On a recent Sunday afternoon I was watching football, and of course with that comes a steady stream of car advertising. An ad campaign that has caught my attention of late is for Cadillac. It features Kate Walsh (the attractive red head from Grays Anatomy) and as she drives over a bridge she asks the question “When you turn you car on does it return the favor?” Great line. And a great question. But then I asked myself, when did it happen? At what point did Cadillac get to the point where they could ask that question and I would even think it made sense coming from them. After all my grandfather drove a Cadillac. Of course he did it with two hands on the top of the steering wheel at 30 miles an hour in a 45 mile an hour zone en route to the local diner for a cup of coffee. When did Cadillac get sexy? Get modern? Get relevant to a younger demographic? More importantly, how? Again advertising. This brings me back to my brand stream of consciousness. Cadillac did something amazing. They changed my association with the brand. They repositioned the brand in my mind to the point where I now think of Kate Walsh before I think of my grandfather. Granted Kate Walsh is more attractive than my grandfather but over some period of time the advertisers for Cadillac supplanted a deep rooted perception of the brand, formed over may years with a new one seemingly created and formed in less time with arguably more impact, After all, it is much more difficult to re-position a brand than it is to own un-occupied space in the consumers mind. Think Sylvester Stallone and comedy and your get my drift.

 Of course, again I thought of my role as an executive in the interactive advertising business and more importantly if the huge impact that interactive advertising has had on the automotive industry. It is among the two largest categories of on-line advertising spending billions per year. Eight out of 10 new car buyers are “internet influenced” in their purchasing decision. We’re for real. You can’t buy, and therefore today you can’t sell a car without us. We helped Cadillac sell more cars. It’s an absolute fact. But we did that after the buyer was pre-disposed to consider the brand. On-line advertising did not re-position the brand. It harvested demand that was created elsewhere. An important job, as is being the middle inning reliever or the closer, we’re just not the Cy Young award winning starting pitcher. But here is the payoff – “yet”. That’s right. I said yet.

My prediction is that today’s interactive agencies will grow to become true brand stewards. As digital channels proliferate and steal share from more mainstream channels like broadcast, advertisers have been forced to think of their agency lineup differently You could keep the Interactive shop at the kids table when Interactive consumed single digit percentages of your overall spend but as that percentage grows the role of the Interactive shop has grown to be more prominent. But even more importantly, channels are still silhoed because technology has not digitized them all yet. But that’s coming. With advances in set top box technology and rising DVR penetration isn’t TV or broadcast advertising Interactive advertising? Of course the answer is yes. And therefore, as an advertiser who do you look toward to do the work? Do you look for an interactive agency? A traditional above the line agency? The answer is that increasingly you will be less inclined to make that distinction. As an advertiser you will invite all agencies to pitch for your business. Today you might include a cross section of agency types as that category distinction remains. But over time that will be less and less the case. That is of course if one thing happens. If todays digital shops can inspire. Sure we can be smarter. The logical buyer is always going to love is. But can we tug the heart strings? Can we come up with the big idea? Can we express the brand not only with precision and accuracy against the target consumer but with vibrancy, energy, and passion? I guess it all depends on your motivations. And how you see your role in the world. Are you a creator or an enabler? The world will need both. But the real prize sits at being the creator.

This weekend, I watched the Target Challenge Golf Tournament. It was played at the Sherwood country Club in Southern California. It was an absolutely beautiful course. And during the broadcast the announcers mentioned, multiple times, that it was a Jack Nickaulaus designed golf course. Not once did they mention the name of the greenskeeper.

I sure hope the advertising agencies have enjoyed the last few decades. They have left an indelible mark in the hearts and minds of many consumers. They have created much of todays consumer culture. And they should be proud. But to them I say, have a glass of Johnny Walker Blue and remember, we still need mainframes.