Agencies should use technology to enrich people’s lives, not enslave them, says Natalie Lam, one of the world’s leading international creatives.

Originally from Hong Kong, Lam was part of the original small crew at R/GA New York that created Nike+ and also helped build NIKEiD into a profitable sales channel – which makes her the perfect person to lead the Interactive Lotus and Mobile Lotus jury at ADFEST 2019.

Lam was Regional Creative Director of OgilvyOne Asia, based at OgilvyOne Shanghai, followed by ECD roles at New York agencies McCann, Razorfish and Art, Copy & Code, a boutique special projects agency within Google New York.

What are you most looking forward to about leading the Interactive Lotus and Mobile Lotus categories at ADFEST 2019?

We all know technology is a huge part of our lives. I’m looking forward to seeing how brands use it to help enrich and delight the human experience, instead of being enslaved by it. Also, since the region has such rich and diverse cultural heritage, seeing how brands and creatives make communication work in a truly interactive manner based on real local insights and user behaviors, instead of simply adopting a TV/print concept onto a digital channel. That would be really interesting.

In 2015, under your leadership, Razorfish New York had the most award-winning year in its 20-year history. What are your favourite memories of this time?

There was lots of young, hungry, talented and entrepreneurial talent in the agency thanks to my predecessor. But since Razorfish was a bit under the radar, we could focus on doing great work instead of playing the game of keeping up an appearance. As a result, we pitched and won Spotify, created the first wave of data-centric storytelling work that’s been the norm of tech brands these days, hacked Instagram for Mercedes, while continuing to do serious deep product/platform work that’s been the bread and butter for the agency.

The fact that the entire creative team for Spotify went on to become its in-house creative team was a very magical thing. It showed how talented everyone was – even though it was bad for the agency ;)

As a Hong Kong native turned New Yorker, can you reflect on your time at OgilvyOne in Shanghai back in 2008? How difficult was it launching global brands in China at that time?

That was 10 years ago. I wouldn’t say it’s difficult, but it’s different. Back then it was the wild wild east. Most global brands were entering China for the first time since it’s such a huge market with so much potential. It’s crazy to see how in just 10 years China is now the world’s largest economy.

I had to unlearn everything that I knew from being in New York. Most of what worked in the Western world didn’t work in China because of its cultural difference. For me, it’s exactly what I was looking for since if you already know what would work, where’s the fun of being a creative? Helping established global brands find relevance with new cultural insights and consumer behavior, rethinking and re-establishing themselves in a huge new market was very humbling and exciting.

Can you give an example of a global brand that had to rethink its positioning for Chinese consumers?

When we launched The North Face, its Western brand platform had been “Never Stop Exploring” for a while. The notion of exploring the great outdoors as part of self-growth was a very familiar concept to the Western middle class. But the new Chinese middle class just got their comfortably air-conditioned modern apartments with giant couches and TVs. They’d like to stay in and lead a comfortable life and take a break from sweating outside.

So we had to adjust the brand platform to “Start Exploring" to encourage them to take the first step to venture outside. There are lots of examples of brands needing to relook and reinvent themselves within a new cultural context. It was exciting and fresh, which was a bit of what I needed personally at the time.

Before Ogilvy Shanghai, you were creative director of the NIKE+ and NIKEiD global accounts at R/GA in New York. Why were these innovations so successful?

I was very fortunate to be on the NIKE+ and NIKEiD global accounts and witness how technology and the dirty word (in my eyes) “innovation” helped a brand grow. But at the end of the day we need to remember that Nike had been a well-loved brand for a while. When you’re at that level, fans would buy into anything you put out in the world. I’d always say even if you have an ad with a shot of a piece of trash, if you put the Nike logo on it, people think it MUST mean something. That’s the power of the brand.

There are only a few brands in the world that have this effect: Nike, Google, IKEA, Apple. They’re so influential that they could do no wrong. Someone says Apple is the world’s biggest cult brand and it’s very true. Everyone who works for these brands truly believe in their values and what they’re setting out to offer the world. When the people within the organizations have such strong convictions in their mission, it's contagious.

I think NIKE+ and NIKEiD were born at the right time at the right place with the right brand. If the same idea and technology were from lesser-known brands, I don’t know if they’d have the same impact.

What did you learn from working with Nike, which is one of the world’s most powerful brands?

I’m old school even though I’ve always been looked at as a tech/digital person, but I’m a strong believer that everything comes from the heart. If your audience wants to believe in you, they’re more willing to try what you serve them, whether it’s a beautiful film, a joke, a new toy, an app or a new way of selling you something, or nothing at all. So, what I learned was the power of brand, enhanced by the most relevant human behavior at any time.

Of course, on top of that, the tenacity of actually executing a new idea and constantly making it better was also key. After we launched NIKE+, I’d have lots of people who wanted to join the team but they’d stay for six months and quit to go somewhere else since it looked good on their resume. So, keeping talent, bridging the knowledge and talent gaps when new people joined, while keeping a seamless high standard for the products themselves was a precious lesson learned.

Have you been to Nike's new flagship House of Innovation store in New York yet?

I haven’t. I imagine lots of agency creatives had been pitching similar ideas to various clients for a long time, but they ended up being meeting fodder. I wouldn’t be surprised that some of the ideas we pitched at R/GA from 10 or 15 years ago are now finally coming to life in the new store.

So, the secret to Nike’s success is just doing it.

* Natalie Lam will arrive in Thailand to lead our Interactive Lotus and Mobile Lotus jury in March.