wednesday

t eneNEWS 9TED’s Bruno GiussaniTED and SMG stress thebenefits of disconnectingIN AN age when “connectivity”dominates the way brandsreach consumers, organisersof the maverick TED conferencesare at the Festival to discussthe benefits of “disconnectivity”.During today’s session calledThe Meaning Of The ConnectedExperience (12.30), TED’sEuropean director Bruno Giussanijoins forces with globalmedia agency Starcom Media-Vest Group (SMG) to examinethe potential value of “disconnectivity”with author Tom Chatfield,performance poet SarahKay, and Bill Barhydt, who hasdeveloped a mobile-money platformto empower consumerswithout bank accounts.“If you talk to anyone here (atthe Festival), you’ll find they’reall connected with an alwaysonmobile phone,” Giussanisaid. “We’re taking a counterapproach. We’re talking aboutthe benefits of disconnecting.And although past TED speakersinclude some of this Festival’shigh-profile guests, likeMalcolm Gladwell and Sir KenRobinson, our session featuresbrilliant speakers you’ve neverheard of.”John Sintras, chairman of StarcomMediaVest Group’s globalproduct committee, added:mmunicatM a M t M i M o Mernal SustainabilityCrisis CommunicationsWeb ComSp ba or Co Ca tFi Cris ns SMD DnS Ma u ae tara i nke n B-to-BThink Mia b tbtC nMgM s btbi i il ng a tketn l in i Mo arke Fyi C a posbleoxoop s xEo bMb rb oebMe bMn bnibibeR n otloileoeol Ploa ti io Ce aeoEnnE ebleo lebca EvCepe C iniM e s i os eot Ct aE Eve lveCnCtot oP omo o CPm el n P rooibMSsS caotMeiMn sM em R/GA’s Bob ei eeab rdMa ss ia cu S Greenberg (left) and Barry Wacksman: prepared for the next nine yearsebe arcle h r keet inuSo tgc rMucmd mumutnmrm r dm di s un inotuoCic tmiomBat m nibMaMei rmmud mama inalab Medung nngicatooenyou know what Public a Affairstnrsii d ity it au uimnmnmao ra mns sdaoko u tntn in kengicatnsinaniononstionWoMobilePR agencyFinancialcan do?lthc Fi no na anrdE arepi papmrsnrn sgs ars i smrmrsmeg nt CommunicatioExp Bpe-pResearchPackaEp Evp x xpBBpBpCBpetgEEa Ea a ppBpgve epBpeSg Experiential MarketingS ven cDiD aD lsn o en-e cv Ms Ev oe D PD ro e ds In ei egegtgdgtdg tgtiea teia Hn HeoeMeo ded s sd I n u itne t PCr aCieanpropteoeneorarprtoioenC CiCtCeMeanrnet raCrl nknke rPcti nano enePneP titnaga nia rerlh ro BWorar oa oeCd mC na n aP al at ahaltCroCo Borrar ardd C rad moPrnenenemE coWBWlMaMadMarMardMhc C areo oM gardaradand d onom ouoEoEmfd fMix up iao cne cirEmu euRcnuRc ript tce iatn icpt oaE ic tto on ati ExmxpmR cngmmmx xM mcp cg cu tinonoeneax tci tr tcr tca cpt ue uauau ota oaa oat aat ata u da dMiMa Mar a x na urgkepmc u oatit i non not onoiono p euc ct rcit cuci cuc eP ato tao an t na ntotnin i aoatntaoa oaoaotnti EmxmdEnn n pmpm p puR r nog nMiM ogtgukR R euRenickrikcpicpc cpcpececpc e etstseaeat eauattntt P atttani no ntno t otot o oti ckae tiotttntninaR Rke e M tnunic aatt thik B ai Men Mn slg sM anark em meeetnscgh eieg ghg o uthe eBenrg eBi nan on itiaDgge agi g gkelnasnge M umcCc CgcCgnaonatnatonruo rm u oiotoohuoon sen nnng g tTUESDAY, JUNE 21,2011“TED is bringing a different perspective.It is saying that it canbe healthy for humans to takea moment to be alone beforea nervous breakdown sets in.”Additionally, Giussani wantsto use the session to introducethe international advertisingsector to the TED philosophy,which is about discovering greatideas and pushing them out tothe world.“Ideas are what propel theworld and more progress ismade by groups of people comingtogether to compete andoutdo each other to generateeven better and more powerfulideas,” he added.^Eoxo po eb Mib Mni otl oP C b l m rFor R/GA, technologyis the mother ofreinventionR/GA, THE NEW York-based‘agency for the digital age’, hasreincarnated itself every nineyears since its foundation in1984, riding the new-mediarollercoaster through no lessthan four business models. Itis now on the cusp of its fifthreinvention, which will comeinto force in 2013.“We believe the impact of technologyon the communications,advertising and marketing businesshappens in eight- to 10-year increments,” said chairman,CEO and global CCO BobGreenberg who, with EVP andchief growth officer BarryWacksman, will be unveilingR/GA’s next life cycle atWednesday’s seminar, appropriatelyentitled What’s Next?Technology’s next evolution,as identified by R/GA, is thetrend that started around fiveyears ago for companies to integrateproducts with technology-drivenservices to createsuper-brands active across thephysical and digital ecosystem.“Apple set the stage with its mixof products and technologyservices,” Wacksman said.“Now everybody’s doing it —Google, Amazon, Nike…”But managing this evolutionwill not be easy. Enter R/GA.“We’ll be less of an agency andmore of a strategic resource tohelp clients through the transition,”Greenberg said, addingthat the core of R/GA’s newmodel is diversity of talent: “Toachieve breakthrough ideas forthe digital age, you need a lotof different skillsets workingtogether.”So how will R/GA be describingitself come 2013? “We don’tknow,” Wacksman admitted.“The world ‘agency’ is too prescriptivefor the digital age, sowe’ll just brand ourselves asR/GA. But we might ask theaudience to give us some ideason Wednesday…” ^