Lauren McNinney, Rothco recently got to attend the Eurobest Young Digital Academy. Here’s she shares her thoughts on the experience.

“Before you start to whine, remember you get to create all day – and get paid doing it”- Calle Sjoenell, Chief Creative Officer, Lowe Brindfors

 Sometimes you have to be reminded that your job isn’t so bad. It’s easy to get dragged down by the menial tasks of the day to day, but when you see all the brilliant work coming from creatives around Europe, you begin to realize how exciting the industry really is. Eurobest is a great way to be inspired & get guidance from some of the best minds in the industry.

Five of us from Rothco were lucky enough to head over to Helsinki & join 20 other young talented Europeans in the Young Digital Academy at Eurobest. The Academy’s focus was on the innovation in creative technology & understanding the digital creative process. For 3 days, we heard from a handful of influential people in the industry, some coming in to speak to us exclusively. We sat in on workshops on wearable tech & solving briefs in 48 hours, and explored the other areas of the Festival as well.

Matias Palm Jensen, a highly respected digital creative in the industry, was our Academy mentor and he was absolutely brilliant. He had great insights about the future of the industry and really made us question how the industry was working at present and how it will look in 5 years time.

Wearable Tech

There’s only so much you can hear about Google Glass, but it was interesting to learn about the technology that’s coming down the line in terms of wearables. From the Alert Shirt, where sport fans can feel every hit & tackle of a player, to contact lenses that can detect your blood sugar levels for diabetics. The possibilities are endless to how we will be able to use this type of technology in the future. It seems that some of the technology isn’t at the stage now for everyday consumer use, but down the line, brands will be able to use this for an enhanced user experience.

Earned v Paid Media

Many speakers talked about the importance of earned media. Our mentor, Matias, spoke passionately about this and how it was the key driver to successful campaigns. Although many will say ‘that’s old news’, brands are still finding it difficult to get the link right between creating an engaging story that is both relevant to the consumer & their brand.

Aim tight to hit wide

This was a phrase used quite often during the Festival. It’s a great way to focus in on one audience in particular and give them something they truly need/want. From there, it will be picked up by the masses. Forsman & Bodenfors, the lead agency for Volvo Trucks, spoke about how “Aiming tight to hit wide” helped lead to their success. They had set out to target a specific type of truck driver, but the content was so clever & focused that it was picked up outside of their audience.

Overall, the Young Digital Academy was a great way to get exclusive access to the speakers & workshop while still being apart of the Festival. We were all extremely inspired about what we heard & saw and were excited to head back to the agency to share our new found knowledge! I would recommend it for 2015!