Advertising: Who Cares? "Let's Start...

The last Cog Blog post coauthored with Nick Manning created a stir Described by some as a amp8216call to armsamp8217 and no doubt by others as amp8216two old blokes desperately seeking relevanceamp8217 which by the way we neither need nor want the point we were and are making is that for many in the advertising industry the advertising itself has become an afterthoughtThis is a far bigger problem than many recognise Even if it sounds familiar few would like to admit that whatamp8217s been happening over the last decade or two is putting the future of the business and many who work in it at riskLetamp8217s start at the beginningCustomers prospective customers real people donamp8217t care about adtech platforms data or media rebates They care if they care about anything in our business about the adsAre they fun Entertaining Informative Persuasive Interesting Shareable Noticeable For me Relevant TimelyPerceived wisdom has it that nobody notices a media plan True enough but get the media plan wrong and nobody will notice the ad eitherGetting the plan right is at the heart of our Who Cares initiativeThe best the most effective ads come from a collaboration between strategists creatives media planners and analystsIt may be stating the obvious but the strategist distils data into a core idea the creatives work the core idea into an execution the media guys amplify the execution by placing it in those places where it will have the greatest impact the analysts report if it impacted the business and together everyone decides what needs to improve next timeWhere are the buyers in this The dealmakers The adtech suppliers The DSPs SSPs and all those other acronymsThey exist to execute the plan As efficiently and as painlessly as possibleNot to change it fiddle with it create frankly dubious numbers and concepts to amp8216improve itamp8217Just to deliver itThis isnamp8217t easy it is both a sophisticated and a skilful business but itamp8217s the last stage in the process not the firstItamp8217s also tablestakes Yes it needs to be paid for but it shouldnamp8217t be seen as a hidden source of revenue for the agencies That should always be must be the clientOur issue and why we started the Who Cares campaign is that these delivery mechanisms are negatively affecting the end product the adNobody is suggesting we should go back to the amp8216Madmenamp8217 era and ignore anyone who questions the creativesamp8217 art but equally itamp8217s wrong to rely 100 on the amp8216Mathmenamp8217Some say this is an inevitable evolution of the business It isnamp8217t in evolution the best bits surviveThe amp8216Mathmenamp8217 approach ends with messages that deliver sameness blandness and for the consumer tediumMessages that donamp8217t workIt takes away judgement and replaces it with a false certainty the sort of certainty that claims that my enlarged photocopy of the Mona Lisa is a greater work of genius than the original just because mine is on a bigger canvasamp8216Mathmenamp8217 may not destroy the ad industry but they are turning it into something else with all sorts of unpredicted consequencesOne such is that weamp8217re no longer an attractive proposition for those young people best suited to a career in a creative industryThis has come up a number of times in the response Nick Manning and I have had amp8211 from students their professors and teachers Advertising is simply no longer a particularly attractive professionStarting salaries in media agencies are we have been surprised to learn much the same as c20 years ago Thereamp8217s not even the balancing factor of amp8216funamp8217 anymore And thereamp8217s still the same mental stresses and strains the uncertainties the often unnecessarily long hoursThose who have contacted us privately from the holding companies talk of the primacy of the dealmakers over those with client knowledge and the favouring of media channels with whom their parent has deals over doing the right thing for the clientItamp8217s worth remembering the 2016 transparency scandal started in the USA by Jon Mandel supported by the ANA ignored scandalously by the agencies and their trade associationHereamp8217s a link or two to blogs from back then Nick Manning my cotroublemaker in Who Cares was deeply involved in the reporting of this at the timeThis isnamp8217t a new point amp8211 but it is one that needs the disinfectant of light applied to itWeamp8217ve received more support than we imagined likely for the Who Cares initiativeWeamp8217ve so far heard from clients creative agencies media agencies research businesses consultancies in UK USA Germany Holland Estonia China Singapore Canada Australia and New ZealandAbout 4000 have read the blog post and about 120 have written to offer us help support and active participation in the event weamp8217re planning later in the year September 12th amp8211 save the dayOne thing that hasnamp8217t unduly surprised us is those we have not heard fromNothing from many of the usual experts and commentators Where are the highprofile media consultancies Where are all those people who tell us in posts and on platforms how to amp8216doamp8217 advertising Strangely quiet this timeWhat about the large adtech businesses The platformsWhat about the holding companies Not a squeakWeamp8217ve looked at where the audience to the original post came fromFour out of the top five organisations hosting the largest number of individuals accessing the post came from holding companies and major platformsIt looks as if we are generating interest amongst individuals even if not with the organisations for whom they workWe are delighted to hear from anyone or any organisation interested in our plans Some from the larger silent organisations have contacted us in a private capacity We are especially grateful to themWe are happy for people to contact us anonymously and to ask us to keep their names hidden We know how hard it can be to speak out against working practices with which you may disagreeThe event weamp8217re planning September 12th is for all amp8211 we think it will be far better if those currently remaining silent do decide to attend to put their pointofviewBut to those wishing to support us you donamp8217t have to cause problems for yourselfWeamp8217ll make the fuss and weamp8217re beyond caring amp8211 except for the business we lovePosted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership selfpublishing platformClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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Advertising: Who Cares? "Let's Start...

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