I agree with Alex, so much great information and insights. I will be processing them for days to come. -Alex Orr –Eugene, OR

Simon and Rishad's visit has been nothing short of life changing. It's amazing to have this kind of personal insight from such great thought leaders. Alex M. Peters University of Oregon Advertising Undergraduate. –Eugene, OR

Starbucks should focus all their effort on getting the coffee to the consumer in the least amount of time possible haha. They can do the social media too but let's try not take an eternity the next time someone orders a coffee. –Washington, DC

@MarcoP123 Maybe Starbucks is attracting the wrong kind of fans (the ones that do not buy) or maybe they lack a compelling call to action on their social media efforts? Leah Tran www.azul7.com –Wellesley, MA

@MarcoP123 Maybe Starbucks is attracting the wrong kind of fans (the ones that do not buy) or maybe they lack a compelling call to action on their social media efforts? –Wellesley, MA

Of the 5 million fans they can reach at least 1.66 million if they email the fan base. And that is measurable. I get this from 2 out of 3 accounts are not actively used (92 million unique visitors in August out of 300 million registered accounts). If they just post to the fan page because of the massive news feed clutter if they post there most people won't see anything. So 250,000 would be a great number. And social media only works if they offer something unique/special a coupon a free coffee etc. I do like the CD deal though the artists are pretty lame in my view. Kind of like Bud Light trying to be liked by everyone. –Los Angeles, CA

After its nationwide debut in mainstream advertising, Starbucks move into social media seems like a more promising route to further manifest the brand mantra in the mind of the consumer. Not only is the Starbucks initiative a great example of how to create an entire integrated campaign around the web, but has the potential to boost the emotions affiliated with the brand. Starbucks clearly seeks to associate itself and the values of the "third place" with the emotional spirit of the holidays: Love (cards to friends and family), caring (donation to underprivileged) as well as coziness (seasonal music). All this is done subtly but brilliantly, rather than jumping on the bandwagon of using the holiday craze for overt commercial interests. This promotional latency suits the character of the most high-end coffee retailer in America and can itself turn out to be a strong point of difference during the holiday period, when every company in the nation will fight for out money . Every element of the campaign encompasses and immediate call-to-action, while word-of-mouth will probably be the most valuable measurement index for the brand. And wasn't Starbucks built on word-of-mouth? Online initiatives like this make it possible to revitalize the brand in a way that is authentic to its true essence. If the initiative drives traffic, the campaign seems likely to create high levels of engagement by energizing its consumers and loading the brand emotionally. Francesco Wesel Integrated Marketing Communication www.francescowesel.com www.brandnewtimes.blogspot.com –Boston, MA

Mack Collier's observation in one of the comments is important, and often overlooked: "If you want people to read your blog, then you have to interact with them in THEIR space, not yours." I think Starbucks is already moving in this direction, e.g., I've seen a number of tweets and comments on blogs posted by @bradnelson, their social media guru, and their use of Facebook - in addition to their own microsite(s) - shows some engagement in others' space (albeit a large, shared space). And despite Rodney33's assertion, Starbucks does appear to be developing a mobile marketing strategy, having recently released a couple of iPhone apps: myStarbucks and Starbucks Card Mobile. There is considerable risk for any company with a significant brand to find the right approach to engaging with and through social media, and I think these developments are promising. It will be interesting to see whether / how the company leverages social media to engage customers who are in their stores. Joe McCarthy http://gumption.typepad.com http://twitter.com/gumption –WOODINVILLE, WA

this is WAY good news - what a smart marriage - I have been a fan of pandora since it started a few years ago, with its intuitive "get what you want" music, and an incredible undertaking by volunteers to categorize music by certain qualities they contain. A very innovative project and I've been waiting to see a bigger partnership in social media - well here it is! This is fantastic. Now can I have that with an extra shot and make it a light please? Vickie www.VickieSmith.com @Vickie_Smith –Wayne, NJ

If social media efforts are done smartly, the increased dialogue can translate into increased sales. But I did love this comment in the article: "So Starbucks is pulling back from its Thanksgiving TV buys of the past two years to focus on where its customers already spend time online and drive them into stores. " So many businesses launch a social media strategy, start using social media tools, then wonder why they get zero interaction with their customers. It's because they have the 'if we build it, they will come' mentality. Social media does NOT work that way. If you want people to read your blog, then you have to interact with them in THEIR space, not yours. The big brands that started stubbing their toes in the social media space in 2007, are starting to figure this out in 2009. –Russellville, AL

