John Hegarty on the ‘nonsense’ of Big Data, the ‘abberation’ that is scam and why Cannes is losing focus
Sir John Hegarty is one of the world’s best known advertising creatives. He co-founded iconic British agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty, which has offices in Singapore, Mumbai and Tokyo, in the early ’80s.
In this interview with Mumbrella Asia editor Robin Hicks at the Martinez Hotel on La Croisette, Hegarty talked about why Cannes is “losing focus”, the impact of scam on adland, the “nonsense” of Big Data, and why Asia has to learn from Europe about building brands that stand out.
What’s your take on the quality of work at Cannes this year?
There hasn’t really been, if you’ll forgive the expression, a “tent pole idea” that everyone rallies around this year. This year hasn’t been a stand out year.
One of the better opinions I’ve read on this site. Articulate and straight to the point.
John Hegarty exposes the fantasy of big data. Outs award scams. And asks if technology motivates people to buy.
The advertising echo chamber continues as the rest of the world moves on to other things..
Bravo – good responses. When it comes to data, I always think of Einstein –
“Not everything that can be measured is worth measuring, and not everything worth measuring can be measured”.
So much data out there is expensive but ultimately worthless. Much of it fails the “does it makes sense” and “so what” tests. Data without any actionable (or commercially meaningful) insight is nice but often pretty useless. But hey numbers are important in sales, 9 out of 10 people know that.
Succinct and spot on
The time wasters who post blx on Linkedin, day in, day out, “big data” this and “blue sky” that and “fad” this and “drivel” that… ‘Big data’ is certain the buzzword of choice.
There are so many cowboys out in the marketplace, making a dime, selling products that are in-flexible, expensive and designed to fleece customers, which proves that there are many C Level numbskulls, drinking the koolaid and shelling out coin. Business as usual then…
Salesforce is an example, Linkedin another. Get the customers locked into contracts, invite them to our own (un-independent) events and UPSELL UPSELL UPSELL. So many people are falling for it, it is astounding.
Clappping.
More like him.
Great points. Except Nike and Apple are two of the largest users of data analytics anywhere, and even BBH has some people who can count to ten and back. I think what he’s really saying is a lot of people seem to find this digital+data stuff somewhat useful, and that’s unfair as he did a great picture on his etch-a-sketch and no one will pay him 3 gazillion for it any more.
Sir John Hegarty is as always, inspirational.
However, he is losing all that credibility because for everything that he is telling us here, his BBH agencies in Asia aren’t really practicing what he preached.
A lot of their work coming out of there are lacking intuition, originality and imagination. Ironically they are done through endless rounds of research. Meanwhile their entries in Cannes are suspiciously scammy. Don’t just take my word for it, google them and see for yourself.
It is unfortunate that Sir John has retired, but for the sake of having his name on the door, please look into those offices and do the right thing. Else it’s simply throwing stones from his glass house.