Solution #1: Total projects
It's a big "what if," but what if big agencies could handle bigger projects? Within the current business model, agencies get traditional jobs. Examples: create a 30-second campaign for a new product launch. Create an interactive campaign for a loyalty program. Design a print ad for a new spokesperson.
What if agencies solved bigger problems with total projects and total solutions? What if the projects were more along the lines of "create a solution to drive more frequent purchases" or "create a solution to keep consumers engaged between store visits" or "create an interactive program that will allow mothers to involve their kids?" If the total projects were bigger, maybe traditional agencies could charge the total revenues they are accustomed to and deploy their various capabilities more intelligently.
The question has been asked and acted on at OgilvyOne's OgilvyAction division. CEO Rick Roth says the agency's recent campaign for Perrier allowed the agency to not only create a campaign that would engage retailers and consumers alike, but it also allowed the agency to analyze consumer behavior inside supermarkets. Roth says the campaign was based on multiple packaging schemes that gave consumers different choices to pick different labels and even different designs from its Perrier flavor tracker online.
It resulted in OgilvyOne analysis of how consumers engage with products before they get to the store, how they engage with them on the shelf, and how they will connect with the brand afterward.
"It showed us that on-premise marketing is important," Roth says. "It showed us that we have to understand how media is used throughout the day, not just how we can best use an individual media. Can we use TV to get them to the web? Can we use the web to get them to the store?"
