Content will kill your ad agency.
Content will kill your advertising agency.
I sense an argument brewing but that’s ok, we can do that here, have an argument and chew things over. No one gets hurt. I’ve been thinking about this for a while and have a series of rough posts and that I’m going to shape up and post next week.
The basic idea is that content will kill the agency you work for; that the current agency model (or versions off it labled as new), the work that agencies do, how it’s reviewed and rewarded and the channels that are used to transport it all are doomed. Unless, that is, your agency starts creating content.
This means of course that the agency you work for would have to radically change their business model and completely rethink what it is they do. It means that they would have to walk away from advertising to achieve the same strategic and business results for their clients and therefore revenues and I’m going to try and explain how your agency could do this; and it requires a little more effort than hiring someone to be “head of content”.
I’m saying that the company you work for isn’t scalable or “future proof”. If you push me, I will probably go as far as to say that the work you do within the agency is meaningless; that your skills, ideas and creativity are being wasted and that, in business terms, your work has no overall effect on the success or failure of the clients you are currently working on because it is void of content.
If you think that others might been interested in this would you be so kind as to Stumble it?
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Seb
Really good.
Absolutely right.
Interesting.
Go on.
Dec 6th, 2007
The Kaiser
Seb - so you’re happy with the description of your job as “meaningless”?
Dec 6th, 2007
George Parker
Kaiser…
I shall look forward to the developement of this argument. So far, it makes sense. Always remember what the great Gossage said… “The only people who care about advertising, are the people in advertising.” He also said… “Advertising… There’s far too much of it about.” And he said that nearly forty years ago. God knows what he would say now… I am also about to link to your excellent site and have a drink while doing it.
Cheers/George
Dec 6th, 2007
The Kaiser
George - Gossage would probably just shake his head and order a scotch if he were still around today. You know he would.
Cheers!
Dec 6th, 2007
Colin
Frankly, I think this is the biggest load of rubbish I’ve read in a long time.
Dec 6th, 2007
The Kaiser
Colin - hello, I don’t think you’ve commented here before, so firstly welcome. Secondly, do you think you could elaborate on why you think this is rubbish? I’d be interested to hear.
Dec 6th, 2007
Gavin Heaton
So, I was scouting here for your posts on Agencies and stumbled upon one of my favourite topics.
Agree it is time to rethink. In a world where communications are becoming more complex, demanding and time sensitive; where enterprise projects come under greater scrutiny and ever greater need to align with corporate strategies; and where consumers are simply turning off, forwarding through or ignoring most forms of interruption or simplistic engagement, it is clear that the forms of advertising and marketing that worked last century will meet limited success in the future.
We have all become too focused on delivering to briefs at the expense of true innovation. The art of advertising is dying in our hands, and along with it, the business models around which agencies have flourished. We have become jingoists rather than storytellers and the hollowness of our brand rhetoric is about to be exposed by the technological revolution that has transformed other industries well before our own.
Content creation is the last bastion of creative resilience that is left to us. Everything else we have conceded to the accountants, consultants and digital folks hungry for growth and glamour. Now give me a drink, I am toasting the rising sea.
Dec 8th, 2007
Seb
My job is not meaningless. The role of an ad agency nonetheless has become close to meaningless and it won’t get better until agencies stop to look for the cause of this disaster everywhere but in their own stupid rooms.
Unfortunately (and that’s the black spot in your posts to come) it is not only the agencies that make a lot of mistakes. A lot of marketing managers are managers. They know how to manage money and a certain status quo. More and more clients lack of true entrepreneurship. They are afraid of risks and only trust the safe ways given by market research. People like Phil Knight, Richard Branson and Nicolas Hayek have become a rare breed.
Furthermore most brands have nothing to say anymore and don’t invent products that are loved by the people. Because they are led by people who care about money, market share and growth. They call their customers target group and not people.
The role of the ad industry is a minor. What is their own fault. Because when clients lack of true entrepreneurship, innovation and vision it could be the chance for agencies to jump in and provide their clients with that rare commodity. Unfortunately they are afraid of taking risks as well. Lead by people who care about money, awards and power. Not about innovation and taking brands to a new era.
So both - clients and ad industry - are responsible for their own misery. But - and this is a great thing - we live in a time of global communication and information access what enables us to change things again. Without the need of a multinational company in our back.
Does all this make sense? No? Yes.
Dec 9th, 2007
The Kaiser
Gavin - did you find what you were looking for? I hope so otherwise the whole relaunch of this blog would have been a waste of time, and as Charles Stab says “I will be doomed and be very lonely”. Delivering to briefs is a core part of my little argument and I will be covering that in the coming week. Excellent points my friend.