Multi-channel marketing is truly heating up. We've proven stores can drive even more traffic online and in-store to increase sales 15% and profits 58% (or more) from incremental rapid order fulfillment (turnkey in-store shopping and delivery) as outlined in our blog http://thenowmall.blogspot.com –MIAMI, FL

@aahlenius Strong dialogue and positive feedback will/can lead to more sales, especially on the rentention front, though it's easier to measure success with brand with eCommerce. Take Dell Twitter account story about 3 Mil made: http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/desktop/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217801030 "The social network has said it plans to eventually draw revenue by assisting businesses in promoting and selling products through Twitter. In addition, the company is looking to draw a profit through search, capitalizing on the real-time nature of its messages. How search would be monetized is not yet clear. " I would love to see how they tracked down this data, tagged links from twitter msgs? Social Media Monitoring? –SAN DIEGO, CA

Great ideas that help me. Social media marketing strategy is something my new business must include. –azusa, CA

I agree with MarcoP123 that you should see a positive ROI from your efforts. However I think that social media is a place for dialouge and not for sales in most cases anyway. www.hundratusen.com –Visby, CA

What does Starbucks have that most other marketers don't? A social media strategy that seems to have superceded an effective overall marketing and product strategy. While it keeps increasing its Twitter and Facebook followers/fans into the millions, it keeps losing sales in its stores. If only Starbucks got revenue from tweets instead of coffee... Marc http://www.domusinc.com http://www.domusinc.com/blog –Philadelphia, PA

What does Starbucks now have that most other marketers don't? A social media strategy. What's missing? A mobile marketing strategy. Expect that from Starbucks soon as smart phones outnumber computers in the US in the next few months, as covered by our XL Marketing Trends reports, available free from our web site under insights. Rodney Mason, CMO www.moosylvania.com www.twitter.com/rodmoose –FRISCO, TX

Actually, the real brains behind that effort were Mike Hughes and Bill Westbrook from the Martin Agency. They led Lowe at almost every turn. They spearheaded the pitch and quite frankly, the dealer work was better than the branding work. –duluth, GA

Mr Orzio was part of a 15 person creative team that worked on Mercedes at Lowe. The true brains behind that work belonged to Andy Hirsch, Lee Garfinkel, Randy Saitta, Gary Grossman etc. –Rochester, NY

Monday, 1st para: "...or it could have been the Baltimore Ravens win over the lowly Cleveland Browns..." That is all. ---cheers//dom –WASHINGTON, DC

Um - seriously? We've only been talking about this for three years http://farisyakob.typepad.com/blog/2006/10/transmedia_plan.html see my thesis on transmedia planning - published in Campaign a few years back: http://www.slideshare.net/NigelG/ipa-thesis-i-believe-the-children-are-our-future which is now part of Henry's course syllabus at USC: http://www.convergenceculture.org/weblog/2009/09/transmedia_storytelling_and_en.php faris –el coco

Just so I'm clear on this, then, "Southland Tales," which featured a fair amount of background content in graphic novels that expanded on the narrative in the film would not be considered transmedia, but something like "All About Lily Chou-Chou," which grew out of an interactive narrative on a message board and allowed readers to participate by posting messages alongside the narrative's characters, would be transmedia, yes? –San Rafael, CA

In my opinion listings and groupings form the way the Internet goes and with it advertising. Wadja.com does a kinda similar thing with what they have named as #Labels. These guys focus on topic conversation including Youtube and Twitter feeds. Interesting and surely something that we need to take a closer look at. Matt Corby –Manchester, IL

I agree with Daniel. Further, as a business network it really should provide more tools to broker introductions to people who are likely to do business with each other. It's one of the most popular features of our site: we ask for urgent business needs and then send them as sales leads to other users. We even introduced a Twitter Sales Leads tool last week. LinkedIn really is missing a trick. By the way, I got an overview of what's coming from LinkedIn a few months back and now sponsored Groups are in, watch for sponsored InMails next. More details here: http://bit.ly/15kxb0 Ian Hendry CEO, WeCanDo.BIZ http://www.wecando.biz –London

