“Too often we underestimate the savviness of our audience”

Deborah has been Director of PR & Communications at Forsman & Bodenfors since 2021, running PR strategy for both the agency and its clients and building the agency’s fame regionally as well as internationally. She came to advertising from an interesting training ground. A former news reporter and television anchor, she has absorbed what fuels the media and ultimately its audiences, and woven into that is her love for creativity and the impact it makes in culture. In a career that has included a decade at BBH Asia, three at TBWA\Singapore and now nearly four at Forsman & Bodenfors, she has built fame for her agencies and their clients, putting Asia’s creativity on the world map for campaigns such as Mentos National Night, IKEA Book Book, and Kami the World’s First Virtual Model with Down Syndrome.

ADFEST: Great advertising – and indeed, great agency comms - are all about communicating in a way that is meaningful. What do you see as the most important elements of communication? What are the most common mistakes?

Deborah Abraham: So much of comms has the propensity to be predictable and so uninspiring, so we should always start by challenging ourselves to never be dull. We need to simply appeal to our audience in the most compelling way. Who are they, and what moves them? What makes them want to engage with your brand?

I think too often we also underestimate the savviness of our audience – as we pour more advertising on them, the better they are at ignoring us. Use creativity to capture the attention of your audience or they will hop right off the trail (and your media plan).

ADFEST: PR and traditional advertising are merging. What criteria will you use to judge PR at ADFEST?

Deborah Abraham: PR has never been more apparent to accelerate the success of advertising. To invest in an earned-first PR approach in creative thinking alongside your paid strategy is what we at Forsman & Bodenfors call a ‘formula to fame’, strategically using creative ideas that punch above their weight to create a disproportionately positively impact your ROI.

Judging creativity through a PR lens is for me a combo of first gut feel across a criteria I’ve started adopting from another international jury: Jungle. Licence. Relevance. Benchmark.

How will ideas “survive the jungle” vs “zoo”? It comes down to ideas earning attention while flourishing on their own without the need of constant feeding (with paid media) to survive. Does the brand have the right to be in this conversation? Is the idea credible? Would anyone care? Did the campaign move the dial on sales and brand loyalty? Would you share this work with your top clients? Does it display intelligent use of creativity?  Execution – please make it look good. We’re in the business of entertainment.

ADFEST: Entertainment as it relates to advertising is very wide. The brand can feature in many ways and to varying degrees. What do you think are the most important features?

Deborah Abraham: If we can’t entertain our audiences, we are failing as a business. So many brands simply fail to entertain or don’t think they have the right to be entertaining (think B2B or high-risk sectors who float in a sea of sameness). Earning attention isn’t about being the loudest or throwing in AI, CGI  or big name influencers for the sake of it. Bells and whistles can’t hide an idea without meaningful insight.

Our biggest competition isn’t the other brand’s ads, it is the streaming channels, online shopping  and  Instagram cooking demos. Simply put we need to pull audiences to our content and not push it onto them.

ADFEST: What do you see as the greatest challenges for agencies in order to triumph over the future? Are their issues that the industry as a whole needs to address?

Deborah Abraham: It is such a challenging time for agencies – and I certainly don’t have all the answers but here’s that gut feel again:

There will always be another agency that can do that bit more, for that bit less, have more AI tools or a huge network for leverage. I would start with getting our balance of creativity and technology right and just being…robust. Always reading  what our clients need to succeed and working quickly to respond.

Agencies that are agile while staying true to what they are really good at feels right. Work hard to find special (and nice) talent, choose the right partners to collaborate with and challenge your clients every single day to get to great work.

ADFEST: What do you see as the essential tools/skills/personal characteristics for a successful career in PR & comms? What would you advise someone hoping to get a start?

Deborah Abraham: As media channels and platforms  evolve, so too the art of PR and its influence. Knowing what will earn attention across our complexed media space means being on top of the global zeitgeist. I would always challenge the conventional and be very afraid  of mediocrity. Be curious, be brave and never stop learning as you’ll be expected to be an expert on everything. J