citizenbay

Holding Company not an agile organisation shock!

Great report by the Winterberry Group from New York on the impact of the consumer and digital realities on the advertising agency over in the U.S.

Definitely worth a read. One of the key findings was this:

The prevalent “agency holding company” model is poorly equipped to provide the organizational agility and cross-channel service offering that today’s marketers demand

In my conversations with marketers this is a major talking point, particularly with those that have had imposed upon them a 'global agency' deal from their own HQ. One recounted the story when one agency tried to pitch for this client’s business, not knowing that their holding company cousin was an incumbent supplier to this marketer. "It’s as if they don’t talk to each other, let alone offer any integrated solution” he sighed.

In the Winterberry Study, they found 13% of respondents believed Holding Companies are able to effectively cross-sell their services across agency lines, whilst 85% of respondents believed that Holding Companies provide no real benefit to clients. Oh and the sample of 70 respondents for this study were taken from the agency world itself.

If the agency staffers themselves cannot see the value of such huge conglomerates, expect to see more and more set up smaller operations offering clients a more intimate service.

citizenbay is connected to the Comms Collective, a group of very experienced individuals that covers brand strategy, communications strategy, content delivery, digital strategy, music platform development, customer service training, research, retail real estate, CSR management and store design amongst other areas. No overlap of roles, no tension with who is lead…just some experienced people who trust and like each other and want to do great stuff for our clients (which include agencies too)…

In the era of cross-channel service…will small be beautiful?

Let's make our own videogame!

I like this. Microsoft are going to offer consumers of Xbox 360 the chance to develop their own games. Now this is what I call engagement - a brand ready to open itself up. It might be rubbish software for the gaming nuts (I will bow to my gaming friends on that one), but it will get people having a go.

It is Punk* Marketing - everyone can have a go...

*Punk as in Music, not Punk as in 'do you feel lucky...'

From Advertising to Content Creation...er again

Anheuser-Busch U.S. is launching its own in-house film and TV production company, says Ad Age The content, based around comedy, will be sent out via the net and mobile channels. It's all about

looking for new ways to reach beer drinkers through innovative means of communications.

.

Advertising Agencies and production companies inevitably don't like to see such client moves as it undermines their ability to deliver great content for the brands. Clients will always have a go at doing things in-house though, whether it is making their own ads or buying their own media. They are either not getting the brilliant work they hear about, or just think they can do it better and cheaper.

However, most brands will not bring content creation in-house for some time yet, and will continue to look to expert advisors to help them. Partnerships between agencies and production companies will inevitably grow to offer a fused service. Until then, citizenbay has been helping production companies get their heads around dealing with clients, and helping clients get their heads around content creation...

From Advertising to Content Creation...er again

Anheuser-Busch U.S. is launching its own in-house film and TV production company, says Ad Age The content, based around comedy, will be sent out via the net and mobile channels. It's all about

looking for new ways to reach beer drinkers through innovative means of communications.

.

Advertising Agencies and production companies inevitably don't like to see such client moves as it undermines their ability to deliver great content for the brands. Clients will always have a go at doing thing in-house though, whether it is making their own ads or buying their own media. They are either not getting the brilliant work they hear about, or just think they can do it better and cheaper.

The reality however, is that most brands will not bring content creation in-house, but look to expert advisors to help them. Partnerships between agencies and production companies will inevitably grow to offer a fused service. Which is why the fact that media agencieshave been connecting with production companies for some time now means they are a step ahead of their 'creative' agency cousins...

What does your Brand smell like?

Further to his speech in Finland (and elsewhere no doubt), Martin Lindstrom is mentioned here saying that 75 percent of all the emotions we generate every day are due to what we smell, whilst 83 percent of all commercial communication we are exposed to every day is crafted to appeal to just our eyes.

Through his research with Millward Brown, he was only able to identify

a handful of brands which truly owned an aroma to their brand (outside the frangrance-related product categories). Play-doh and Crayola Crayons were hardly aware of the power their aromas represented.

Yet does the smell of a brand actually change a consumer's relationship with the brand, or merely solidify their existing position? When people walk past a McDonald's and smell the aroma of fries those that love the smell will feel hungry, while those who abhor it will run a mile...but will the aroma actually convert people to try Ronald's burgers?

Creative Outdoor part 2...

Well, here is another one from New York.

Saatchi & Saatchi made manhole covers in Manhattan look like steaming cups of Folgers Coffee. Again, with the steam rising up from the manhole covers, the immediate connection between the steaming coffee and the covers is apparent. Yet is it just me that worries whether Folgers Coffee smells and tastes like the sewers? I don't drink coffee, so maybe why this piece of 'creative media' really doesn't work for me...

Is this creative or downright wrong?

Saw this outdoor ad for Target in the U.S. here. It is found at Penn Station New York as part of a campaign for the retailer Target. The spots you can see are a bunch of logos. The use of train station stairs, using

StareWays AdStep technology

no less. not sure where the technology comes in, but they do do some lovely work.

However, this one for Target seems to be wrong in so many ways. The publicity shot suggests either people are scared of walking up the stairs in this station for fear of treading on the brand, or the photographer's assistant kept everyone away. Alternatively, people just don't go to this station, what is message for them other than "have you got good eyesight"?

It seems though that is is part of "Target's Station Domination Campaign"...so that's alright then...

Goodbye 'Media Owner'...hello 'Media Brand'?

Sounds pretty obvious that the term ‘media owner’ is now defunct as we all own a slice of the action now. Yet the term is still widely used to describe all manner of companies.

Of the companies that were once known as ‘media owners’ in this industry, there seem to be three vague groupings now…

1 The Media Brand: Here the company approaches business as purveyors of content across distribution channels, shedding their position as lords of a specific distribution channel. They position the company as a beacon brand of great media content.

2 The Media Sherpa: The company philosophy is to guide elements of their content portfolio into the brands themselves, which can spin out of their core value to secure additional revenue streams. Examples from TV programmes, films and radio shows litter this category. It also fits for the record industry that promotes its’ artists, with an almost embarrassed nod in their marketing collateral to the label itself.

3 The Media Owner: The company just can’t shake off the past. Characteristics include: they treat their business assets as they did in the past; little understanding of how to build a brand; define their competition in extremely narrow terms (other TV stations, other business titles, other search engines).

Note that group 3 includes the new breed of companies who are supposedly trail-blazing the way.

So maybe it's time to be selective when using the term 'media owner'?