As a LinkedIn User for the past 4 years, I am happy to see the move here by LinkedIn. From the perspective of how LinkedIn is approaching marketing strategies may be a bit unusual. LinkedIn has a solid platform, however, if you take a look at their database structure, they may face issues dialing into demographics. Dean Holmes http://deanholmes.me –Fincastle, VA

If LinkedIn wants to compare itself to Facebook and Twitter, it needs to loosen its restrictions to networking (in terms of letting people contact each other more easily, joining more groups, etc). It's a great service, but it feels like you just can't use it too much otherwise you are always faced with warnings, limitations, etc. I'm not sure if discouraging power users is a smart strategy in the long term. Daniel Faintuch www.amarketersview.com –Cleveland, OH

Awesome. One of the best things I've seen this year –New York, NY

I'm a housewife, this is aimed at me. It is PERFECT, right down to the pervy little bubbles. –sherman oaks, CA

Love it! Nothing like engaging your audience with humor, and bawdy humor at that. Their point comes across well and most likely, the viral nature of the video will grow. –Burbank, CA

At first glance, this seems like a great ad because it's so entertaining. But, it's even more than that. Sometimes entertaining ads have little to do with what they are trying to sell. This funny story attacks "dirty" household cleaners in a way that will change how I shop. Next time I'm in the household cleaner aisle at Target, images of "dirty" bubbles will pop into my mind. It will probably be enough to make me reach for Method instead of Scrubbing Bubbles. Ratna Ralkowski, Ameritest www.ameritest.net –Albuquerque, NM

Brilliant. Love it! –DENVER, CO

oh my gosh... maybe because I'm closer to the target group, this ad completely hits me. All girls know, taking a shower is one of our most vulnerable moments. The Ad hits the right points so successfully!! haha! –Provo, UT

Pretty darn funny... easily qualifies for e-circulation. –New York, NY

Great "viral" comment Chris - so we leave the "dirt" in the tub? Back in my college days, my roomies and I tried that. The green & black molds and dirt looked great. Maybe check out the definitions of surfactant and antibacterial. Funny ad, but certainly overselling evil chemo-fear to the oh-so-gullible "housewife." –Houston, TX

Excellent viral. I got it here in London before I even got AdAge. It's amazing what a con chemical companies have sold housewives. They have no idea that most cleaners replace dirt with chemicals. Chris Arnold Creative Orchestra London –London

Dirty little bubbles...Got my support! Tommy Z . Publisher, PlanetZman The Last Great Bastion for REAL Men http://www.planetZman.com http://www.twitter.com/planetZman –Oak Ridge, NJ

The App Store is becoming clutter just like Twitter and Facebook have massive clutter. There was an article wondering how many Apps get downloaded and then eventually never used. I am sure over half fit this category. But reality is separating Apps from Advertising. If I can get 1 million people to download an App for $5 I did good. Who cares if it is ever used again? Trying to Advertise via Apps will be a crap shoot. Since so many Apps reside on the phone and are used outside a network it would be impossible to know if your reaching anyone. And to make a new App and even get seen via the App store is already almost impossible. Good luck. One thing we need though is more Fart Noise Apps. 25 is not enough! –Los Angeles, CA

I think there is going to be a surge in iPhone apps as soon as CS5 hits the market and allows flash developers the opportunity to write iPhone apps. It will lower the barrier to writing those apps and will foster a lot of competition in the apps arena. http://www.twitter.com/jfall –Houston, TX

The newsworthiness of the medium itself is gone and companies must realize that they now need to differentiate, rather than just being out there. Engagement remains the keyword here. As illustrated in the examples, the consumer needs to be part of the interactive process to maximize the value perception. It's interesting to see that when handled skillfully, applications can actually lead to an immediate call to action. Francesco Wesel Integrated Marketing Communication www.francescowesel.com www.brandnewtimes.blogspot.com –Boston, MA

