The mad world of advertising

Some people say they love advertising because of the ads they see on television, billboards and YouTube videos that generate mad buzz. Others see the glamorous side of the ad world – TV production shoots with models, launch parties with celebrities, Cannes Lions Festival showstoppers, and exclusive dinners at upscale restaurants with clients.

However, if you ask any adman how they feel about the industry, they will tell you it’s a world of meetings, presentations, deadlines, pitches, and more meetings. To them, it’s a crazy world beset by short timelines, fussy clients, and cut-throat budgets. Yet still, they love the job, and wouldn’t dream of doing anything else.

In the good old days, we had radio, outdoor, television, and press to contend with. We got used to this model, and everything was rosy, until digital was thrown into the works, which upset the stable cart of the ad world. Technology, forever, changed the way brands would engage with consumers, clients with agencies, and agencies with other marketing communication partners. The game had changed, and we knew it.

When agencies participate in RFPs (request for procurement), they are usually given two weeks (ideally, sometimes less) to about a month for submissions. That was before. Now, clients demand responses within a week. Their consumers include digital natives – people who grew up with 21st century technology - who are restless with the world, their parents, the environment, and brands in particular.

Any smart marketer knows the advantage is in creating brand relevancy and recency with prosumers. Otherwise, their brands are relegated to the background, and perceived as old school. For quick access to ideas, presentations are uploaded in the digital cloud within seconds, video conference calls are made on Skype, and real-time focus discussions are scheduled on Google Video.

Everything is possible if you think it. That is the kind of attitude marketers are seeking for in their partners: can-do attitude, passionate about their business (and brand), knowledgeable about the consumer and willing to throw (almost) everything aside when they are called to proffer long-term solutions in a matter of minutes and days.

Where we stand

Over the past decade, there has been a proliferation of companies in the media, marketing and advertising sectors. While they all claim expertise in distinct genres, each one that is incorporated on day one starts thinking of wooing clients (that already have agencies on their accounts) for a part of the business. Whether it is an innovation firm, digital shop, brand consultancy, trend research company, or advertising agency, the un-changed marketing budget is cut and re-cut to fit the ever-expanding competencies of professionals that clients feel they need to grow their business.

During the past few years, agencies had to quickly adapt in shoring up their billings as annual marketing plans were reduced to mere tactical campaigns and one-off projects. Design and innovation agencies were proffering creative ideas and advertising solutions (that included media placements if required) with little or no increment in their fees. PR firms were recommending digital solutions, and advertising agencies adorned the rainbow cap of ‘360-degree’ and ‘integrated’- agency title. It became an all-comers affair, and everyone felt they deserved a piece of everything.

It was the dawn of a new era where ideas ruled. If a marketer approved a concept or strategic direction as recommended by an agency, the latter did everything that the business entailed – from product development to brand planning; media buying to sponsorship; digital strategy to PR; and trendspotting to crowdsourcing. And where core competence was lacking, consultants, freelancers, and third party vendors (having the same mindset and attitude as the agency) were brought in to collaborate, share ideas, and co-create veritable solutions for the client.

Advertising next

Consumers are assuming the positions of media companies. From broadcast networks [ABC, FOX, NBC to social networks (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube), we are now witnesses to individual networks (blogs, Gmail Buzz, RSS subscription, Google Reader). Consumers have already been participating in trend spotting new business ideas (Trend Hunter, SpringWise), assisting brands to develop campaigns (Mountain Dew, Vitamin Water, Verizon), and breaking the bank for their favourite brands (Apple, Nike, BMW).

Technology and the rapid growth of social influence platforms have empowered consumers to take an important step into the world of advertising. Soon, they shall be offering rate cards to marketers, the value of which will be determined by the sum of an individual’s subscriber base and amount of dedicated followers that check their every link, follow up on referrals and regularly comment on blogs, online posts, and like their status messages. These individual networks will influence everything from automobile launches to brand extensions, and sway online communities on sensitive issues like BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Advertising agencies need to start asking themselves what role they would play when this ‘notion’ becomes a trend, and daily occurrence. While we are playing ‘catch-up’ with digital, no one should claim that we did not see this coming.

It is only a matter of time.