This year’s Forum keynote highlighted some of the universal challenges facing modern brands in the consumer space – and discussed how connections can be made in digital or physical worlds.   

Consumer appetite for great mobile content, experiences and opportunities to create and socialise continues to grow exponentially – yet the digital ‘shelf-life’ for these currencies is simultaneously shortening, to the point where ‘now’ is a split second, and almost everything seems throw-away and ephemeral. Alex McReynolds, Executive Creative Director of WHAM, spoke about the need for telco brands to find their place in this ‘make and discard’ culture, connect with consumers on their terms, while staying true to their essence and what’s permanent about them.

By the same token, in a sea of homogenized and over-simplified imagery, digital tropes, logos and content in general, modern brands need to somehow differentiate themselves by defining and displaying their unique identity or ‘brand character’. As Gary Lin, CD of WHAM suggested, developing identifiable visual brand elements is only part of the solution – but essential nevertheless.