digital axle

Not Your Grammy's Media Buyer

When I started my career at age 20 in the pre-fax, pre Internet, almost pre-fedex days on the eighth floor of Grey Advertising's 777 Third Avenue office building, not only was my calculator chained to my desk, (really. It was) but seemingly, the Grey spot media buyers had been chained to theirs for several decades.  They were let loose to plop (they all plopped or plotzed) into the waiting limosines of the slick-suited salesmen (the buyers were all women the sellers were *all* men) from the spot media rep houses like Katz, etc.   Off they went to the Yankees game or 21. They bought impressions and negotiated rates by parceling out percentages of their budgets. Send me my tickets. Over and Out.

My sources tell me things haven't changed all that much. Within the last year, I heard of a San Francisco- online buyer on the phone with spot buyers at a major buying agency (not Grey or Mediacom btw) in New York who was told point blank, something to the effect of, "if you don't stop talking about accountability and measurement in front of the client, we'll take your entire budget away". They weren't kidding and they still had that power. 

Dave Morgan's column in MediaPost today, about "Minimum Motivational Frequency "reminds me that these days may finally be coming to an end.  It is becoming increasingly possible to measure the sales impact of specific television spots (see Morgan) as well as the impact of an entire medium on actual behavior. Check out Wes Nichols' company Marketshare Partners if you don't believe me. It's no longer fantasy, it's happening.  At the AAAA's meeting last week in San Francisco, I talked to an agency CEO who had yanked the media business away from one of the big media buying agencies with a proposal that  actually cost more in fees than the "we negotiate the best rates and offer the lowest commissions" media houses by proving better effectiveness.  Even more impressive, he had won the argument with the purchasing department.

Buyers of all media are going to look more and more like digital buyers and less like spot buyers.  It's going to get harder.  Data, rather than limo length witll drive decisions. Yes, it's taking forever, but it is still going to happen. They find their own limos and they get off on spread sheets and pivot tables.  Ain't nobody going to chain them to their desks either.

About time.

New Movie: Lemonade

Layoffs in the ad industry have inspired a documentary called "Lemonade," a project of former Arnold copywriter Erik Proulx, who last year started the blog Please Feed the Animals for unemployed advertising professionals.

The trailer launched this week on the movie's website, lemonademovie.com and will air there once completed.

Prouix interviewed 15 former creative and account directors from major US ad agencies, all of whom had been laid off - but then used it as an opportunity to do something different, such as starting their own businesses or making some other kind of life change. (Hence, lemons --> lemonade.)

This comment on Ad Age pretty much sums it up:

At the risk of sounding heartless, I think one of the (only) good things about a recession is how it weeds out people who aren't passionate about their careers and jobs. Based on this trailer, it seems that many of these people found their passion in other areas -- leaving room in their previous careers for people who want to be there. I work in the digital media, and the same thing happened when the market collapsed in 2001 -- the only people who remained in digital were those who truly belonged there, and it was a blessing.

Is the end of traditional media truly nigh?

"If you're in advertising, you'd better learn to speak digital, because that's the way the world is going."

Those words come from Josh Bernoff's Groundswell blog today, summing up Forrester Research's just completed five-year interactive marketing forecast. Over 70% of the marketers they surveyed expected the effectiveness of channels like created social media, online video, and mobile marketing to increase, while the effectiveness of direct mail, television, magazines, outdoor, newspapers, and radio would stay the same or decrease.

They expect digital marketing to grow to about 21%  of advertising spend in five years, while overall budgets are declining. And of all aspects of digital marketing, social media is the area expected to show the greatest growth, growing from $716 million this year to $3 billion in five years, between social networking campaigns and agency fees. (And this doesn't include ads on social networks, because those are considered display ads.)

What does all this mean for you, dear friends? Time to get your digital on. Old school just won't cut it for much longer.

We leave you with this eulogy from, well, a social media site:

Hey Starbucks, what's up? Wanna chat? JKLOL!

The New York Times tells us today that Starbucks is launching a major social media blitz to tie in with their latest advertising campaign. Among other things, a contest to be the first to post a photo of new ad posters on Twitter.

They already have large followings on Facebook (1.5 million fans) and Twitter (183,000 followers) and this campaign is sure to get them more. So will social media get people to drink more coffee? Or buy more cars?

No one knows yet how to measure the ROI on social media, yet we all secretly believe it makes a difference. These grand experiments are laying the foundation for the future if nothing else.

Relationships are supposed to be the cornerstones to success on the social web. So what does this mean for brands? We find ourselves wondering how Starbucks (or any other brand) plans to have a personal relationship with millions of people. What's the point of social media if not to be social? Don't get us wrong, we are all for expanding into the social web. In fact, we think it is necessary and only a matter of time until all aspects of the web are social.

And yet, we find ourselves wondering where it's headed. Will social media continue to be part of advertising? Residing within the marketing department? Or is it something else, like, say, how a company does business everyday, up there with answering the phone. Because carrying on a conversation is what customer service representatives do. Not necessarily marketers.

As for Starbucks? We don't make friends with our coffee. We drink coffee with our friends. So we're going to grab a latte, sit down at the keyboard, and check in on Facebook. Maybe we'll tell our friends how great this coffee is.

YSMV: Your skepticism may vary.

Traditional advertising and social media are getting cozier by the day. So cozy that you might want to call them “friends with benefits.” That guy you overheard talking about his favorite yogurt? That woman blogging and twittering about her awesome new car? Maybe not quite so unbiased – since they got that yogurt and that car for free. Say what you will, getting something for nothing makes a difference. Hence, the benefits.

Solicited word-of-mouth is nothing new; BzzAgent has been around a while, sending people out in the world to comment, share and, well, generate buzz. Now, Ford Fiesta is giving away cars to agents. Hey, if I had a new car for 6 months, I would probably like it too. Ah, that new car smell. Nothing quite like it.

