Agencies Need to Think Like Software Companies
Enter the Hybrid Marketer: Where Mad Men Meet Tech Nerds
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| Allison Mooney | |
The truth is, advertisers and brand marketers are entering a brave new world -- one where code is on par with content. The 21st-century ad isn't something to be looked at, it's something to be used. Our reliance on mobile tools, such as apps, position them as the perfect vehicles for brands. "Consumers" are now "users." So are "marketers" now "developers"?
"In order to make a successful app, you need to have these core competencies, or work with companies that have these core competencies, that are beyond marketing," said Ad Age's Nick Parish during the pre-panel call. J.B. Holston, president-CEO of NewsGator, saw this as his company's role. "Our clients would rather not have to worry about keeping up with latest and greatest [in platform releases]," he said. "They can focus a lot more on the brand, more what is the right expression of the brand here, rather than 'How do I use the video capability of the next generation iPhone?'"
But Matt Galligan, CEO and co-founder of CrashCorp, also a tech company, said that having someone who at least can help a creative team understanding how the software should look is very helpful. "I think having somebody like that, even if they are not the ones coding the app, helps bridge the gap between the technical and the creative," he said. "As we talk to various brands and agencies about working with our technology, there is sort of a disconnect."
AKQA gets around this with a "creative developer" role, which I've also heard referred to as a "creative technologist." People in this hybrid position work directly with developers to oversee the realization of an idea. "Pure creatives don't have the language to speak with developers," said Rei Inamoto, AKQA's chief creative officer. "These people act as translators."
Inamoto also pointed to the need for brand managers to have a new hybrid mind-set. "We need to educate and cultivate a new breed of people who understand tech from a marketing and brand perspective, who have a consumer mindset." These "brand technologists," as Parish called them, also lend a software company vibe around an agency.
This idea of agency as software company was the founding principle of The Barbarian Group, a boutique digital shop with offices in New York, Boston and San Francisco. Co-founder Rick Webb believes that the advertising industry has only had one major take-away from the web 2.0 world: User-generated content.
"What they should have been taking away all of this time -- and have increasingly begun to -- are the concepts of the constant beta and agile development," he says. "Marketers need to abandon the time-limited campaign online and start to think of it as a constant application of a rigorous discipline. They should think of their marketing the same way that Facebook puts out a new feature every two weeks, tweaks it, changes it, and re-releases it. It's not a coincidence that's brought Facebook 400 million users and Twitter 40 million. We've been applying them to Kashi.com for three years now and have seen results beyond anything that a single campaign could do on its own."
These hybrid employees that can bring digital know-how to Madison Avenue should not be hard for companies to find. Rising college grads have grown up using digital tools for their creative expression and academic pursuits. Even established employees are taking up code in their spare time, not only recognizing its value on the job, but also to realize their own ideas.
Agencies need to recognize that this digital and mobile literacy is essential to their survival -- both on the creative side and the account side. They need not do the building in-house, but they need to know how the bricks are laid. Just as Salvatore Romano, Sterling Cooper's Art Director, transitioned from drawing storyboards to producing commercial, this generation's mad men will need to make a similar leap into Advertising 2.0.
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR | |
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Allison Mooney is VP-director of trends and insights at MobileBehavior, an Omnicom Group Company, and runs their blog Next Great Thing. |
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The days of over-promising and under-delivering are over. Well as soon as agencies recognize the productivity that is lost in non-technical translation.
I think your article is spot on and applies not just to agencies at large but specifically to the creative departments. Creatives need to be specialists in the spaces where consumers live that are defined by new technology. That's why I started my blog that specifically addresses the collision between advertising creativity and social media and the response from clients and brand managers alike has supported this view. If agencies are to continue to offer the highest value to their clients, and realize the full potential of new media on behalf of their clients, they need to make sure every department is as technology literate as consumers. Thanks for a great post.
Simon Mainwaring
www.simonmainwaring.com/blog
Various models have evolved over the years but the successful ones have at their core a few talented individuals who "get it" when it comes to the nuts and bolts of technology, the subtleties of strategic brand building and the figures that justify an ROI.
These people don't necessarily work under the same title; they could be tech-savvy creatives, brand-savvy PMPs or another mix altogether. But the more multidisciplinary people an agency can employ without forcing generalists into specialized silos, the better equipped they'll be to provide true integration.
Most would agree that a quality application can create buzz worthy chatter, become an extension of the brand and reinforce top of mind consideration. Many times there are creative ideas that we have for applications and as a development entity find it increasingly difficult to reach the appropriate agency contacts to pitch. This makes for a convoluted arrangement, as the development agency will need to navigate through the complexities of reaching the correct contact within the marketing department of client brand.
There needs to be a better way of coordinating each others effort to simplify the process of working for the brands and allow each of our entities to do what we do best.
Tim Sparks
Business Development
Hands-On Mobile
If someone is well down the path of agency account management or creative, 999 out of 1,000 times, it would be inefficient for this person to become a coder. I think it would only be slightly easier to teach a long time coder to become a marketing pro. Therefore, I believe the answer is to have creative/account folk be schooled in what's possible. Hiring a coder as a consultant to sit in on strategy sessions or attend client meetings is not a bad idea. However, I think it makes sense for such an attendee/advisor to be an outside consultant as opposed to part of the agency. There is a lot to be said for knowing when to go outside for help and not getting distracted and foiled by straying from one's core skill set.
There is tremendous interconnectivity between technology and creativity more so in the digital communication space.
Good article Allison!
Rajiv
nrajiv@interaktco.com
http://www.interaktco.com
But: At orange8 50% of our staff is IT staff.
1. For successful online marketing you need the perfect matching of creation, media & technology.
2. And technology enables creativity.
Jayter: Good comments.
I might tweak the title to "Agencies Need to Think With Software Companies." Brand Thunder has built its business on making the most used app on the web, the browser, an interactive marketing tool. We leverage agencies as a go to market strategy. It's not clear to me each agency should build the in-depth browser knowledge to create the same kind of product.
But we offer one piece of the marketing puzzle. It's easy for an agency to add capabilities from companies like ours to their portfolio of offerings, and let the software companies gain from the agency's brand relationships. We know our product, its benefits and capabilities. We can be an active and helpful participant in our role, but let the agency do what they do best.
Clicking any thumbnail shows a screen shot of the work: http://brandthunder.com/gallery
It's often difficult to get large agencies to recognize the importance of technology expertise at the table throughout a campaign's lifecycle - but as you eloquently argue, it's a crucial best practice.
As a Technology Strategist, I've worked with agencies from Saatchi to 3-person design firms - and I'm finding an increasingly enthusiastic welcome across the board.
I describe what I do in a bit more detail on my LinkedIn profile - feel free to contact me if you'd like to talk.
Best,
Neil
www.linkedin.com/in/reddingneil
http://odopod.com/blog/branded-software-your-next-campaign-startup/
Best,
Tim
Does anyone know of any upcoming digital marketing events/conferences where such development companies will likely be? (Always great to build relationships before you need them!)
Kayvan Mott
www.infinitecomm.net
It might be better if I or Andrew were there to present it, still it's another view on the roles from the inside out via POKE, Agency Republic and Local AU roles over the past 7 years.
http://www.slideshare.net/tobiec/dream-in-digital-tobie-andrew
tc
Check out http://www.stauffer.com for more details.
-Chris