If Charles Darwin was alive today, he would be laughing at this gullible society. 150 years of scientific discoveries have been made like the electronic microscope, enzymes, and the bacterial flagellum, that have all dispelled Darwin's theories. Are professionals in our industry going to lag behind 150 years too? Articles like this and books like Origin of Brands by A. Reis, are an embarrassment to this profession. At least Darwin was honest about the fallibilities in his propositions, but advertising will not let go of its antiquated theories from its "Age of Enlightenment". Only when marketing professionals understand true human design (and personhood), will they begin to represent businesses with integrity, and approach consumers with respect. If Darwinism was true, then all these iPhone apps are merely by chance, and survival of the fittest, rather than the true ingenuity of man, and their creative use of the free market and other available resources. (I too was on the forefront of Internet technologies as a Marketing Director with a software company who perfected TCP-IP desktop notifications more than TEN years ago. Digital Information Network, now ActiveAccess) –Oklahoma City, OK

What is interesting is that the iphone OS inherently limits the usefulness of a plethora of apps on a single device. The organizational structure of pages and pages of apps; without a subcategorization will eventually effect badly on the adoption of new apps with limited usefulness. Like my kids have already discovered, if you can't easily find the toys you like what use is it to have more than you need. –Columbus, OH

Illustrations were the handy work of our art director Vicente Silva...brazilian designer/illustrator extraordinaire. –New York, NY

Charles, I just spent some time on the site. Nicely done. Especially the illustrations. -- Axle Davids –Toronto, ON

Thanks Craig. The site was a blast to work on. We're hoping this is also a good example of how a smaller digital shop can execute a large scale project from start (strategy, concept) to finish. –New York, NY

Flawless! Absolutely flawless! And making Twitter so integrated that its part of the actual logo, BALLSY!! You guys killed it, really good job and very clean, concise, functional and used social in all the right ways. Great way to use a clean design to showcase eye popping graphical elements, you just gave a clinic on content delivery on this one. Rokkan rocked Virgin. –new york, NY

This looks to be such a successful redesign. The old Virgin was getting really outdated. I registered on the new one the day it was released, and it's got a great community feel. Kudos Rokkan, great job. On a side note ... has the design changed? My favorite part of the site was the illustrated headers and banners ... where have they gone? And why were they removed? I thought it was a great touch. Now it just looks like an average redesign. If you can't bring them back, at least make it available to download some where. I thought they were absolutely brilliant and well done. –Cambridge, MA

Lee, Remember this when I start to post (I have got to get my headshot taken). The headline for my first post is really going to push some folks buttons. –Grand Prairie, TX

Derek, I agree completely. My perspective because of where I work tends to be more focused on Latinos, but more retailers and marketers should be smarter about how different people have habits and practices that are different. To use your example, suit retailers who aren't speaking to African American men are missing out on a tremendous opportunity. Not only do they wear suits more often, they probably have more options than the average "general market" guy (whoever he is) who has probably more limited options. As for the inclusion of 'brown' in the headline, as you can tell from the picture I'm not very brown (except in the summer) but I am Latino (365 days a year). The headline didn't offend me at all as I wrote it but was meant to jar a bit. Hopefully the focus will be brought more on the need for inspiring retailers with deep insight on who we are and how to drive smarter marketing as a result and less on the use of a less than serious descriptor in the headline. Thanks for the points of view you've all shared and the opportunity for open conversation. –NEW YORK, NY

Ken, Amen. I know I am often touchy myself but I thought the headline was interesting and it did get me to read it. At least he put some effort into the headline. I'm brown but not hispanic and I found the line engaging. Now, about the idea. I think he is right but limiting - marketers need to look to open conversations with all groups. I was in a store that sells men's suits, and the owner was surprised to discover that in the African American community men still tend to wear suits to church. He had never considered targeting church going blacks with his advertising until we talked. He needs to sell more suits and there is a market looking to buy quality suits but they don't look like him. This type of mindset is even more prevalent in marketing for huge clients. –Grand Prairie, TX

Samson: You could also just ask the writer, who, in this case wrote the headline. I assumed that since he was born in Mexico and works at WingLatino he sort of has a little bit of insight into this area. I think it was a safe assumption to make. InteractiveprodSF: Care to explain HOW the headline is offensive? And "Because I said so" isn't an adequate answer. Not to get touchy, but just throwing out an implied charge of offensiveness without any back-up is both immature and cowardly. Perhaps if we could have open debate about the ideas in this space without people turning over every word to look for offense, more could be accomplished. –New York, NY

