We all recognize that the advertising business is all about the big idea. The big idea that breaks through the clutter and creates momentum for a brand -- that idea is what makes or breaks an agency. You could argue for ROI, strategy, and even scale is emerging as a key differentiator. But the reality is regardless of what clients may admit – they want the magic sauce too. I often say “the prettiest girl in school does not exactly go for the most dependable guy” – the same thinking applies when clients pick agencies.
So if you work in or with a shop that is perceived as highly creative, you are probably nodding your head. But don’t get too comfortable. You may be in trouble.
Here is the trick. The medium is changing fast and what may appear similar to the uninformed simply is not. For example, writing for TV is actually quite different than writing for film. Selling in a new tagline is not the same as selling in a new business model. And, lastly, designing a multichannel, interactive brand experience that is driven by a complex technology back-end is simply outside the scope of what an art director/copywriter team can concept over a few lattes.
Conceptual ideas are cheap and meaningless unless realized. How many times have you walked down the street and caught a new product or new business or a new campaign and said to yourself I came up with that years ago? Don’t be mistaken; we do not get credit for what we doodled in our sketchbooks, or concepts on the whiteboard. Clients only give us credit for what we have done. The big idea is “real”.
Client’s expectations are growing more and more sophisticated these days, and many agencies are stepping up to the challenge by bringing on new talent and new perspective to their creative teams, and evolving their thinking. However, these are typically the exceptions. The majority of agencies are outsourcing their interactive, media strategy, technology and research.
This is not a new idea for them. Most agencies don’t mind playing general contractor to their ideas. What’s wrong with outsourcing print production? This makes sense to me since it’s not supposed to be an agency’s core competency. What about interactive or technology? This also makes sense -- until it actually becomes the idea or supposed to be part of your core competency. At what point do they cross the line of simply becoming only but a middleman to the idea? The argument has been “we came up with the idea, and we simply outsourced the execution.” This is certainly true in some cases, but I know better. In fact, I was recently at a little award show in Cannes, which you may have heard of. I was disturbed to see a number of the Madison Avenue elite parading around their newly acquired Lions for work they had very, very little to do with.
Here’s the good news: I don’t really need to call these guys out as frauds – they know who they are. This will surely drive them to retire or evolve. And, either outcome will surely put a smile on my face.
Comments (1)
Agree. In this day and age, the folks who do not think that strategy & technology are core competencies to top-notch comprehensive marketing campaigns are likely the same folks who are unable to strategically execute in a technology-dependent environment (read: the interactive space).
In this light, the companies for whom strat & tech is their comparative advantage are likely to, over time, steal share from latte-sippin' funky-bespectacled "brand experience" dudes.
Posted by Anittah Patrick | July 9, 2008 9:30 PM
Posted on July 9, 2008 21:30