The marketing services industry has been going through a huge upheaval the past few years, largely because of the digital medium.
In the last year especially, I have met many a senior ad/media agency folks who sought my thinking on how an (ad/media/PR) agency should be structured to meet the new market dynamics. A million dollar question (actually billions of dollars -- the amount that passes through agencies hands)-- and I'm not going to pretend I have all the answers.
Now I have largely been a digital marketing professional but I have had the opportunity to work for many conventional agencies. I also have the good fortune to have worked in set-ups ranging from pure play digital agencies to conventional agencies and even in 'integrated' set-ups. And it has always got me thinking. If there ever was a possibility that I could start a marketing services agency, what is the philosophy that would guide it?
Well, I probably have a preliminary philosophy. While developing this, many unconventional paradigms came up. However, I am clear that the change should be incremental rather than radical, keeping many things the same.
But of course, I would also do many things differently -- starting with doing away with the tag "agency." (Always sounds like a reference to a 'cooking gas cylinder' shop to me) and starting a 'conversation catalyst'. (No -- the term 'conversations' are no longer just a 'PR' or 'social media' prerogative).
So why "conversation"? Simple. Because I believe that the purpose of a brand is to create involvement. And conversations beget involvement. On that, there's more I'd like to elucidate.
Think of involvement as something happening through a conduit. This 'conversation conduit' is the 'subject of conversation'. The conversation is centred around the conversation conduit. And so it becomes pertinent to understand the importance of this conduit. But don't be mistaken. It is not just about buzz or viral or word-of-mouth only. It has a wider, almost all-encompassing scope. This philosophy can actually encompass all the disciplines that marketing agencies work on.
For example, conversations are also built on trust, which is earned over a period of time. One of the ways trust could be earned, in clinical marketing terminology, is through the discipline of CRM. So the label 'conversation' still fits. The difference is that it changes the mindset of this discipline. From being 'database centric' to a more evolved form.
Take another example -- this time related to media. Paid media is the favourite bashing object of the alternate marketing evangelists. However, I do not think 'attention seeking advertising' (some call it interruption and some 'display advertising') is dead or going to be dead anytime soon. It has its own role to play in the entire scheme of things. So the question then is: If we still are going to have print spaces and TV spots, (I do not equate web ads in the same space as they are more evolved and flexible) what is the fit with conversations? Right?
Well, the answer to this is that conversations don't happen in vacuum. Conversations need mediums to attract and spread. Mediums offer opportunities to converse. Also to aid conversations in marketing, you need to consistently deliver the right messaging.
Well then, the issue of paid media gets taken care of too. The key philosophy to take home is that you do not plan media as the centerstage of your marketing plan. You plan media so it aids conversations.
Along the same lines, I could explain that the philosophy of conversation applies to other disciplines quite as well, like search marketing, direct marketing, and so on.
Not only does this incrementally change the 'media/ad agency' mindset, it even disrupts the 'media-creative-PR' silos that have existed for eons. By just focusing on 'conversation opportunities'. So it probably establishes that 'conversation' is likely a game-changing philosophy that could result in cross discipline integration like messaging, media mix, CRM, PR, etc.
Imagine -- we are not only talking 'cross media' integration. We are talking 'cross discipline' integration.
Coming to the second part of the term "conversation catalyst" -- 'catalyst'. By this term, I mean to point out that the 'control factor' in communication has becomes less important lately.
You might have heard this before, maybe in a different context. But in my mind, I am not very convinced that brands have lost ALL control. I think the role of the brand in conversations has not disappeared -- it has just been changing. And that needs to be understood.
The brand today, steers the conversations, by creating favourable opportunities. Think of a unique panel discussion. The moderator (for want of a better word) of that panel discussion is the brand itself. And the panelists are the participants (formerly known as 'target audience'). And here the panelists speak their minds (not the ones that you are used to attending). The funny thing is, imagine that the moderator is also the discussion point in that conversation! She does not just ask questions, rather aids the discussion by occasionally offering points of discussion. The panelists still speak their minds and can even question the moderator. (That is the way these discussions in conferences should be held, anyway.)
So then there it is -- the brand is not a referee or a judge or a ring master. The brand is a catalyst. Again when I say brand, it is clear that the external manifestation of a brand lies many a times with the agencies, who create and buy ads for the brand in the hope of creating a positive predisposition.
If that fuelled your imagination, there is a lot more. The key points to take away are -- conversation and catalysis -- how they need not be the domain of one discipline. Rather these philosophies could power the philosophy of the ad agency of the future (Did I just say agency?).
In my next article, I will discuss the skill sets that I will plan for this marketing agency of the future. Till then, keep on Chasing The Storm.
Shalabh Pandey is author of chasingthestorm.com and an independent digital marketing professional in Singapore.