@InteractiveprodSF, I hear you. Let's ask Hispanics how they feel about it...it's great that you bring up the issues but no need to cross the line to do so. You don't want something so small to take away from your article. I'm sure many saw the head and subhead and didn't even bother to continue reading. "Sometimes you have to jar people in order to get them to pay attention." Ad Age is a trade magazine...do you really need to jar people who already come to your site daily and get your newsletter? –New York, NY

Sometimes you have to jar people in order to get them to pay attention. I'm glad that my little piece has continued an important conversation. It's not just a tactical move about how to execute a plan against 45 million US Hispanics, but part of a greater shift towards greater public acknowledgement of the demographic realities of today's America. If we're a culture of multiple cultures, it's our responsibility to jar the system within which we work to change accordingly. I'm glad to have helped continue that conversation at a moment when much of the media is overly focused on disaster, gloom and doom. Change is afoot, and we'll be better for it. So, I'm not sure if the headline is offensive, but it was certainly meant to be noticed. If that's what it takes to ensure a platform for the substantive conversation above (and by the way, Ivette, Sammy and 'hotmail' you each raise interesting points about the responsibility we have to help clients make the right decisions and how to do so), then i think we've done our jobs. Sammy, I hope that this isn't your last post. Our industry needs more people who are well-spoken, thoughtful and focused on the importance of systemic change (demographic as well as technological). A lot of excitement is generated over technological change, much less so over the realities of the people behind that technology. So stick around, keep writing, and keep the rest of us honest and focused on what matters. –NEW YORK, NY

Is anyone going to comment on the offensive headline? –San Francisco, CA

Brands/companies are only after one thing: your money! It really doesn't matter to them who has the money, whether hispanic, black, white, or asian. Brands should insure that the agencies that they hand their AOR to/GM agencies should not only be white in their staffs, but staffs should come from all walks of life/multicultural to bring different viewpoints and insight which replaces "ethnic/market research" any day. Agencies are basically "cheating" their way to success, but in the end its really the clients they are cheating. Without multicultural insight these GM agencies are basically screwing their clients out of a potential gold rush --which is winning over hispanics during this holiday season. Sort of like shooting yourself with your own gun. Ala Plaxico Burress, but only this time discrimination/racism at GM agencies doesn't get them jailtime, but it could potential put their companies that they work with out of business because they are dont have multicultural/hispanic insight that is needed for success! Clients would be fools during a recession to hand over AOR to GM agencies and not examine who is working on those accounts. Lastly If African-American, Hispanic and Asian-American consumers that set trends why arent these people being hired at the GM that receive AOR status? Seriously clients and their AOR can only live in their lies of a we only want ur money but we dont want to hire you attitude for so long. Reminds me of the message the republican party been sending out for years, we want your vote but we dont care to have any minorities in our party. --and in 2009 their party today is dying. --Remember pride goes before destruction, clients and their agencies need to change, before they lose out to others that can adapt to the changing times and new world were living in. –insider

Lee, I think you're quite right. In fact, growing up in a Cuban-Dominican household, I remember my mom dressing up to go to the mall...something she still does today. It's quite the social experience. Ultimately, I think winning with Hispanic consumers in this challenging economy is at the intersection of 1) leveraging insights about how we shop; 2) tapping Hispanics' innate sense of generosity and gift-giving, despite financial constraints; and 3) creating value. Happy shopping and felicidades! –New York, NY

I started reading The Big Tent purely for academic reasons only, and I now check the blog multiple times a week. My message development class assigned everyone to a blog and asked us to comment on at least three blogs during a stretch of three weeks. This is my last post. Reading the blogs, I have come to a two conclusions, pretty evident conclusions, I think. First, diversity in the world of advertising and communications NEEDS to increase in order to sustain consumers. Second, Latinos are the future. The Latino market is hardly tapped, if not untapped all together. Before we can tap this vast market, everyone who is involved needs to understand the why and how of the Latino community, before the Latino market can be fully exposed. Mr. Maicon, I think you are spot on with the observations you have given in this post. I think people are still blind to the fact that the Latino market is huge. Latinos are willing to buy, but it is the advertiser and marketers responsibility to learn how to effectively communicate with Latinos. –Lawrence, KS

