Darre Van Dijk From TBWA Amsterdam: Kill Boring!

Darre Van Dijk, Chief Creative Officer of TBWA/Neboko in Amsterdam is one of the keynote speakers at the Marketing Kingdom Cairo 2, Egypt’s biggest international marketing event, taking place from 26-27 October at the Fairmont Towers in Cairo.

Before joining TBWA Darre was chief creative officer at Ogilvy & Mather Amsterdam, Euro RSCG, DMB&B and was creative partner at the small local agency Amsterdam Advertising. His personal award list so far includes over 170 awards, of which 12 Cannes Lions including a Grand Prix. Darre is also responsible for the well-known campaign ‘Why wait until it’s too late’ for funeral insurance company DELA who became the Dutch advertiser of the year in 2012. The campaign is one of the most awarded campaigns in Dutch history.

We recently asked Darre to share with us, 5 tips for marketers in Egypt!

 Tip 1: Kill boring!

One way to compete with the daily information stimuli’s that consumers deal with is to avoid communicating too corporate and strained. Dig into topics that appeal to your target market, whether it is House of Cards on Netflix or watching cat videos on YouTube. Moreover, step away from the conventions in your branch and dare to tell your story differently.

 Tip 2: Use technology and data to be engaging

People – and perhaps millennials in particular – love gadgets, technological developments and other innovations. If these can be put to use in a relevant way your brand will be able to distinguish itself from the masses of information that consumers filter through on a daily basis. Moreover, big data can provide surprising insights that can form the basis for relevance regarding the stories brands want to tell.

Tip 3: Tell authentic stories that play on people’s emotions

The time has come to really get to know your customer. Forget– even if it is just for a minute – what your brand seeks to communicate to the rest of the world. Focus instead on what it is your customer needs or seeks to experience. How can your brand do something that is meaningful, authentic and leaves a lasting impact on the customer? This might mean that the story you should tell, is not directly related to your brand and the product it sells. And that is ok, as long as it remains relevant.

Tip 4: Show guts by being vulnerable

In our well-connected and progressively transparent world, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep control of the messages that circulate around your brand.  While brands are learning to deal with this phenomenon, it remains that they are naturally inclined to keep a firm hold of the reins. Loosening these reinsand accepting, perhaps even welcoming transparency,portrays guts and authenticity that will be appreciated.

Tip 5: Don’t Accept the Acceptable

As hackneyed as it sounds: dare to disrupt, and dare to disrupt yourself in particular. Scan the conventions in the market and try to break with them in order to identify and optimize new whitespace opportunities. To many, the term disruption could generate a feeling of distress, and that is fine. It actually should feel uncomfortable and a little off. Besides that, we often mistake disruption for transformative and costlytechnological change. However, disruption does not have to be costly, it is a mind-set that looks past restrictions that have been set by industry processes and familiarity. The following case illustrates how Apple, one of the most innovative companies in the world, continues to be a game changer through simplistic, yet disruptive thinking over a wide spectrum.

To meet Darre+ 15 other global marketing gurus from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google, Shazam, Unilever and Tetra Pak, buy your ticket today for the Marketing Kingdom Cairo 2 by visiting the event’s official website