Hyper Island promises 3-day digital transition

By Kwaak Je-yup

Can a human being make the switch from analog to digital?

That is the daunting task that many executives in the advertising industry are now trying, says Anders Sjostedt, North America managing director of the Swedish vocational school Hyper Island.

In order to make that switch, he says those middle-aged executives who have not grown up with the Internet must admit to not understanding the way the culture of interaction is evolving — online and offline.

The school, located in Swedish cities of Karlkrona and Stockholm, offers a three-day master class to help professionals make this quantum leap as well as a two-year regular course for students.

“(The master class) is not a course but a tool to understand the shifts in how consumers relate to brands and how the community is built,” said Sjostedt in a phone interview. “If you don’t understand the fundamental implications of this shift, you and your company will become obsolete.”

Sjostedt says that agencies often hire a few specialists to handle digital, but top brains still geared in the conventional three-to-six-month campaign cycle frustrate the new hires because Internet needs much speedier responses.

“We say we cannot predict the future, but we will make sure you’re ready when it comes,” said Johanna Frelin, CEO of Hyper Island, explaining the school’s philosophy.

Powerhouses have come knocking, thoroughly convinced. Previous clients include global ad big wigs McCann, DDB and Lowe as well as consumer products company Unilever. Rob Schwartz, chief creative officer of another big-time agency TBWA/Chiat/Day, famously called the school “Digital Harvard.”

In late June, Hyper Island moved into East Asia for the first time, working with Japan’s largest advertiser Dentsu and Korean No. 1 Cheil Worldwide, which flew in directors from branches abroad.

“I was happy to see the lecturers and I had similar ideas, just different terminology,” said Cheil’s Executive Creative Director Thomas Hong-tack Kim, who said he had been working on digital communication for three years before attending the session in L.A. in early June and later at a resort outside Seoul.

“For someone who’s done traditional media (like print and TV) all their lives, though, it was jaw-dropping.”

The difference in corporate culture proved most challenging.

“We have never changed (our programs) so much on the fly,” said Sjostedt, who added the three-day program had to be abridged to two, at Cheil’s request. “We had been asked to be sensitive to cultural differences, like respect for seniors and not putting them on the spot...but actually we ended up having to be even more in-your-face, more provocative and demanding.”

“They wanted to cause a bit of chaos, and they did.” said Nam Kyu-bo, global HR director at Cheil, referring to the initial admitting-your-fear stage. While he received positive responses overall, domestic division employees had lower satisfaction, expressing difficulty working with colleagues from different corporate levels.

Nam said they are contemplating in-house follow-up sessions.

Sjostedt said the goal for any participants is to have them “transported to somewhere else,” free of previous inhibitions, but it is to be seen whether the Swedish shock therapy can do that for everyone here.