I can't remember the last time I read a 15-point list on advice to agencies where every point was well-considered and meaningful. Well done, Tim. Blair Enns –Kaslo, BC

As someone that spends most of my time training agencies how to do many of the things you recommend, I was nearly in tears of joy while reading this. You've absolutely nailed it. I work mostly in PR, but the majority of these concepts apply universally. Bravo. @jaybaer –FLAGSTAFF, AZ

Super article-- so many points right on-target. Just one observation, Tim: I know you know and understand that many of the adaptations you describe cannot be accomplished by agencies alone. Agencies in general cannot evolve in isolation from clients. Clients must be willing participants in the change process, or it will not succeed. My digital agency was never traditional. And, I admit, we've fancied ourselves more than a few rungs further along the evolutionary ladder than "traditional" agencies. After reading your article I see we still have a lot of evolving to do, but we have offered clients clear advantages/value in some of the areas you mention. When clients have bought-in, the process and results have been amazing. But, more often than not, we find clients themselves very entrenched in the "traditional" mindset and unwilling to buy-in to new/different value proposals. From my perspective as an agency director, the successful implementation of many of your excellent earlier suggestions is almost entirely dependent upon the successful implementation of your last. But there is the fundamental disconnect between the economic incentives of agencies (who are struggling to preserve already thin margins) and clients (many of whom have unleashed procurement the procurement hounds to count hours and resource rates in isolation from marketing value and the business impact of our services) that we are all struggling with. Until we sort that out we cannot align economic incentives, and if we can't do that then the other points are mostly moot. –West Hollywood, CA

Agreeing with 3 or 4 of the prior posts...one of the best articles I've read on Adage in quite some time. Well considered and equally well written/edited. Not trying to sound dramatic, but I genuinely believe that the industry is in for some painful days ahead as we fight our way through these tectonic changes. Fortunately, there are a lot of terrifically smart, passionate, and energetic people (on both sides of the digital/traditional divide) rolling up their sleeves...plus an amazing little crowd-sourcing platform called the Internet to accelerate and amplify our learnings. @jasondeal –Los Angeles, CA

Tim, You had me until #13: Q: How much does it cost to reach a million people on a major television network? A: Around $60,000. Q: How much does it cost to reach a million people on YouTube? A: $0. Really? I understand your point that great creative matters - a lot - especially on sharable social platforms such as YouTube where users can do some of the marketing for you. But some is the operative word. The days of uploading a brand video to YouTube and reaching a million views without a considerable amount of time, money, and marketing creativity are long gone - if they ever existed at all. But if you DO have a way to reach a million people on YouTube for $0, please contact me as there's a position here for you at Feed Company. –Los Angeles, CA

Excellent stuff... this is kind of a mantra or model for me now. I've begun my career as a self-employed 'jack of all trades'... which, after reading this, might not be such a bad decision. My trick now is to grow my own brand of branding. Perhaps that's the next step for "the agency"... Crispin Porter & Bogusky, for example, is the current LVMH of advertising... and its clients could do well to include the CP&B 'patch' in their advertising. The artist signing their work, even if its a commissioned piece. "Advertising is the most accessible art" - Andy Worhol. Most of the greatest art works have been commissions... Sistine Chapel, the Parthenon, the Pyramids, the Great Wall, portraits galore. There's an art to selling out. BenGin.TV –MERIDIAN, ID

Excellent article with some great insights on how to move ahead. I also addressed this subject at the recent 140character conference in Los Angeles and covered some of the same ground from a different perspective. Here's the link.http://blogcritics.org/culture/article/from-mad-man-to-twitterholic/ Tim's 15 points great guideposts for the mindset makeover that is needed in the business. Hank Wasiak –NEW YORK, NY

Tim, Insightful as always. Great article. Will share it with my agency peeps as well. David Wiggs –BELLINGHAM, WA

