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Sharon Keith on what it takes to be a Rainbow Maker --
Tue, 04 Aug 2015 10:44
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I know, let s make a rainbow!
Most people we know would shake their heads and roll their eyes. However good we might be, or even think we are, we know that we cannot control the weather. But there was one person who took the suggestion seriously, and the result is the now world famous Cannes-award winning Rainbow campaign for Coca-Cola Southern Africa.
Sharon Keith, marketing director of Coca-Cola Southern Africa, is the third person to be recognised as a Champion of Creativity by the Creative Circle this year; a status awarded to marketers who walk the creative talk, supporting creativity not only with their words but also through the campaigns that they push through bosses and boards, and unbendable budgets.
Keith has spent most of her marketing career in the drinks business, working with brands from Lipton and Frisco, to Fanta and Fresca, before she graduated to Bells, J&B, Captain Morgan, Smirnoff Vodka, Guinness and Baileys. And then back to Coca-Cola.
She might feel uncomfortable being called the Rainbow Maker, especially when she is the first person to give the credit to the creative team at FCB, but the reality is that without her support, the campaign would never have seen the light of day. Every creative team understands the importance of working with a client who not only appreciates creative thought, but also acknowledges that creativity isn t linear, and it often requires many iterations and do-overs and re-thinks to arrive at a workable solution.
Our education system tends to train us to come up with the right answer , which is the answer that everyone expects. Creativity, however, is unexpected by definition. It requires people to think differently to how they have been trained, and taught. As such, it is often incredibly difficult to support. It goes against the grain, against everything we know .
Therein, perhaps, lies the first step in what is takes to be a Rainbow Maker .
Understanding. Acknowledgement.
I understand that creativity is messy. But I also believe that creativity is fundamental to business success. If you re not reinventing yourself and your brands every single day, you re sliding backwards. And reinvention requires creativity, it requires thought that goes against the grain that surprises consumers who have - quite literally - seen and heard it all before.
In the 80s, while working at Unilever Lipton Foods, Keith engineered a promotion with Arnold Geerdts and the SABC for Frisco, which saw the breakfast show crew knocking on doors of unsuspecting consumers in the early morning to quiz them about Frisco, to stand the chance of winning the keys to a luxury Gypsy caravan!
It was early reality TV - getting past dogs and security systems was an exercise in creativity all on its own!
We received so many entries - via the postal service, this was a long time ago! that they filled an entire room. We could quite literally dive into them! she recalls.
Which brings us to the second step.
Courage. Conviction.
It requires enormous courage and conviction to think differently, especially when you know that you might not hit a home run every time, says Keith.
At this point, it is virtually impossible to not picture Larry, the Fresca brand ambassador. Remember Nuffin tastes like Fresca! It must have taken some cahones to push that idea through the ranks, a black guy with a British accent, to advertise a completely unknown brand into the South African market
Keith recently heard a radio interview with Hakeem Kae-Kazim, who played Larry, and he commented that he still can t escape the Larry persona, despite his subsequent Hollywood success - that is how South Africans remember him!
To be fair, I can t take the credit for this campaign, as I inherited and finessed it rather than originated the idea. But it was a brave idea, especially for its time, and in this place, says Keith.
Of course, it also takes courage to use an existing idea, especially in an industry that has a tendency to frown upon anything that isn t original!
The recent Share a Coke campaign, for example, was picked up by Keith and her team from Australia. FCB gave the idea a fun spin with its hugely popular Bobby spots, and the rest is history - the campaign has since been exported to over 90 countries around the world, and barely a day goes by without the team receiving a request for the ads!
Sometimes you have to get past the not invented here barrier, and instead apply the lens of what could we do with this? says Keith.
It goes without saying that this kind of courage is becoming increasingly important in the global village that we call home.
The most successful creative people I know don t always hit a home run, though. They are just nimble enough - and brave enough - to regroup when it isnt working and start again, says Keith.
In 2009, for example, when Keith headed up marketing for Baileys Irish Cream in Dublin and developed Baileys with a hint of flavour, her team developed a striking print and outdoor campaign called Listen to your lips . But, sadly, she explains, the TV didn t live up to the print, so they changed direction. That happens. A lot.
I think we need to reward people for courage - because it isn t easy to think different! she exclaims.
Relevance. Resonance. Reason.
That said, Keith is not advocating thinking differently just for the sake of thinking differently.
If we are talking about successful creativity, we can t afford to do think differently just for the sake of it. It has to be insight-driven and actionable. It has to address a business problem, or take advantage of a business opportunity, or it won t see the light of day, Keith warns.
Take the work she did on Captain Morgan Spiced Gold, with the Soweto Beach Parties,
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