Media Agencies: All That's Right; All That's Wrong

First surely it39s better to work out who you want to talk to when and in what circumstances before considering what you say to them amp160This is not of course a new idea it was a regular tune played by media agencies 20 years ago at least amp160but that doesn39t make it any less relevant today Indeed it39s more relevant than ever and more achievable in today39s media worldSecond there39s a need to understand that the true value of brands rises above shortterm measures what Millward Brown used to refer to in a sadly defunct attempt to move upstream from being purveyors of research into more of a consultancy role as appreciating the impact of demand as well as activationLook at virtually any serious brand owner39s balance sheet and you39ll note that the value of their brand is way more than the aggregate sales of that brand That doesn39t just happenNick suggests quotThe threat to agencies is not the ANA or procurement or consultants it is their own addiction to dated modelsquotThis may be true but the sort of collaborative framework he proposes depends largely on trust and just as trust is built up over many years and as a result of hundreds of small actions so it can be destroyed by the actions of the fewAs we39ve said here many times before the best chance the media agencies have is to move their focus away from groupwide trades towards clientcentric plansNick39s quotdated modelsquotamp160are those based on understanding the price of everything and the value of nothing thanks Oscar amp160The Mindshares and the OMDs the Starcoms and the others of this world need to assert their primacy over their group traders amp160Nick39s piece suggests they39re on their wayThat39s not to say there39s nothing wrong with Nick39s column amp160It starts with this admission quotThis article started as a rant in Nice airport quot before listing several fellowranters amp160I don39t believe for a moment that a bunch of overtired Cannes delegates trying to get home suddenly came up with this stuff however brilliant they might be amp160The sense of frustration of the need for change must have been simmering for a whileConsider who Nick et al wants to influenceamp160amp160His own managers and those in competing agencies who will doubtless be amusedimpressed by the picture he paints of how genius thoughts find their way onto a page amp160Or advertisers who might perhaps prefer to think that changing the face of an industry deserves a little more thought than being conjured out of thin air in a BA lounge somewhereLast week39s Cog Blog made the point that great ideas emerging from network agencies are worthless unless they find a pragmatic endpoint in how the agency39s offices think and behave amp160It would be great to think that Mindshare has a plan to put Nick39s ideas into operational practice and that they are already discussing with their clients who might be prepared to go with them and that joint success followsLeaders39 musings their insights and thoughts are all very interesting but they need to lead to action amp160Nick Emery leads one of the top media agency networks on the planet amp160If he can39t effect change noone canClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers amp160

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Media Agencies: All That's Right; All That's Wrong

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Brian Jacobs

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Media Agencies: All That's Right; All That's Wrong

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