As we all experience, economic crises made it gruesomely visible that every business has to innovate. The advertising market, I believe, is also going through a huge innovation phase in order to adopt the consumer behavioral change. After being 15 years in this sector and observing carefully the direction of the consumer, I predict that the birth of a new form of advertising agency, combining both online / offline and digital / traditional skills with digital DNA and digitally enhanced teams, is very near. I think, there won't be any distinction between traditional and digital agencies. They both will have to converge somewhere in the middle very soon where they both become 360 degree agencies and contain full of online / offline, marketing / advertising / coomunication knowledge with, in addition to traditional skills, deep interactive technology, e-commerce, e-business, social networking and media capabilities. We the agencies are now in competition of becoming the innovated brand new advertising agencies getting ready for the upcoming advancements in social media, web, mobile, IPTV, digital outdoor and many other technologies shaping the new world of communication and advertising. I believe the race goes both ways though. Whether it is digital or traditional, we are all racing for becoming the all-mighty "New Generation Agency"... Visit http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2090773&trk=hb_side_g to discuss the Future of Advertising. Köksal Abdurrahmanoglu adinteractive president / ceo floow me on Twitter @Koksal –Istanbul

Tim, I nodded the whole way through this article. You nailed it. And the agencies who get this will be the ones who survive. Hat's off to you for a great job on this article - Bravo. –Kansas city, MO

Agree with proposed revision to agency cost structure (#15) and with welshjs - it isn't clear to me how this could be done. I'm used to having to relabel "agency fees" under other elements when estimating projects for clients, but it would be nice if we could present it in a more transparent way. The client already thinks they should be paying for the 'value' not our overhead, but is there a standardized way to place monetary value on value? –atlanta, GA

Point 15: craft compensation approaches that align the economic incentives of the agency with those of the client. Can you provide an example of a solution to this? –Ottawa, ON

Posting content to YouTube (or any other social channel) may very well be free, but the time it takes to concept, organize, produce, edit and manage a social component to a larger integrated marketing campaign is not. –Brookfield, WI

Tim-- Great piece... indeed, it seems incomplete without a discussion on the dynamics of new business development. My point being clients have abundant choice and most agencies have little to no power in the buying cycle... Most RFP's are a complete waste of time... what is distasteful to me is how clients herd agencies like cattle into arcane pitches. This practice is equally outdated as the 15 points you outline. I can't think of any other profession that allows itself to be so diminished in the sales process. Love to hear what you have to say on this... good stuff, thanks! –Ojai, CA

Tim Great article. Have to agree with Copyboy1 - one of the smartest things I've read on Ad Age or anywhere for that matter. Great points presented in a simple, friendly manner. Have to quibble on #13 though. Not every video on YouTube gets a million views, most don't get squat, so the point is a little oversimplified and inaccurate...but the core idea, YouTube is the 5the Network is valid and something I often point out to folks. Great article..intend to share with many. @TomMartin –NEW ORLEANS, LA

As usual, Tim is right on the money, at the intersection of Practical and Visionary. –Chicago, IL

Tim, I'm somewhat surprised that you don't have a bullet on new business. It's something most agencies are not good at. They tend to rely on Organic growth via referrals and old clients leaving for new jobs. That's all well and good but in an economy like today, with competition being as fierce as it is, don't you think agency principal's need to develop a proactive outreach strategy that helps align their agency strengths with the perceived needs and challenges of Corporate America? www.brennerbd.com –Syracuse, NY

This is the smartest thing I've read on AdAge in I don't know how long. –San Francisco, CA

Great article. I like #3 about broadcasting v. narrowcasting. These days broadcasting, rather than being the source of the message, is the collective buzz resulting from effective narrowcasting -- a bottom-up approach. This is in-line with your "consumers as media" point in #4. Well done. www.markjsanderson.com –Orem, UT

Good list, Tim. On point 12: Agree that strategic savvy and logistic talent rarely come in the same package. And if they do, time to do both is always an issue. 2 thoughts: 1. If agencies delineate between the two -- and clearly expect one group of account folks to focus on being proactive strategic consultants to their clients -- then these folks need to be fully equipped to do so. This includes practical training on how to identify, develop, and sell in strategic ideas. 2. There are ways to increase project management time efficiency, so even these folks have more time to at least try to exceed "service" and come up with new, unsolicited ideas for their clients. At a minimum, most clients will appreciate the effort. And, with help and fine-tuning from more experienced folks, these project managers might be able to offer meaningful contributions. If so, they might find increased satisfaction in their roles. http://www.TellYourClientsWhereToGo.com –Cincinnati

