PHD Perspectives: When the Agency Model Fails…Blame the Client?! - Lance Neuhauser - MediaBizBloggers

Recently twenty Belgian Ad Agencies went on a virtual strike The strike is an attempt to change the clientagency pitch process and ultimately reduce the number of agencies allowed to compete for a piece of business The argument is that three agencies are plenty Any more than that is a blatant waste of resources which in the end hurts clients and the service they receive Some of the agencies that are included in the strike are major players such as McCann Lowe Kunstmaan VVL BBDO Saatchi Punta Linea and FamousNow let me state clearlyamp8230This commentary in no way shape or form plans on addressing the merits of the strike I have no intention of trying to tackle in 700 words what is or is not a solvable issue in our industry And I definitely have no real stance on the Belgium market or its advertising charter which apparently is supposed to govern such issues as pitching businessBesides I39m just a digital squirrel trying to get a digital nut I have my own fights to fightHowever from my digitalcentric point of view there39s more to this story than agencies taking on the whims of clients In fact digitally there39s much moreTwenty ad agencies which constantly battle constantly attempt to differentiate their services and their brand came together for a common business cause They did so by leveraging the digital space to take a stance create a word of mouth movement and grab worldwide attention for their causeTheir unique approachWeb site takeovers amp8211 Each agency dedicated its entire site to a portion of a messageWeb site Links amp8211 Each agency then linked directly to another agency39s site to allow for the message continuationMedia coverage and active social participation amp8211 videos blogs ampamp articlesamp8230oh myWhat truly amazed me was how a few seemingly simply digital actions could demonstrate such a major unification In a digital day and age our Web sites represent our brands as much as our logos our packaging and our products The fact that direct competitors used their Web sites one of their most sacred forms of differentiation to create one message for all to see blew me awayMaybe things are different across the pond but I can39t even imagine the backroom conversations necessary to pull something like this off and I certainly can39t imagine a business situation in the states that can get 20 competitors to agree Imagine what it would take to gain senior level buyin the calls it would take to calm the clients and imagine the potential fight over who was the 1st page in the message and who was 20thRegardless they did it and the digital community is rewarding them for it A Google search reveals heavy action in the Twitter space and blogosphere A Radian6 pull revealed a strong spike in conversation and Facebook has shown an increase in Belgian ad fansamp8230Belgian ad fans Who would have thunk itNow we must realize that this was a virtual strike and the only assets the agencies unified were their Web sites and digital PR responses Nonetheless unification demonstrated an amplification of a voice Therefore we as marketers must realize the power of unification Granted as an individual marketer we don39t always have an ability to take on a major cause or create a major news event and we almost never have an ability to pair up with a competitor However that type of aggressive action is not always necessaryWe are currently facing a time as individual brands when our individual brand assets television commercials Web properties products packaging etc are not always saying the same thing and therefore we are missing an opportunity to unify and amplify If we addressed all our marketing with one voice our voice and brand would be strong very strongAnd all told consumers want to hear from their brands Consumers want us to engage in a conversation but they want us to do so with one consistent brand voice across all channels and interaction points Therefore when we have a platform from which to speak digitally and non it is our responsibility to create and distribute a message of value It is our responsibility to address our constituents and speak to their needsSo go forth and speakquotBe bold and mighty forces will come to your aid Goethe said thatquot amp8211 William Miller39s mother quotAlmost FamousquotLance Neuhauser EVP US Digital Director PHD Media an Omnicom Company You can follow PHD39s Twitter feed at httptwittercomPHDisSmartMediaRead all Lance39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at PHD Perspectives MediaBizBloggersFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBlogger

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PHD Perspectives: When the Agency Model Fails…Blame the Client?! - Lance Neuhauser - MediaBizBloggers

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