Five months ago PHD launched their latest thought-leadership publication, Overthrow II – 10 strategies from the new wave of challengers. Around the globe launch events have been held to introduce the marketing industry to ideas, strategies and narratives from a variety of challengers. Brands of all sizes can benefit from adopting a challenger mindset to drive growth and impact, so PHD offices across the network set out to present this provocative and practical guide to focusing on what really matters.
Below is a brief outline of a selection of Overthrow II events and launches so far.
PHD Malaysia’s Overthrow II conference
Eileen Ooi, MD, PHD Malaysia speaking on stage
PHD Malaysia organised a conference for 150 clients, partners and additional delegates from the marketing industry. The event saw a line-up of local challenger brands – including Amy Zheng, CEO & Co-Founder of healthy snack start-up Amazin’ Graze; and Malek Ali, Founder of BFM, Malaysia’s only independent radio station – speaking on their challenger narratives. The event was supported by digital OOH advertising and pre- and post-event PR coverage.
PHD Sydney’s T-shirt tribe
PHD Sydney decked the halls (literally) with #LiveMoreChallenger, and along with the books, gave all attendees challenger type t-shirts – printed at the event once the attendees completed the challenger quiz. A panel featuring senior executives from ANZ, Koh, GoGet and Bayer discussed the importance of challenger thinking for brands of all sizes and from all categories.
Isabel Luna, IDC Portugal, and Sandra Alvarez, PHD Portugal
PHD Portugal’s bookstore launch
For the launch PHD Portugal gave Overthrow II the best-selling book treatment – by partnering with FNAC (the leading bookshop in Portugal) for an official bookstore launch, presented by TV host Marte Leite Castro; Pedro Dionísio, a leading marketing professor and author; and Sandra Alvarez, MD, PHD Portugal. More than 100 clients, prospects and media owners attended and received copies of the book.
PHD UAE’s 10th annual BrainScape
Over the last decade BrainScape has become the leading industry event in the UAE, and for its 10th anniversary, the PHD UAE team took the approach of ‘standing out from the noise and stepping into the limelight’. This year’s theme, ‘Challenger: Rebel, Rethink & Reign’ brought Overthrow II to life in every facet of the conference, which had over 400 attendees. Luca Allam, MD, PHD UAE, and Malcolm Devoy, Chief Strategy Officer, PHD EMEA (and co-author of Overthrow II) kicked off the day with talks on what it means to be a challenger, before launching into challenger case studies led by industry leaders such as Ronny Gottschlich, former CEO of Lidl, and Muatasam Aulaqi, Co-Founder of volunteering tourism network NomuHub.
PHD LATAM’s Cartagena Summit
The Latin American Summit of Communication, Creativity, Innovation and Marketing in Cartagena is one of the biggest marketing events in the region. This year Rohan Tambyrajah, Chief Strategy Officer, PHD Global Business, presented Overthrow II to an audience of over 150 people. He discussed the importance of going beyond one-dimensional conversations around challenger thinking to understand that generating empathy, emotion and recall is the key to effective growth. Rohan was joined by Alejandro Clabiorne, CEO, PHD LATAM, and Louise McKerrow, Director of Branding, Mercado Libre to discuss how Mercado Libre embodies the Democratiser challenger type.
Rohan Tambyrajah, Chief Strategy Officer, PHD Global Business
PHD Germany’s Night of the Comms
PHD Germany hosted their fourth annual Night of the Comms, which has established itself as a market highlight for PHD clients, media partners and industry contacts. The theme of ‘energy’ – celebrating the anniversary of physicist Alessandro Volta demonstrating the first electricity source that could deliver a constantly flowing current – was supported by high-calibre speakers, including Malcolm Devoy, presenting short lectures on what energy means to their brand and how energy emanates from challenger brands that tread new paths of communication.
Malcolm Devoy, Chief Strategy Officer, PHD EMEA and co-author of Overthrow II
PHD APAC’s festival circuit
The PHD APAC team, headquartered in Singapore, have put Overthrow II on big stages such as Spikes Asia and Mumbrella360 Asia. At Spikes Asia, four female PHD leaders – Anna Chitty, CEO, PHD China; Priya Jean Alexander, Managing Director, PHD Singapore; Eileen Ooi, Managing Director, PHD Malaysia; Nadia Zain, General Manager, PHD Indonesia – from around the region joined forces to discuss how brands like Grab, Xiaomi and TikTok are emerging and disrupting the way we consume and transact, and how the industry’s current and and future talent embrace challenger mindsets and behaviours to lead this momentum.
PHD APAC also presented the Speaker’s Corner at Mumbrella360 Asia, where they held roundtable workshops on how to apply challenger brand thinking to your business. They also hosted a panel on ‘deconstructing how challenger thinking can drive brand growth’, bringing to the stage Siew Ting Foo, APJ Regional CMO, HP; Tim Burrows, Founder & Content Director, Mumbrella; Chris Stephenson, Head of Strategy & Planning, PHD APAC; and Gita De Beer, VP Marketing – Food & Beverage, DSM.
