The Sisomo era is beginning!

Over the last 10 years we have witnessed in rapid succession ‘the information economy’, ‘the experimental economy’ and ‘the attraction economy’. Now Saatchi and Saatchi global CEO Kevin Roberts says that we have entered the ‘Sisomo’ era. Sisomo is a way of reaching the consumer through all kinds of screens, whether televisions, computers or mobile telephones, and its aim is to entertain while informing. It does this by creating a moving story using visuals, sound and movement.

In his latest book entitled “Sisomo: The Future on Screen”, Kevin Roberts, Saatchi and Saatchi’s global CEO, introduces a completely new concept to the world of marketing. He believes that Sisomo will be the most effective means of communication in the marketing world over the next decade. Sisomo will make enable ideas to come into their own and creativity will become more widespread.

So what is Sisomo? Roberts answers this question as follows: “Sisomo means sight (si), sound (so) and motion (mo) on the screen.” Every technology which uses a screen, whether television, computers or mobile telephones, is a medium for Sisomo. But Sisomo does not just mean being on a screen. It means putting a story on the screen; and, most importantly, an intensely emotional story.

* You have been saying for some time that advertisements have lost their impact. Now you have created a concept called ‘Sisomo’ which will solve the problems experienced by advertising. First of all, what is Sisomo?
Sisomo is a new word. It means sight, sound and motion. It was visuality, which is Sisomo’s most important characteristic, which made television the most effective and best selling medium of the 20th century. Television has now become like a game, while mobile televisions have begun to become like televisions, and screens inside shops are used like cinema. It is at precisely this point that Sisomo comes in. Sisomo aims to entertain while informing. Sisomo is a product of popular culture. It was inspired by music. The fact that everything has become mobile enriched Sisomo. Sisomo includes all the computer and video games and the games sector is today worth US$28 billion.
Sisomo emphasises ideas and makes creativity more widespread. This is done using many screens, primary television, but also computers, mobile telephones and internal displays in stores and in stadiums. Screens will also be the biggest thing over the next ten years. Multiple screens will be the way to communicate. This is made possible by broadcasting, wireless communications and the Internet. Think about it: apart from sleeping, the average American spends the largest proportion of his/her time using technologies such as television, iPods and mobile telephones.

* What should advertisers and marketers do in order to be successful in this new era?
Advertisers who want to be successful should come up with creative ideas which can establish an emotional connection with the consumer. They should tell good stories. The more the ways they can reach the target market and establish a strong connection with it, then the more the choices increase.

For this reason, they should be looking to communicate more. I think that, for all marketers, communicators and advertisers, the most exciting opportunity that we shall see over the next ten years will be using Sisomo to tell power stories via a screen.

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