Seb - That’s better. That’s much better. A bit of fighting spirit from my favouirte east-german creative. As with Gavin, lots of excellent stuff in there Seb, some of it I’ll cover - but the stuff about being a clients (good, bad or ugly) I think I’ve covered before and leave that to you this time. Cheers mate.
Now where the hell is Colin?
Dec 9th, 2007
Gavin Heaton
Yes, of course, I found what I was looking for — you had nicely designed a big blue button called “If I were a client today”. Who says information design can’t be useful?
There is some great conversation going on around this topic at the moment. Good stuff!
Dec 10th, 2007
The Kaiser
Gavin - yes I’ve noticed quite a few other posts on the subjects popping up here and there. Interesting stuff indeed.
Dec 10th, 2007
NP
My is meaningless either. This my last week. I’ve finished everything, can’t start anything new.
Bored. Very bored.
Good post though. Yes, since were the architects of our own dire straits, we can construct something useful to get us out. It really isn’t that hard, it never was.
Dec 10th, 2007
The Kaiser
NP - are you drunk? That’s the worst bit of spelling etc. that you’ve ever come up with. Ever.
Dec 10th, 2007
NP
Hello Colin? Care to elaborate?
Dec 10th, 2007
Sean Howard
Dude,
I seriously feel sorry for anyone working in an ad agency these days.
But let’s be honest, I’m also jealous. I’m jealous of their budgets, their creative freedom (devoid of all results) and their sexy titles and expense accounts.
And while we can speak of the end of agencies and advertising, money and backing they have in spades. And many a company has reinvented itself with only those two resources. Ever heard of LG?
The cool news is a new breed is rising up that is intent on killing them. And failing that, at least fighting their way to the table. Pain is coming, I hope they are ready.
Dec 10th, 2007
neilperkin
Interesting post Kaiser. I don’t disagree that agencies need to change their model. But it’s a little harsh to say that what they do is ‘meaningless’. I do think though that agencies have become experts at producing particular types of content (short-form, selling stuff) so their knowledge of content production is arguably somewhat one-dimensional. When the end user wants to consume what they want, when they want, how they want, this is likely to pose a challenge. Looking forward to this one.
Dec 10th, 2007
The Kaiser
Howard - get your jealously into some kind of order young man. It’s upsetting and this blog feels somehow soiled.
Perkin - Hello you! Harsh is my middle name, and I mean every word of it. Every single word. But the best thing is, it’s so easy to change all of this nonsense. I’d like to show you how.
Dec 11th, 2007
Katie Chatfield
I don’t think that you need to create content, I think that you need to identify what stories and experiences will help connect brands with the people that will increase the brand’s value. You can then make, lease, borrow or inspire content to deliver the brand’s messages.
In our content creation environment it is much more accurate and flexible to describe how stories and experiences can be identified without necessarily being proscriptive about who actually makes them. This also means that you’re not limited by what you can produce, and can actively seek what fits the brand messaging best.
Dec 12th, 2007
Charles Frith
Hello special K. When you say content do you mean the stuff that fills up the gaps or the narrative within the stuff that fills up those (media) gaps?
Dec 12th, 2007
Luc Debaisieux - mindblob
Fascinating debate. Brilliant vision.
I’m not sure if content will be the bullet or the trigger, though. Content produced outside the agency (people 2.0) is to be considered as seriously as content produced by the agency. Big difference between the two is content produced by ad agencies is nothing without a good reason why and a relevant link to the brands.
I agree that there is a fundamental need to change structure and processes and YES… inspired management ready to innovate and “listen” to the other side of the ad bunker (as well as inside the bunker! How about that?). The inertia to move things around is huge, though. Jurassically huge!
I think client side will need structural revolution as well. People ready to listen, trust take risks and innovate. “Vision” is a key initiating change. “Head of content” hat… is perfect (love that pointer, Marcus!), if in a metaphoric way it means getting a chance to stimulate content of some other “heads”. So, let’s start working on the “Content of the Heads”, right!
Dec 12th, 2007
Katie Chatfield
@Charles- if the people that watch content don’t prioritise between content stuffers and narrative- why should we?
We need to start thinking that our messaging is competing in an entertainment environment- not an advertising environment.
Who says a message from a brand can’t be a narrative? Check out the Guiness work in Africa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Power_(Guinness_character)
Not to mention all those snack sized pieces of content that used to be ads that the kids so into watching and producing…
Dec 17th, 2007
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