Fresh from Day one’s dose of inspiration, Day two at Dubai Lynx was one for building some solid strategy. Day two did not make big promises or predict the end of the world, rather it give the audience a return on their investment (I just sat through a day of advertising strategy) with some strong concepts to construct an unshakable strategy. Here are today’s biggest takeaways:

[box]Favorite Quote of the Day: “The industry innovates for clients but they are not innovating internally.” Gemma Milne, Ogilvy Labs[/box]

1. Google’s Art, Copy & Code Insights.

Starting the day off, this presentation saw a full audience, with Vikram Tank from the all-important Copy & Code team taking the stage to present Google’s marketing partnerships with some big name brands and the reasons behind their success. Using examples from Electronic Arts’ NFL Madden 2015 and their campaign with Lionsgate for the movie The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, Tank illustrated Google’s not-so-secret secret: understanding their target’s behavior. For example: when it came to Madden 2015, it was the insight that the fans were actually talking/blogging online while they watched American football. They found that the popularity of memes would work in perfect consonance with their current patterns and giving Madden players a chance to generate their own memes would give them a winner (which it did). The research for the The Hunger Games campaign led to the insight of using fan art and YouTube idols.

Key Takeaway: Google’s Art, Copy & Code model for success revolves around an idea that should focus on individuality and be adaptable on multiple screens. Give the fans more of what they love. The Hunger Games campaign led Google to discover that YouTube creators were more famous than popular celebrities. Lastly, simply focusing on mobile (as many in the market would say) wasn’t a determinant for success. Devices don’t matter, according to Google.

2. Getty Images and Today’s Global Visual Trends.

Operating from her London office, Getty’s Director of creative planning, Rebecca Swift is at the perfect height to spot global trends- Getty being the largest photo agency in the world. Armed with some of her agencies greatest shots and a stunning mohawk to boot, Rebecca swiftly took the audience through how today’s photo trends differed from past years’. This was quite insightful. A quick example? 2008’s most used picture from the category “woman” was a lady who was relatively nude under a white sheet. In contrast, 2014’s most used picture from the category “woman” was a woman with almost no make-up, fully clothed, pleasantly smiling on a train.

Key Takeaway: According to Getty, pictures that are getting a lot of play are ‘perfectly imperfect’. A concept known as ‘The Glitch’ is in. Photographs with some sort of blur, motion or aberration but with unique perspective deliver the highest engagement and usage rates. With regard to Instagram and mobile, Swift recommended that we check out the work of a photographer called Joddie Griggs.

3. Are you using Twitter right? by Twitter.

Well, the session was actually titled “The Power of Real-Time Marketing: Engaging the Digital Consumer.” However we saw it more as a case study of how Twitter had been effective in taking customer satisfaction and has been the catalyst for self-contained campaigns. Twitter’s head of brand strategy, Steve Kalifowitz, began his talk with some intuitive stats that would have been quite comforting to a lot of strategists.  One of the key stats that came out is that over 78% of Twitter users were using it on their phones. In the MENA region alone, this is 79%. Kalifowitz presented the Twitter brand matrix below and highlighted how the strategies of KLM’s #happytohelp campaign and Oreo’s Snack Hacks proved to be winners.

Key Takeaway: A key stat coming out of this talk is that users, on average, unlocked their phones over 110 times per day (according to The Economic Times). While covering live events or campaigns from a brand’s perspective, writing copy for the tweets beforehand by anticipating the various situations is ideal. Once the copy is ready and approved, just wait for the moment and send them out (to virality:)). For example: If you’re going to watch a big football match, you can anticipate certain scenarios and have copy written for what may happen like a close game or a blowout.

In case you missed it, here’s our summary of day one.

That was the LD for Day two. Stay tuned for more, you kooky creatives.

Note: For anyone looking for a job in the advertising industry, #DubaiLynx is an unmissable opportunity to rub shoulders with the right people and absorb what works in the real ad world.

Featured Image and other images courtesy of Dubai Lynx/ Getty Images.