Fallon may be winning the battle as the womb of new agencies - as I’ve stumbled upon yet another spin-off: Zeus Jones. This agency popped onto the scene March 1, 2007 (and deserves extra credit for not naming the agency after themselves).
While we’ve not been very complimentary of Brew: A creative collaborative, or Barrie D’Rozario Murphy and the way they started off online (weakly)- the crew at Zeus Jones scores a B+ for “getting it.” The front page is just a series of places you’ll find them online- starting with their presentation on Slideshare (see below). Very cool stuff.
Zeus Jones Welcomes You.
Zeus Jones approaches marketing differently.
View our credentials to see what we mean by “Marketing As A Service.”
They also have a separate blog: From the head of Zeus Jones which for some odd reason, they didn’t decide to build on their own site- but using Blogspot- which is what stopped me from giving them an A+
The idea of a blog, separate from a site, is old school. Ideally, while having all those places online as place to hang out is great- the fulcrum of your online (the de facto realization of your brand these days) in 2 places is a mistake.
What I had time to look at on ZJ’s sites looked good. They’ve decided it’s not advertising brands need- it’s more of a reason to like a brand- utility. We’ve always thought of our solutions for clients as one that makes the relationship between customers and our clients one of mutual joy, as opposed to a one-way shouting match.
There are some smart, small agencies out there- but, finding and identifying them will take a new kind of filter. With agency search firms still clueless about what makes good web strategy, and Ad Age and everyone else so fascinated by Crispin Porter & Bogusky (us included)- what has been slipping under the radar is agencies like Zeus Jones who seem to have a true Unique Selling Proposition- and the smarts to make it happen in our Web 2.0 world.
Mark Silveira at Ordinary Advertising reminisces about two clients who asked for, and got, great advertising. To help you understand how to get the advertising you think you deserve- he offers a list of 7 traits in a good client- but number 4 was worthy of mention here:
A Frank Appraisal at Ordinary Advertising
Neither of these clients believed the agency should be considered a “vendor” (more than a little demeaning) or a “partner” (utterly unrealistic), but rather as an “asset” of the client’s business to be taken care of in direct proportion to the return being generated from it.
I’ve seen hundreds of agency sites that talk about being a “partner” when in fact, the agency has nothing on the line- no risk, other than losing the business.
Considering your ad agency an “asset” fits much better - along with the understanding that the part of the balance sheet that accounts for “goodwill” and “brand value” comes in part from the client/agency relationship which should include an almost symbiotic relationship, an intertwining of DNA of the two organizations. Understanding a brand isn’t something that comes overnight or with a contract, it comes from insight gained over time.
In choosing an agency, look closely at what kind of agency you are retaining:
How long do people stay there?
Who owns the agency- and what is their personal stake (holding companies can be very cold bedfellows)?
How long do their client/agency relationships last?
Is there a passion for the craft, and your product in the agency?
What are the rewards for both sides if the relationship blossoms?
Are your expectations for advertising realistic?
Do you trust them as experts in the field?
In buying a piece of capital equipment- what do you look for?
How long it will be relevant to your processes?
Who makes it?
How do they treat their current customers?
Is it the best it can be for the money?
How does it pay off?
Will it do the job?
Is it the best solution?
See, your relationship with your agency is the same as that of your new CNC machine- and just like that CNC machine, it can only produce great work if there isn’t operator error- which brings us back to what Mark was talking about- and the idea of the relationship as an asset.
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.
The payola scandals of the Fifties were a black-eye on commercial radio, where record labels would pay radio stations to play certain albums.
Now with corporate and satellite radio controlling the airwaves, and internet radio still in the nascent stages- the best way to get your songs played to mass audiences is to sell your song to a major advertising campaign. When Wieden + Kennedy bought the Beetles “Revolution” for Nike there was a major outcry of selling out. (Personally, this commercial still makes me love advertising- and what I do)
But, besides bringing new exposure to old hits- or even hits in the making- there is also an area of concern for artists- will they be seen as selling out? Some artists have sworn off commercialization of their art- Bob Dylan taking a hit for selling music through Starbucks for instance.
So, when Crispin Porter + Bogusky follows in the footsteps of Arnold by putting Wilco’s “Sky Blue Sky” into a campaign, Wilco fights back- and in the tradition of David Ogilvy who believed you should use the products you shill, admits to driving V-dubs.
Pitchfork: Wilco Explain Volkswagen Ads
After millions of infuriated Wilco fans around the globe set fire to their copies of Sky Blue Sky and drove their Jettas off cliffs yesterday, Wilco took it upon themselves to explain their recent involvement in a Volkswagen ad campaign.
“With the commercial radio airplay route getting more difficult for many bands,” wrote the Chicago sextet on its official website, “we see this as another way to get the music out there.”
They continued: “And we feel okay about VWs. Several of us even drive them.”
Securing rights to popular music isn’t always easy- we once traded building a website for Buckwheat Zydeco in exchange for using his music as the background for a local neighborhood non-profit marketing piece- which cost us a bunch- but gave the neighborhood new life. Besides the website- (which has been sadly and badly basterdized over the years) Buckwheat gained a whole new bevy of fans- who would not have been exposed to his great music any other way.
With viral videos like Jud Laipply’s “Evolution of Dance” using a bunch of copyrighted music- the question is- is it better marketing for the music than the old school pay-to-play? If I was the copyright holder, I’d be thrilled to have “tastes” of my music given that much exposure.
It’s a whole new world out there in marketing, what you learned in school doesn’t apply anymore. Sharing is the new currency and attention is the new jackpot.
