Curiosity Is A Wonderful Thing

Iamp8217ve never had any truck with politicians but for once I felt a pang of sympathy People do rush to criticise without reading the original and do comment from a position of not knowing whatamp8217s being suggestedMy startpoint was and is that advertisersamp8217 trust in media agencies is not great Whichever means you use to measure it amp8211 by surveys or by tracking the number choosing to do their own thing inhouse amp8211 there is a genuine questionmark over what value the agencies bring their clients how they make their money and how objective their advice isAnd anyone thinking the core transparency discussion is long past is wrong as Nick Manning and AdAge pointed out this weekIamp8217ve been out of agencies a long time best to get that in early but I do see a lot of them via consultancy assignments and pitches And what I see is a sector talking to itself doing its best to convince itself of its general wonderfulness whilst ignoring the criticismsMeantime the larger industry sees a group investing in vendorsamp8217 businesses hiding and manipulating data and avoiding the key issues of the day if said issues are rather inconvenient to their bottom line think online ad fraudIn short a group of market traders not a cerebral group focused on finding the best solutions for their clientsThis is I admit harsh There are plenty of smart people in agencies there are also some agencies particularly away from the heritage group of holding companies who put their clients front and center And away from the agencies the online ad industry in its many facets is certainly not blamelessMy premise was and is that the agencies need a reset Theyamp8217re not just media buying businesses the descriptor most clients still use they are in theory or could be in practice expert integrated communication plannersTo be a great planner takes a number of skills and abilities including curiosity You need to be curious about people why they do as they do curious about clientsamp8217 brands and businesses curious about the whole world of media and communications curious to learnWhat you donamp8217t need is a corporate deal maker insisting you put your curiosity and creativity in a box close it shove it under the stairs and use quotXquot over quotYquot because of some overarching commitmentMy suggestion is to establish a framework largely using existing resources based around encouraging curiosity and learning To giving these abilities the space to grow and flower This framework would consist of a number of courses awards conferences and yes exams selected for their ability to encourage a closer relationship with the ad industry as a whole and to encourage the flowering of an ability to think broadly and beyond the media numbersThe plan is to go beyond specific media skillsamp8217 training There are after all as several people have said plenty of courses in how to use Google and Facebook largely run by Google and FacebookIn my fantasy world candidates would be awarded credits for participation in a number of preapproved activities Enter a paper in the IPA Ad Effectiveness Awards get credits Win an award get more credits Be published get credits Attend an approved industry conference get credits Speak at such an event get more creditsComplete an approved internal course get credits Pass an industry course get more creditsAnd so onOne comment from an agency head of planning said that nothing beats onthejob experience To me thatamp8217s rather arrogant amp8211 it may be that the agency doesnamp8217t know absolutely everything about everythingOf course experience counts My plan combines onthejob experience shared via inhouse sharing with learning from organizations and centers of excellence outside the agencyWho should run such a scheme I would favor an established highly respected trade body active across all elements of the ad industry My choice would be The Advertising Association with the active support of the IPA and ISBAThey would come together to publicize the scheme its objectives and the importance of credits to embed the scheme within the industryOne way to kickstart the scheme would be to suggest to clients that they make participation and support and eventually the awarding of credits a factor in whether agencies were included in pitchesThis is not unknown with such as DampampI Women Owned Businesses and othersThis may all sound a bit draconian but if weamp8217re to raise the standing of media agencies and to restore trust in the art of planning as opposed to the science of buying we have to think differentlyTo go back to the start thereamp8217s a quite possibly existential reputational issue that needs addressingThis is my attempt to address itPosted 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 MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Curiosity Is A Wonderful Thing

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Brian Jacobs

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Curiosity Is A Wonderful Thing

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