“Brands, Blues & Change-Points” - a new Bates experiment in ‘edutainment’

Bates Asia’s CEO Nimal Gunewardena has combined all his passions – music, theatre, marcom and teaching – to create an experimental ‘edutainment’ experience titled “Brands, Blues & Change-Points,” together with the agency team. It is an attempt to share new thinking on brands, marketing, advertising and communications in a changing world through a very palatable format of an interactive session that adds a touch of theatre and a good dose of original blues music written by Nimal himself and performed by the Bates Blues Band.

The topic is based on Bates Asia’s focus on “change” epitomised in their “Change-Point Planning” model. Building on this, the session looks at changes in consumer values, lifestyles and habits and those in the media scene driven by technology, new media options and global and local influences, and challenges marketers and advertisers to re-think the way they advertise and use media. It also advocates a new approach to marketing and branding, indicating that old style marketing has had its day. The topics are examined in an evening event which has a built-in quiz contest with audience participation, ‘thought-provoker’ monologues, consumer viewpoints captured on film by the agency’s creative and research team, and lightened up by original compositions of “marcom blues” performed by the Bates Blues Band.

The compositions themselves are thought-provokers and are titled, “She’s no moron, she’s your wife,” “Brands & Roses” and “Ads, ads, ads: a consumers lament,” and includes a new version of the Bob Dylan classic “The times they are a changing”. The songs could be heard and downloaded from the event blog www.brandsbluesandchangepoints.net which carries information about the theme its creation.

The agency plans to run the production initially for the agency’s clients on October 30 and 31 at Barefoot Gallery and offer it subsequently to a wider public through marketing and advertising industry associations and interested media sponsors, the company said in a statement.