Michael Kassan: How I Spent My Summer Vacation

As we all know upwards of 30 billion of media is in currently in play Whether you call it Reviewmageddon or Review Palooza depending on whether youamp8217re pitching or catching the stakes have never been higherOur world has continued to go wild with both formal pitches as well as internal reviews Brands are exercising this right to make sure theyamp8217re getting the most of their agency partners and in some cases to make sure theyamp8217re not amp8220missing anythingamp8221 Itamp8217s not just about pricing as many would think amp8211 itamp8217s about strategy talent and technologyMedia agencies are scurrying to defend their own accounts and in some cases besieging those in play at other shops Clients when asked about it seem to be saying more or less the same thing We are struggling with unprecedented uncertainty constant technological change and hard questions about the stewardship of our budgets and we have a responsibility to do something about itOne of the most interesting things to come out of the summer though is that itamp8217s not just the agencies feeling the pain Media companies themselves have had a rocky time in the stock market as legacy brands struggled with longterm strategic challenges like cordcutting and other digitallyinduced changesFor example what are agencies and clients to make of content marketing Do they acquire the capability partner with existing companies or develop their own capabilities What is their appropriate role or their business opportunity in helping brands figure out how to use these new digital tools to enhance their impact of their advertising The answer is very much up for debateWeamp8217ll be doing a deep dive into the latter subject with an AllStar panel during Advertising Week on September 30th called amp8220Pardon the Interruption Advertising Is Backamp8221 at the TimesCenter opening with a fireside chat between Sir Martin Sorrell CEO of WPP and myself immediately followed by a panel of industry experts Later that same day weamp8217ll host a second panel exploring lessons to be learned from increasingly innovative sports marketers in a session entitled amp8220FortheWinamp8221 which will open with a fireside chat featuring Mark Tatum Deputy Commissioner and COO of the NBA and myself followed by another strong panel of sportsfocused experts Both are sure to be interesting and more importantly informative discussionsEver since the first dotcom pundits have predicted the death of advertising and the end of agencies That never happened and it wonamp8217t now Agencies will continue to play a critical role However in the next 24 months that role may be dramatically transformedMy money is on shops becoming more like advisors Advertising professionals creative and media alike amp160know more about branding and how people respond to brands than anybody and that still matters amp8230 a lotThanks to technology media shops with their vast and growing insight into consumer behavior and media usage already fill this role to a significant degree There are other opportunities that might encourage an evolution of shops media and creative alike into brand consiglieresFor example for those who can counsel clients on how to harness the revolutionary power of technology to expand and enhance creative the rewards will be enormous Finding talent that understands technology and can use it to activate great creative the socalled unicorn candidates is another opportunity for agencies Indeed we are already fielding requests for unicorn talent on a regular basisWe might not know exactly whatamp8217s around the corner Then again I donamp8217t think we ever do For better or worse I prefer the former because Iamp8217m an optimist our industry is at an important inflection point Those who are willing to accept entirely new ways of thinking and doing business will find that the future can be as bright and beautiful as the start of fallThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers

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Michael Kassan: How I Spent My Summer Vacation

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Michael Kassan

"About That" with Carl Mayer: Corinne Casagrande (Episode 8: Consumer Spending) - By Carl Mayer

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Michael Kassan

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