The third and last day of the Pitcher Festival of Creativity, July 4th 2020, began by 10:00 am with a much-needed seminar titled “Navigating the New Normal and Getting Ready for the Next Normal” by Patrick Gommes, CEO of DigitXplus Nigeria. The seminar guided advertising and marketing communications agencies on how to help brands find their feet again in the current economic disruption brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and how to prepare for the meltdown that is sure to follow in the coming days.
Among other guidelines, Patrick Gommes advised brands to give more attention to consumer service, look out for shifts in consumer buying habits, defend their share of voice, and build strategic alliances.
By 11:00 am we had the very last presentation for the Pitcher Festival, which was a webinar with marketing and sustainability expert, Thomas Kolster. In discussing his new book “The Hero Trap.” Kolster talked about the growing trend of brands taking the hero stance and attaching themselves to critical social issues like diversity, ocean plastics, the COVID-19 pandemic, etc in an show of “saving the world”. He observed that this trend has been increasingly unsuccessful, because people are “just not buying it.” Kolster argued that instead of playing the hero, brands should focus on giving people the confidence to bring about the needed change.
“The market is changing,’ said Thomas Kolster, “People are no longer just buying what you make or how you make it. They are increasingly buying who you can help them become…Meaningful brands need to play that significant role in people’s lives, where they help people achieve their dreams and aspirations.”
And finally, by 4:30 pm, we had the long-awaited Pitcher Awards Show, where all the winners in the different Pitcher Awards categories were announced. The show was aired on TVC News and TVC Entertainment Channels, and streamed on the Pitcher Festival website.
Speaking at the awards show, Nnamdi Ndu, CEO of CHINI Africa, said: “With the COVID-19 crisis, we were faced with 2 choices: to cancel the 2020 festival, or to migrate online. As a company that champions creativity, it wasn’t difficult at all for us to make a choice. At no time in recent history has creativity been more important. We need creativity to restore hope, livelihoods, businesses and economies. So, this is not the time for us to step back in our role of honouring creativity. We must encourage those that are doing well to do better for the sake of all of us. As humans, nothing can take the place of the connection we make when we shake hands, smile or simply look into each other’s eyes, but still, we have had a great festival, creating a learning and networking platform for university students, professionals and creative enthusiasts. I thank the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, APCON for their usual support, the management of TVC, our jurors for Pitcher Awards, the student competitions and the Young Lions Competition.”
Visit www.pitcherfestival.com to view all the winners of the Pitcher Awards 2020.