P&G's A.G. Lafley and Jim Stengel, along with various other voices, have blended into a chorus of boos against big agencies and their interactive capabilities. But the latest I heard from P&G and Lafley is, "If you step back and look at our [marketing] mix across most of the major brands, it's clearly shifting, and it's shifting from measured media to in-store, to the internet and to trial activity," Lafley told Advertising Age on May 2. The latter he didn't define precisely, though he gave Gillette sampling programs, which include distribution of free razors by mail, as one example. On Gillette Fusion razors, he said, "you are going to see ... more sampling, because we still have relatively low trial rates." He also said, "We are still investing a lot in television, because, especially in developing markets, it's a hell of an efficient investment."

Wait. We're not happy with our big agencies so we're going retro. Huh? Exactly what trail are we following? No big agency, holding company or small, irreverent consultancy can follow the kinds of wandering that P&G represents, and they're not alone. Most brands are moving some budget to interactive advertising or they're switching money to that vague place called non-measured media. Anything that's not TV (which I thought was the original culprit here) is being lumped into interactive. If sampling programs are interactive media and that's what big brands are moving toward, that's foggy at best. It's tough to take P&G's agency lambasting seriously when they're going back to sampling and singing the praises of TV.

If a CPG brand, beverage or automotive brand came to an agency and tasked it with increasing overall spend, it wouldn't be a problem. Now be more specific. Be bolder about the fact that you don't know how well email is working anymore. Be honest about the questions still out there on mobile marketing. Be clear about the kinds of innovations you'd like to test on the internet and be willing to spend some money on building long-term community. Be honest that you've lost your way.

If that doesn't work, then come back on tell everyone big agencies can't get it done.