While everythng Dr. Minnick says is true, there is one crucial factor he did not mention. Despite everything, the advertising business is a relationship business. The relationships you have intrnally and, especially with your clients, will keep you employed. It is essential to become indespensible internally and with existing clients and then making sure that you do exactly what Dr. Minnick suggests: make sure everyone knows that you are indespensible. This includes all levels of your agency and, especially, all levels of your client organization. In that way, if your name comes up on the "cut" list, someone is sure to speak up on your behalf. Nothing can substitute for that. Paul S. Gumbinner, President, The Gumbinner Company, www.gumbinnercompany.com –New York, NY

MR. Marc Goldstein,there is a solution for better(granular)data about commercial effectiveness, engagement, and activating sales. Forget about ratings, let's focus on MEASURING who is interested in buying your clients' brands, and activating sales(ROI).For further information you can reach me at NSTVLLC@gmail.com Neil Seiffer –West Paterson, NJ

It's important to recognize that the economy is only one of the drivers behind what's happening in the marketing and advertising space. As such, it's dangerous to look to previous recessions as analogs for what can be expected recovery-wise. Marketing as we know it - or knew it - has changed forever. How marketing needs to be done in the modern world requires new approaches, new mindsets, new roles, new skills and an enthusiastic embrace of the notion that this paradigm shift has left all of our glasses half-full, not half-empty. –Albany, NY

So what you are saying is: Agencies need to beat the rush and start hiring now while great talent is still available. Right? For example, this senior copywriter is looking: http://www.apostropheadvertising.com . –Little Rock, AR

Well, that helps explain why I've been out of work as long as I have and expect to be out still longer. –New York, NY

If you've been a casualty, or just need some coaching, here's 20 tips for a good job hunt-- http://bit.ly/RtgjN –ATLANTA, GA

Thank you for confirming the POV I provided in yesterday's article, "Recruiters Say Hiring Is Coming Back to Life, Slowly." We will not experience much of a jobs recovery in the industry until the second half of 2010 or so. Your analysis as to hiring patterns in '90-91 and '01-02 is spot on. What we are seeing now is the demise of the "traditional" agency brand image position for introduction and proliferation of the multidimensional/cross platform professional at almost every level in every discipline (planning, client services, creative). "Eyeballs" are losing ground to "engagement" focused pros. But it will take a while for agencies and advertisers to understand how to apply this perspective to their organizations, complicating the issues of economic recovery. –CHICAGO, IL

o no. no no no. anyone looking for an entry level ad-girl? kristin http://www.redshiftagency.com/ –Richmond, VA

Awesome work with Trees for Troops ... great spirit! Please consider sending a postcard with your personal message to the troops during the holidays by visiting: www.letssaythanks.com - it's free and will certainly draw a smile. Xerox partners with Give2theTroops.org - both HQ'd in CT. You simply pick an image - drawn by school children - Xerox prints a postcard with that image and your personal message - on demand - and then Give2theTroops.org sends the postcards in care packages to our soldiers. www.letssaythanks.com Have a wonderful moment... and then have another... Best wishes, Yvonne Hickey Xerox –Windsor, CT

Many times, the source of bias is not the marketer but the company's leadership which, quite often, does not appreciate the importance of listening to the customer. The job of the marketer is not only to sell the marketing campaign, but also to convince the c-level executives to invest in the research that precede the advertising campaign. Daniel Faintuch www.amarketersview.com –Cleveland, OH

some interesting insights in here. looking forward to reading more. –SHANGHAI

Interestingly, there is a also a firm belief that the sale of physical units (CD's) will increase in the short term in China in line with the growth in the sale of cars. Jasper Donat www.musicmatters.asia –

If they want people to think that this is a "grassroots effort" as stated in the video, they shouldn't keep Barack Obama's personal logo on the spot. –Philadelphia, PA

The problem of procurement strangling the creativity of agency disciplines is not solely the responsibility of procurement officers. Agencies and their holding companies must responsibly negotiate contract terms that allow for reasonable margins. I have borne witness to many "deals" that protect cash flow while undermining operations .... a bad mix that will only perpetuate a decline in the quality of work produced and margins. If it's not in the agency's overall best long term interest .... walk away. Paul Benjou Industry Blog: www.MyOpenKimono.com –New York, NY