Beyond Ogilvy SA's big wins at Big Won

Case and O'Kelly.

Ogilvy JHB’s Mariana O’Kelly also featured in 14th spot overall for best executive creative directors in the world, with Ogilvy SA listed in Big Won’s Top Agencies for Creativity. Case says the Directory Big Won Network Rankings, now in their 13th year, is an annual review of about 40 different creative and effectiveness awards shows around the world. The points allocated from each of them are fed into this ranking system, so it’s a measurement of both the quantity and quality of awards won. That makes it all the more worthy a win. But the Ogilvy team is nothing if not humble.

True creative effectiveness: Making brands matter

Case confirms it’s an amazing honour to be listed amongst such great global talent but says it’s important to recognise the wider teams within Ogilvy that made this ranking possible as “they are the true stars in this situation.”

It also showcases South Africa, with Case explaining that Ogilvy South Africa’s global strategy is to “create great work across what we term at Ogilvy as ‘the Twin Peaks’. These peaks being creativity and effectiveness – as we believe this signals our ability to make brands matter in the lives of today’s modern consumer. Our local strategy mirrors that of global and so we’re proud to be ranked locally in first place for these same abilities. Ultimately, our teams aim to make locally relevant work that’s also recognised as market leading from an international standard.”

They’re clearly getting this right, but we all falter in our creativity at times. In trying to keep things innovative as we go into 2017, Case’s general advice is to not draw inspiration from trends and what others are doing, otherwise you tend to follow rather than lead. He admits this in itself means it’s hard to innovate, and says to rather: “apply lateral thinking and explore adjacent industries to find solutions for the specific business problems we’re tasked to help solve. Whatever the end solution, a great idea will always outshine the use of a trend.”

O’Kelly adds that we sometimes make the mistake of associating innovative thinking with big tech. “Sometimes introducing better coffee in the canteen or rethinking the way a brief gets put into the system is all it takes. I believe it’s about rethinking the everyday.”

Why you shouldn’t following trends for trends’ sake

As a result, Case says to be careful referencing trends without context, especially when it comes to their own work as each piece of Ogilvy’s work meets individual goals and needs. Speaking of the work we’ll see from the agency over the coming months, he says we’ll see “the predictable increase in mobile-first work, with a slant towards mobile-enabled film plus the creation and placement of content in non-traditional media spaces.”

They’ll also be producing more and more work that evolves at, and with, the speed of the consumer as opposed to set campaigns, as these are the heartlands where they’re experiencing the highest engagement from today’s modern consumer.

O’Kelly agrees that we shouldn’t talk about trends as if it’s an execution, instead reiterating Case’s point that we need to make sure we’re meeting the clients’ individual goals and needs. She confirms trends only work if they “inform or influence the daily interactive layer on top of your long-term brand-building platform,” and that yes, it’s about staying relevant as a brand, but that consistency over a longer period is where team Ogilvy focuses most of its energy.

That’s the secret to why they keep producing work that wins over consumers. For more on Ogilvy, visit their press office, follow their Twitter feed and Instagram updates.