agencies Archives

Agencies

Ev Williams, CEO of Medium, denounced the current ad-driven model and fired the Ad team

Agencies

Fighting Stereotypes Will Save Brands & Increase Brand Campaign(s) Effectiveness

Agencies

Meet the New Chief Collaboration Officer. Creating partnerships with other C-suite members.

Agencies

Taking a historical approach to disruption and profit. David gives a candid view of Agencies today.

Ads Have Gone Off the Rails

The excessive length and lackluster content of that football ad is but one example of the poor use of ads all over the internet. And that situation is behind the rise in ad-blocking software and the quiet concern about business models at some content sites.

Williams said: “…it’s clear that the broken system is ad-driven media on the internet. It simply doesn’t serve people. In fact, it’s not designed to. The vast majority of articles, videos, and other ‘content’ we all consume on a daily basis is paid for — directly or indirectly — by corporations who are funding it in order to advance their goals. And it is measured, amplified, and rewarded based on its ability to do that. Period. As a result, we get…well, what we get. And it’s getting worse.”

The Bottom Line

It’s no easy task to either make money online as a publisher or to advertise your product in a world where attention is so fleeting and divided. But the current system of ad-supported web content isn’t working for readers and viewers. It needs to be reset.

The #Unstereotype Alliance is inviting other organisations, even fierce competitors, to collaborate in eliminating stereotypes from advertising. As Santos put it: “It’s good for business, it’s good for brands, it’s good for society.”

“Laziness is not only damaging creativity; it is losing us business and killing brands,” says Santos. “More importantly, laziness is hurting society. And that’s what I want to really change.”

#UnStereoType

Santos is certain that inclusive and authentic representation of different people in media makes society more progressive.

That motivates her involvement in #Unstereotype, a movement that began internally at Unilever two years ago.

“We started looking at insights,” Santos recalled. “Were they rooted in a human truth, or a broad demographic like gender? We started asking ourselves; what is the role of the person we’re portraying? Are we showing their ambitions, achievements, and aspirations? Or are we portraying only their responsibilities?”

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

For 25 years, CarMax has blended the virtual with the physical. Car shoppers research the models they’re interested in on the website or app, then come into the nearest dealership, take the car for a spin, sign the papers and drive away.

This hybrid business model has helped CarMax become the top used car dealer in the country, selling more than 720,000 vehicles and generating $17.2 billion in revenue last year.

This smooth-running click-and-mortar machine wouldn’t be possible without a strong partnership between marketing and technology, says CarMax CMO Jim Lyski. As a result, Lyski and CIO Shamim Mohammad have become the Click and Clack of corporate collaboration.

“If you’re going to do digital transformation, you have to be technically native,” says Lyski, who joined CarMax in 2014 after stints in the healthcare, insurance and fertilizer industries. “Being joined at the hip with our CIO allows both of us to understand technically what’s going to be required, from the database architecture through the marketing stack.”

Historically speaking…

“Prior to the ‘80s, disruption was principally about large corporations driving new product innovation and globalizing, while full-service agencies were paid handsomely for building beautiful TV ads.

Done well, the system delivered great work that influenced consumers’ lives, built clients’ businesses – and did so with incredible simplicity of structure.

One agency did virtually everything for the brand.”

What’s the Agency world like today?

“Disruption through dizzying change in technology and consumer behaviour has been so fundamental that agencies are being forced to look at structures to deal with this digitally interconnected world. Clients themselves have jumped into the fray. Most radically, P&G in the U.S. recently had multiple holding company rivals create a standalone creative agency to help it cut costs and create efficiency.

Secondly, now that clients have uncovered the depth and breadth of money-making by media agencies, holding groups are forced to reassess legacy structures. They simply cannot maintain heavy layers of national and global management for each agency brand, plus the holding company, in this new economic reality.

However, in reality, these new models are hacked versions of existing agencies with multiple cultures, disparate leaders, bonus schemes, and so on. They are band aids, not meaningful, systemic solutions.

If we are going to create agencies that are fit for today – and poised to adapt to an ever-changing future – we must learn from history, and through the lens of disruption and profit.”

-David Jowett, No Fixed Address (yes that’s the brand name).