Just a few weeks ago, Ad Age was lamenting the future of CMO’s with their short stints at the top. Next thing you know, they are popping up in their own tv spots.
This morning at the gym, in the span of 2o minutes, I saw two spots featuring CMO types:
The spot’s theme is how the CMO scored a success by sponsoring NASCAR driver Tony Stewart’s armpits as ads for Old Spice. Old Spice wants you to visit the excitement at www.tonystewartsarmpits.com
The second CMO as rockstar sighting was a Coors ad- probably about drinking responsibly. However, I can’t find any reference to the spot, or the CMO (other than Coors has a new CMO) anywhere. The fact is- no consumers care who the CMO is- or what they think, much less than they care who the CEO is- unless you are Steve Jobs.
Advertising isn’t about you- the marketer, it’s about what interests the customer.
Back in 2005 Rupert Murdoch was interviewed in Business week, long before he purchased the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones:
The Birth of Murdoch.com
BROAD VISION. “Our strategy is quite simple,” Murdoch said. “News Corp. at its core is about content. The Web at its core is about personal choice. What we are aiming to do is combine the two, and in the process redefine the meaning of [an] Internet vertical.”
And in buying up newspapers, which ad agencies and CMO’s are writing off as an advertising medium- Murdoch is proving he’s way ahead of everyone else: he’s buying content generators, which will give him eyeballs. He’s planning on earning attention the old fashioned way- by providing useful content.
Which brings me to advertising as practiced today. We’re no longer generating ads to ride along with content- now more than ever the ad has to be able to stand alone as its own content. Not by intruding, but by being invited as content worth watching. So fun, interesting, informative that consumers will actually want to share it, interact with it, or use it to expand their own personal equity stash.
So, before you look at your next media buy and your new ad campaign, look at it as content first, and think what you would do with it? If you would want to hang it on your wall, share it with friends, save it to solve problems, or just keep it because it’s beautiful or funny- then go ahead and run it.
If it doesn’t do any of those things, or is mostly you beating your chest, maybe it’s time to select a new ad agency.
Putting an account into review seems to be pretty popular these days. Doesn’t matter what you did for us for the last twenty, thirty or fifty years, or if we catapulted the client to the top of their category- a new CMO (and they change faster than models at a fashion show these days) has to strut their stuff and see if they can save a bit on fees or trade you in on a new model agency. The client agency relationship in America has gone the same way the institution of marriage has gone- from till death do us part, to starter marriages and a string of trophy wives.
The most recent shockers were GSD+M losing Walmart, Wieden + Kennedy losing Nike running and Fallon losing BMW. All the agencies had taken their clients to the top- and then some. With each of these divorces must come costs- yet, clients don’t seem to understand the brand equity involved in an agency relationship. It can take years to find a client voice- and only one swift move by a budding CMO to lose it.
So, with the “trading agencies” show going great guns- the new business to be in is one of matchmaker- to which we recently added Ark Advisors/AAI to the mix. Here is their uninspired bio: (with writing like this, it’s a wonder they are qualified to tell the good agencies from the bad)
About Us
Ark Advisors is a management consulting firm that focuses on a broad range of complex issues facing corporate advertisers and their marketing communications partners. We work in concert with our clients to optimize their relationships with their agencies and to maximize the effectiveness of their own marketing operations.
We have four primary areas of specialization: Agency/Resource Search, Agency Compensation, Client-Agency Relationship management, and corporate Marketing Management.
I just spent the weekend in Jacksonville Florida working with leading brand thinker, futurist and copy writing goddess Sally Hogshead. I also spent some time working with a leading Jacksonville agency on planning their web 2.0 strategy. In our discussions of the future, one of the recurring themes was what what does an ad agency of the future look like? And what services will it provide.
Then I read my feed from educational/learning futurist D’Arcy Norman, and he’s asking the same questions: only about organizations centered around higher learning. Call it synchronicity, call it karma- just don’t ignore it. Here is what was on D’Arcy’s mind about membership in professional organizations:
On the changing role of the Organization - D’Arcy Norman dot net
We talked about the issues related to membership in the organization for some time. Each time we discussed it, we came back to a single conclusion - we don’t need an organization to provide infrastructure to allow us to connect with others anymore. We are fully able to make these connections on our own, as we have been doing anyway. The informal, direct connections made between individuals are much more valuable than organizationally-fostered ones, at least in my experience.
I really don’t think we need many of these organizations any more. It would be better to allocate the resources locally, while using these great “web 2.0″ tools and social networks to build connections. Maybe an occasional conference, more akin to Northern Voice than to these giant organizational conferences, in order to provide a venue for face-to-face interaction.
In an era of decentralization and individually generated and managed content, the role of the central organization should be changing. To what? I’m not sure. But it’s no longer necessary as a broker to connect individuals and groups.
Is the idea of an agency still relevant? Can teams of freelance talent give you better advice? Do we need physical offices to engage in the process of creating content in a digital world?
I’m not sure I have the answers anymore than D’Arcy is- but I do know that digital virtual tools can create connections more efficiently than ever before. And when you get to the heart of marketing- it’s all about making connections.
To all the über creatives out there about to launch your new “hot agency”- a few words of advice: launch a site before you send out your press release telling the world that you are open for business.
If I was a client, I’d assume that an agency is the first to realize that people can’t buy from you if they can’t find you, so, start off with your best foot forward.
Please note: this also means, don’t waste your money on a fancy Flash site- save that for when you are too big and don’t want business (unless you are really smart and know exactly how to make a Flash site that is both accessible for the blind- and search friendly- which few of you do). Google doesn’t like Flash much- and so all those people googling to find start-ups like Goodness Manufacturing, Toy, Barrie D’Rozario Murphy, and Brew Creative are ending up on some upstart agency site like this to find a link to your site.
There is also a bit more to it- web 2.0 and search require more than a brochure site- you have to continually add and update content to make your site relevant to search. If your agency doesn’t understand this, we’re happy to offer our consulting services to help you get the results you want.
Adrants » Old Spice Stakes Claim to Tony Stewart’s Armpits
