iCrossing's VP of communications explains how the recent Publicis acquisition of Digitas signifies the awakening of traditional agency holding companies to the digital age.
This time of year typically is filled with reviews of last year's prognostications and the dispensing of new predictions for the year ahead. Given that the industry does not lack for soothsayers, throwing one more hat into the ring seems like overkill at this point. So rather than adding to the glut of top five and top 10 lists, I do want to pause long enough to note that the year ended with activity in the digital space at a fever pitch, driven most prominently by Publicis' acquisition of Digitas for $1.3 billion in cash.
The absorption of one of the few large, publicly traded interactive agencies into a more traditional media-oriented holding company is no small feat in and of itself. Leaving aside the legitimate questions of how effectively Digitas will be able to operate under the Publicis banner and the degree to which clients will benefit from the addition of Digitas' well-known capabilities, the issue raising eyebrows up and down Madison Avenue is whether Publicis' move truly signals the awakening of the so-called lumbering giants-- the traditional agency holding companies, the entities that collectively account for the lion's share of global advertising spend.
Looking at some of the other predictions around the industry, there are voices that continue to insist that traditional agencies still "don't get it" ("it" being targeted, accountable media) and likely never will.
I disagree. I think they do get it. In fact, I think their clients have been sending them the message loud and clear. What they choose to do about it is another story, but I suspect there is an imperative from on high to do something, and quickly.
At this stage of the game, with a significant number of established players in the field and demand for interactive marketing and advertising increasing at a faster pace than most agencies' ability to supply best-of-breed services and technology, the "buy-not-build" remains an attractive -- if not the only -- option. The shortage of talent in the industry is an endemic problem and the more large agencies feel the need to muscle into the space, the more competitive the fight for good, qualified people will become.
One of my colleagues recently commented that Publicis' acquisition of Digitas proves simply that "digital matters." To all of us who have been working on the interactive side of the industry, that will come as no surprise. It is something that we take as an article of faith. Yet, after all of these years, even with Web 2.0 in ascendance, what makes our work both interesting and challenging is the continued need to evangelize. As far and as wide as digital has spread among companies of all sizes, we've still only scratched the surface relative to traditional media. Despite the rate at which spending on digital is growing and the dire predictions about TV advertising's impending demise, plotted as two vertical bars, digital appears as a six-story walk-up standing in the shadows cast by the traditional media skyscraper.
I don't have to go too far out on a limb to say that TV advertising isn't going away this year or for the foreseeable future. I do think it will continue to change, in both format and the way it is bought and sold, but its here to stay. If anything, the internet will imbue TV with new relevance. Whether newly reconstituted agency holding companies will lead that charge remains to be seen. Whatever happens, the year ahead promises to be exciting-- it is safe to say that is one prediction upon which we can all agree.
Noah Elkin, Ph.D., is vice president of communications at iCrossing. Read full bio.