Advertising will survive. Not so sure about agencies though.

I was having a chat with a couple of tennis dads on Saturday. One of them, John Bird, is an experienced Ad industry guy. He summed up the position of ad agencies (as distinct from the ad industry as a whole) quite well I thought.
“20 years ago an ad agency made 17% on a client’s media billings. Today they make an average of 3%.”
Or put another way, ad agencies are making a fifth of what they used to, for doing the same work. This can’t last!
The structure of the industry will have to change. It’s only a matter of time.

Hug an agency person

Gruen’s back. This show reminds me that there are some pretty smart people in the advertising industry. The Gruen Transfer brings a sense of pride and professionalism to an industry whose morale is very low. In fact, next time you have an agency meeting, why not give one of the ad people a hug and say ‘thankyou’. Tell them Tony said it was OK.

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruentransfer/

Digital Discoveries (or is that Interactive Interpretation?)

If you are sick of being abused for not 'getting' the digital space, I suggest visiting this page. Simon Van Wyk has a spray at ad agencies, clients, media folk, the digital industry and ad agencies again.
It suddenly hit me that digital is like a booming goldrush town: theres money and opportunity everywhere but no one is really sure where. People are digging holes that either collapse on them or yield fortunes. Its a fun ride but there is no certainty. There isnt even an industry as such!

After reading this article I felt quite relived that my knowledge was a bit muddled. It turns out that even the experts disagree, sometimes violently.

http://mumbrella.com.au/2009/03/16/guest-posting-interactive-agencies-need-to-stop-being-digital-agencies/

AdNotes is brought to you by Tony Richardson Advertising and our branded product, TacticalTV - absolutely free! (You are welcome to pass AdNotes on to your friends and colleagues.) We are specialists in creating and producing Tactical TV, Print, Design and Radio advertising. We believe that clever cost solutions are a big part of clever creative advertising. Maybe that’s why some of the biggest marketers in the world have used our small agency! To find out more visit TacticalTV.com.au or TonyRichardson.com.au or leave comments and view back issues at our blog adnotes-tony.blogspot.com Or call us on (02) 9929 0588

What's a mumbrella?

If you find the daily email from B&T as tedious as I do you may be interested in a new marketing news service. Mumbrella aims to cover ‘Everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella’. Run by former B&T editor Tim Burrows, I find it be informative, interesting and very current. Well worth subscribing in my opinion. Check it out.
http://mumbrella.com.au

My dinner with Juliette

I had dinner with French actress Juliette Binoche last night. She made some very interesting remarks on creativity.

(OK … I was the guest of a TV exec. friend, at a fund-raising dinner where Ms Binoche spoke and dined. We never actually conversed.)

Best known as an Academy Award-winning actor, Juliette Binoche, has taught herself to dance and is travelling the world with dancer Akram Khan doing a very physical and emotional performance.

In an after show interview Binoche talked about risk. She said that all creativity requires risk, otherwise you just stood still.
As an actor she could easily have made a complete fool of herself attempting to dance. But she didn’t. The performance was extraordinary. The risk paid off.

This reminded me that in marketing communications we too need to take risks in order to reap greater rewards. A risk in our industry could be as simple as not copying what the competition are doing – I’ve mentioned before how most automotive ads look the same.

Another risk might be to commission original music rather than buying an existing track. Maybe next time you are judging a piece of creative work, it would be worth asking, where is the risk? Could it work better with a little more risk taking? Will a small risk give me the jump on my competition?

Here’s an example of a risk that I believe pays off big time. And it’s for an automotive brand!

The agency and marketing department of Skoda Cars could have taken the no-risk approach and just said ‘quality for less’ like all their competitors. They would have been on brief. And most consumers would have forgotten them instantly.

Instead they took a risk and cast a clown! I repeat ‘a clown’. Personally, I’ll never forget this ad … ever. How many of us can say that our last ad will stay with consumers for life?

AdNotes is brought to you by Tony Richardson Advertising and our branded product, TacticalTV - absolutely free! (You are welcome to pass AdNotes on to your friends and colleagues.) We are specialists in creating and producing Tactical TV, Print, Design and Radio advertising. We believe that clever cost solutions are a big part of clever creative advertising. Maybe that’s why some of the biggest marketers in the world have used our small agency! To find out more visit TacticalTV.com.au or TonyRichardson.com.au or leave comments and view back issues at our blog adnotes-tony.blogspot.com Or call us on (02) 9929 0588

Private Label Winning Battle of Brands.

I stumbled over this interesting article from the states: Private Label Winning Battle of Brands.
Quote: "We're pumping out the morphine of deal, deal, deal. And we need to be talking value."
Good reading for FMCG folk.

http://adage.com/article?article_id=134791

Let's talk

Thanks for the emails. I had a lively discussion with reader Bob Bridger about media placement (I never let my lack of expertise get in the way of a good opinion). By all means, email me, but if you want the rest of the world to see your comments, feel free to go through this blog thingy.

I still get notified immediately and reply ASAP, but everyone else can join in too.