A New Year's Challenge to Brands

My List of Resolutions Is for the Clients

Posted by Mat Zucker on 01.05.09 @ 09:00 AM

Mat Zucker

I'm not sure if anyone cares about resolutions from a mere blogger or pundit, but what I think would be really useful are New Year's resolutions for brands -- many of whom are stuck over how should they behave in this ominous, paralyzing time.

So, chief marketing officers, brand managers, consultants, countrymen, here are 10 important resolutions for you to make on behalf your brands and agencies in 2009:

I will put my brand in the service of the country right now -- not my P&L, not my division, not my parent company, not a quite-possibly already irrelevant 2009-2010 plan. This is the time to spend the years of positive brand equity we've built up.
I will impart optimism to the customers who have come to believe in the brand. I will not give into the national self-pity promoted by our news media. I will not be a Pollyanna, but I will not be depressing.
I will finally add to my brand standards how I expect my business to behave. These principles are more important now than just look, feel, tone or advertising message. I've gone too long without them.
I will find new ways to connect to my audience. They used to rely on me to ask them for money. What else can my brand offer them?
I will finally learn how to communicate the way my customers communicate. I will get fluent in the digital media they've come to love -- search, text messaging, blogging, paid content, e-commerce. And my brand is going to make digital media better, just as we used to make traditional media better.
When I do use digital advertising, I will use it to actually sell product through news or differentiation. (Remember when ads did that?)
I'm going to use my roster of great agencies to get the best ideas for the brand. Now is an urgent time for ideas, regardless of where they come from. I am not going to over-rely on one agency to filter out what is right or force them to collaborate if it's not in their nature. I will be the filter.
I am going to learn to trust my agency experts. I will give the creative teams who work for me a reason to live and die for me. For example, I won't art direct my art director, copy edit copydecks or micromanage animations. If I don't trust them enough, I will get ones who I do trust.
I will beef up digital video production budget and get the volume I need to opportunistically fill media inventory gaps and, even more important, fulfill the hunger for brand content beyond launch pieces. (Guesstimate: spend 1.5x more to create 3x more.)
I will prioritize people who make work over those who make noise. Including reputable bloggers. ;-)

~ ~ ~
Mat Zucker is VP-executive creative director at Agency.com, where he leads a team of 30 creative directors, art directors, copywriters, information architects, designers and developers for clients British Airways, CIT, LG Electronics, Mars and Del Monte Foods. Previously, Mat was executive creative director at R/GA a senior partner and group creative director at OgilvyOne Worlddwide in New York.

10 Comments

By nickkinports | Chicago, IL January 5, 2009 09:35:15 am:

#4-8 are great challenges. Brands should be taking ideas that agencies generate and filtering them, as well as soliciting agencies to help the brand enter the digital social space with a solid, measurable strategy.

http://admaven.blogspot.com

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By viscomla | Los Angeles, CA January 5, 2009 11:38:20 am:

"Now is an urgent time for ideas, regardless of where they come from" -- This is absolutely true! We've been seeing many big brands taking off their blinders as of late and willing to listen (to just about anyone) on new areas of opportunity.

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By getapowerplay | Costa Mesa, CA January 5, 2009 02:34:36 pm:

I agree and it is a relieve to see written what we've been trying to convince our clients of for years. I personnaly have hit hard on the fact that a look and feel isn't enough to successfully build the brand. At the end of the day, what makes the brand is the the sum of each and every action taken by the given company. Even the way a simple employee answers the phone has an impact on the way the brand is perceived. Everything should be done asking first is it gonna help the brand or hurt the brand.

http://getapowerplay.blogspot.com/ - David Morin, Costa Mesa, CA

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By hsingleton | Saint Louis, MO January 6, 2009 11:30:44 am:

You've captured what a lot of agency people are thinking. But marketing execs are feeling pressure from economic woes, so the trick for us will be showing our clients how these changes can help their bottom line. That they aren't just nice-to-haves, they are crucial for the future of their business.

Heidi Singleton, St. Louis, MO

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By Russ | Minneapolis, MN January 6, 2009 12:53:04 pm:

Mat, thank you for being forward-looking and relevant. 2009 will be a long year for anyone who touches a brand. So I propose we resolve to keep the list going:

11. I will not make decisions based on fear.

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By whatupryanpeal | SANTA MONICA, CA January 6, 2009 07:11:27 pm:

Thanks for the list Mat, definitely think you hit on a solid wish list for all clients to sign-up for this year (and if only they had done it last year). For me the one I would tweak on your list would be part of #7 where you said you wouldn't "force agencies to collaborate." I think the days of one agency not wanting to collaborate with others is a bit old school and I personally hope this thinking is something that will go the way of the dinosaurs.

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By Mat | New York, NY January 6, 2009 08:27:10 pm:

Thanks, great comments all.

Ryan, you're right; it's old school for agencies to refuse to collaborate anymore. Everyone must be vested in what's best for the brand, not themselves. Should rephrase #7 to get rid of people or agencies who can't/won't. There are plenty who actually can.

Russ, loved your #11. Fear should drive quicker decisions, not shape them. Maybe that's #12. Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry up.

Heidi, You're quite right I omitted a priority in driving sales. We need ideas which are focused on driving sales, driving and closing leads. Perhaps this is a resolutions for agencies' list: "I will bring clients actionable on-brand ideas which impact sales now." Several of my clients are quite sensitive of this, so my omission, was, well, insensitive ;-0

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By jasonyogeshshah | New Smyrna, FL January 7, 2009 01:22:28 pm:

Thanks for the list, Mat.

#6 in particular struck me because I see most advertisements in digital media as simply unengaged and bland. In essence, the ads are HTML versions of TV and print ads - nothing more.

In addition to modifying the content of digital advertisements, it's also important for advertisers to be innovators in digital media outlets, rather than passive consumers. The days of simple banner ads and boring text ads are gone, but it will take a community-wide sense of innovation to come up with new online formats, in addition to new content styles, in order to engage our consumers.

-Jason Shah, Harvard College class of 2011

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By HEIDI | TORONTO, ON January 8, 2009 10:48:04 am:

Great article Mat ~ heidi

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By DENISE | SAN DIEGO, CA January 14, 2009 02:19:51 pm:

mat -- "I will finally add to my brand standards how I expect my business to behave. These principles are more important now than just look, feel, tone or advertising message. I've gone too long without them." really resonate with me -- after all, your brand is more than what you say, it's what you do!
Denise Lee Yohn http://deniseleeyohn.com/best-bites

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