ebro Darden, a D.J. at Hot 97 (WQHT, 97.1 FM), the influential hip-hop station in New York, told a roomful of executives that “radio knows people better than you.” Angie Martinez, Mr. Darden’s former colleague at Hot 97, who in June The panelists also riffed on how to handle advertising while maintaining credibility with their audience. Most responded with some version of the idea that they try to avoid making implausible endorsements; Ms. Martinez, something of a celebrity in her own right, used the example of promoting a car she would never drive. But, the panelists noted, they can often find a way to accommodate a sponsor. “There are times we have to say no,” said Bobby Bones, a country D.J. who has had a Amani Toomer, a former New York Giants receiver who is now a sports radio host, got the loudest reception with a simple answer. “I’m pretty easy,” he said. “I work for NBC Sports Radio, and I’ll pretty much sell anything.” Advertising Week is to continue through Thursday.