Our response? It's time to embrace your inner skeptic. The message is only as valuable as you allow it to be. These days, everyone has something to share, and it’s not all as innocent as it might seem.  As Pete Cashmore wrote in his post "Can Social Media Make Us Buy More Cars?": “In the era of user-generated content, being an informed and skeptical consumer of media is as important as being a skilled creator.” And for every blogger, vlogger, or twitterer commenting on a product, there are ten consumers who need to raise that eyebrow just a little higher.

Of course the real question is: will it work? How skeptical are people these days? Keep watching Ford Fiesta and maybe we'll find out.

Convergence! It's here. No not that kind. The other kind

For the longest time, digital agencies have done everything they can to convince the world that no, no, no ...they only do digital. Why?  Two words: Wall Street.

Remember when Digitas went public?  They (brilliantly) positioned themselves to the dot com rabblery  as "Digital Gone Wild" when, in fact, at the time, more than 60% of their revenue came from offline sources like, say, junk mail.  Did you ever hear Tom Bedecarre of AKQA bragging on his print campaigns for Visa?  Not likely.  For just about ever, Wall Street has given digital agencies a much higher multiple on income than it has given the IPG's and Omnicom's of the world.  So even if the business was there, Digital CEOs underplayed their offline revenue because nothing good could come from it.

But now the advent of online video as a content and ad form may be the catalyst changing all that.  Here in Adweek the formerly high minded digerati of Razorfish (incidentally owned by MSFT of all companies) is taking credit for a campaign in ...gasp... broadcast video.

We've thought this would happen forever.  The digital agencies are in the best position to win these clients over the long haul.  Why? EZ. They understand and appreciate data -- something the traditonal agency world has yet to fully wrap its head around.  So, in some respects the high multiples are justified as the Razorfish's of the world may start to gobble up broadcast budgets and position themelves as the center of the marketing infrastructure.  Their future growth curve looks way brighter.

What Agencies Will Pay for a Shot at Ad Fame

Whoops, didn't mean to do THAT, said the dude from One Show --one of the premier awards shows for advertisements-- when he slipped and accidentally emailed the spreadsheet that listed all of the entries (and how much they paid) for the 2009 awards to a handful of agency execs.

Too late, it's out, and Ad Age reports that apparently, even in tough times, agencies are willing to shell out quite a bit for a chance at recognition and industry fame. Total # of entries, excluding interactive & design? 9,795 -- with an average cost of $358 each, pulling in $3,507,860 for One Show.

Ad Age estimated also that considering how many entries they received the year before (26,000), the organization got about $10 million in entry fees. One Show's response: We are a nonprofit, and agencies realize that this money goes towards supporting the industry.

BBDO was the hungriest hippo, accounting for more than 750 of the entries - spending a total of more than $250,000, according to the spreadsheet.

A Few Bright Spots Amidst the Darkness

Sick of hearing about layoffs, bankruptcies, and -- dare I say it -- cut ad budgets?

Here are few bright spots among all this doom and gloom:

• Interpublic Group (holding company for McCann Erickson, Universal McCann, Initiative and Lowe) posted  organic revenue growth of 6.2% last year, despite the downturn. That's $6.9 billion in annual revenue, but more importantly, $265.2 million in net income, up from $133.3m in 2007.
• Tech companies are going green. That is, using solar energy to power their massive, power-hungry server farms.
• Brands are figuring out how to do Facebook up right.
• Advertising is still sexy, politically-incorrect, and can be totally dangerous. My favorite: Mad-Men-style ad execs "doing nothing," from JWT Manila.

For These Companies, Social Media's Their B&$%h

Which companies made social media work for them this year?

Forrester calls out the corporate projects that it says best used social applications to accomplish business goals.

Below, the winners of the 2008 Groundswell Awards, in the various categories:

• Embracing: MyStarbucksIdea.com by Starbucks
• Energizing: Hershey's Bliss House Party by House Party
• Listening: Mattel's "The Playground" Community by Communispace
• Managing: Borderless Workplace by Accenture
• Social Impact: Artshare, Click Exposition, and Posse by Brooklyn Museum
• Supporting: Nerd Network by National Instruments
• Talking: Young & Free Alberta by Common Wealth Credit Union

You're invited to check out any, all, or none of these projects.

Some words of wisdom - from the press release, where they are not often found. [Bold mine.]

“The reality is that consumers are in control, and companies must be in tune with them in order to constantly adjust to their needs and behaviors. Aligning with customers is the only way to maintain loyalty and market advantage, particularly in a down economy where fighting for every customer counts.”

                                                        - Carrie Johnson, Forrester VP and Research Director

No Recounts Necessary for Best Digital Ad Campaign

Cast your vote a few weeks early - for the best digital ads, that is.

Eyeblaster is holding its seventh annual awards event for Digital Advertising Campaigns - and you can have a voice by voting for the People’s Choice Award. Go here to vote before October 17.

New this year is the award for best cross-channel campaign, or the campaign that exemplifies excellence across multiple digital channels.

North American Nominees

• HP Touchsmart, Goodby Silverstein & Partners
• Buckleys, Saatchi
• British Columbia Dairy, Tribal DDB, Vancouver
• San Diego Zoo, M&C Saatchi LA
• Sheraton, AvenueA Razorfish

International Nominees

• Non-Stop Fernando, Lean Mean Fighting Machine
• Mini R55 Launch, Glue London
• Springfield, OnTwice Interactive
• Texas Poker, Ogilvy & Mather
• Cacique, Doubleyou ES

Winners will be announced in New York City on Wednesday, November 5th at the Eyeblaster Awards bash. Will you be there?