A eulogy for advertising and a proclamation for creative business consulting.

For the last ten years, media and media consumption have been changing at such a rapid pace that any assessment of them is rendered obsolete the moment it’s done.

For advertising agencies, this is akin to a tidal wave appearing out of nowhere on a beautiful summer’s day. But what do agencies do? Too many do not consider what the consequences of these developments and changes will mean for the world. They do advise their clients to take their ads beyond traditional print and TV into every conceivable medium because “you simply cannot reach people the way you used to.”

What this reveals is these advisors are still thinking in terms of “advertising ideas back in the day” and suggesting the only difference here is that traditional ads will now appear on the internet as CRM programs and POS posters.

What these charlatans try to pass off as “integrated communications” ultimately demonstrates their lack of ability and foresight. Why? Because integrated communication as understood by many advertising agencies and clients is really nothing more than adaptive communication. This type of communication is founded on an antiquated form of creativity, namely that of the "advertising idea". The problem is advertising ideas by themselves no longer solve problems because no matter where these ideas are executed, they are not designed to change behavior.

To be successful, agencies and clients must develop comprehensive communications based on creative solutions not advertising ideas. When we think in terms of solutions and not in terms of advertising, there is a seismic shift in the fundamental parameters because you are not simply thinking in terms of communication channels, the instruments in the orchestra, if you will. Instead, you are first and foremost composing a score to develop a surprising and creastive solution for a problem through an original, strategic idea. You no longer ask yourself, "What should the communication say?" but rather "What action should the communication stimulate?" When you do so you are no longer a trend seeker. Instead, you become capable of setting the trend and indispensible to a brand’s success.

The adage “know your audience’ has never been truer than it is today and sometimes the solutions that knowledge produces are quite surprising as Virgin Atlantic discovered when it was faced with declining sales in business class. Analyzing the lifestyles of these travelers, Virgin discovered these fliers slept more often in hotel rooms than anywhere else and when they enter their room, the first thing they do is activate the pay TV.

So Virgin broadcast a 20-minute erotic movie, filmed in the business class section of a plane, on adult entertainment channels in all U.S. business hotels. Just six weeks later, it was impossible to get a ticket for business class. Or take French Connection UK for example. The abbreviation of their name, FCUK, transformed their entire company, brand positioning and perception of their products from bourgeois to cool and sexy.

Extreme examples but extreme examples are the ones that make the point. We must finally start to think in terms of comprehensive communication, where the choice of media is defined by the solution to the problem, by a surprising strategy or by an ingenious score. Only then will we be once again new; only then will we be able to surprise and allure - which is what we are actually paid to do. The sooner we begin to do so, the sooner we will have a chance of once more recovering our credibility and our valuation.

This is, however, only the first step. There is a next step: depart from the role of communications service provider and think, act and structure as a creative business consultancy. I am talking about a modern think-tank that connects ability and well-founded analysis from business consultants on the one hand with the intuitive power of creativity on the other. It consistently provides solutions that are new, innovative and target-oriented. This can be anything, from developing marketing platforms and products via system solutions to efficiency programs, education or continuing education, new fields of business and other market opportunities.

If we as an industry do not start to set this course of change for ourselves, others will surely do it for us and hijack our roles and our business. But if we are proactive and seize the day, we will once more enjoy a prime seat at the table and positive reversal of fortune.

Amir Kassaei, CCO, DDB Group Germany

Posted on October 21, 2009 8:28 PM | Permalink

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