Item #5: The Future of Advertising I

I spoke as a panel member to the MBA class at the York University Schulich School of Business yesterday on the topic of The Future of Advertising and Marketing. I sat on the panel alongside a Globe and Mail Editor and a Professor of Marketing from York and we followed a keynote from a representative of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Marketing.

We were asked to respond to a series of questions, loosely summarized as:
- How is the role of the advertising agency changing?
- What skill sets do marketers need today that they didn’t need previously?
- Where are the eyeballs?
- Do you think the days of mass marketing are over?
- Evoking Seth Godin, should you just try to reach the people that are listening?
- What are the ways to reach the consumer and improve stickiness of the message?

I shared my thoughts with the audience as a series of headlines, which I’ll share as a little series over the next couple of weeks. Starting with:

Headline 1: Client and Agencies Are Moving Towards a New Definition of Partnership

50 years ago, think Mad Men, clients and agencies were partners. They worked together, to outline long-term plans, to lead strategic thinking, to determine scope of work, to share resourcing discussions, and most importantly, to take risks. There was a relationship basis to that partnership, and hence working styles and a working environment that fell out of that. Clients and agencies were more invested in each other, there was more trust, and hence there was more risk-taking.

Somewhere around 20 years ago, advertising agencies became suppliers; the valuable planning and strategic leadership work was being done by hub offices in London or New York and ‘global’ plans and platforms were distributed to regional offices for adaptation and execution. Hence, replacing partnership, trust and the resulting relationship, the measure of performance became ‘do what we say’, fast, affordably and effectively.

But both clients and agencies are beginning to realize the shortcomings of that approach now. We can’t have globally developed platforms work in that way anymore, just farmed to regions for adaptation and execution. It just doesn’t work. Canada is not America, is not Europe. New York is not Toronto, nor is it London. And certainly someone has to be understanding and addressing the uniquenesses of sub-cultural places like Montreal, Halifax and Vancouver. Strategic leadership is required again, to meaningfully create communications that live off global platforms but that are relevant and compelling to regional audiences.

So, the opportunity is being created again, slowly and differently, for agencies and clients to again work in partnership…. BUT…. big caveat here… all that was expected and altered by the era of supplier-ship has not been forgotten nor will it be abandoned. The demands, driven mainly by the market, are still for fast, and effective. Now, agencies need to bring the best of partnership – strategic leadership for the creation of relevant compelling BIG IDEA communications PLUS flexible, fast, accountable execution of all aspects of building and deploying those communications.