Marketing Weblog: ARE TRADITIONAL AGENCIES’ EXECUTIVES READY FOR DIGITAL ADVERTISING?

Advertisers are asking for intelligent advertising. Web users want to be seduced and informed. Those working in big traditional advertising agencies are resistant. They still refuse to jump in the game. So the industry is completely atomized and mainly consists of small independent agencies specialized on a few e-advertising tools (rich media adsm, search engine marketing, avatar marketing, …). But, why?

1: I DON’T WANT THINGS TO CHANGE... Traditional agencies treat consumers well. ‘Come and sit down. Stay quiet. Listen. I’m going to tell you a story. Yes, the same story that you love to hear over and over again.’ The refusal to accept that consumers will change doesn’t go well with this scenario. This type of resistance is profound and expresses the conservativeness of traditional advertising which even comes through in its name.

2: I’M RETIRING SOON, I DON’T NEED TO GO THERE. The vast majority of agency bosses are baby boomers close to retirement. Traditional agencies should be taken over by a new generation or even better learn to work side by side. Traditional agencies that don’t take the digital route will be worthless tomorrow.

3: I TRIED IT ONCE AND IT DIDN’T WORK. It’s a new world and trial and error is part of the equation. Happily, we can carry out real-time check-ups. And considering it’s new, traditional clients/agencies will come across. Next time, it will go better.

4: TECHNOLOGY IS TOO COMPLICATED. Sure. It’s hell. There are bugs, bytes, CTR, CPC, ROS, plug-ins, opt-ins, bandwidth, leaderboards, ... But there are technicians that take care of all the technical staff. You can not escape from technology the same way you can not escape from the future.

5: TV WORKS! Yes. It’s true. There has been nothing, even today, that reaches as many people in as little time. But TV is efficient in a frequency of one. We change a banner as soon as it loses its efficacy for any given consumer. A TV spot runs, no matter who’s sitting in front of it. And the client pays. Let’s see what happens when digital TV comes…

6: WEB LASTS TOO LONG. Done. Next! Trad advertising often works like sausages factories. Agencies rarely get involved after delivery. The accountability of the web is the opposite.

7: TRADITIONAL ADS ARE GLAM. When an advertiser walks into a social situation, he likes to talk about the ad spots he’s done. Agency creatives like to shoot commercials outside. It is so much more glam than measly pixels. But Cannes submissions are evolving: less and less film, more and more cyber creations...

8: TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING PAYS. Yes, it’s easier to sell, and it’s also easier for an agency to make profit from it. Justifying a revenue rate 14.65 % is easy for a million dollar traditional campaign. A few weeks of work is fast and carried out well for $146, 500. Agency revenues depend on easy commissions.

9: TV IS EASY TO SELL. Seth Godin said recently « Nobody ever got fired for putting TV in the plan ». It’s easier to sell a production set than a site map.

10: WHAT WEB? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? « I wasn’t aware of this thing, this digital thing, I had no idea it was so huge... ». Are they guilty of being ignorant or just plain clueless? Anyone working in communications has no right to plead lack of curiosity of intellectual laziness.
I hope the funny approach of these ten reason help those of you reading them and working in traditional advertising get closer to digital advertising so you advance into what will be the future: blended advertising. Soon there won’t be digital or traditional advertising but plain advertising. Big modern agencies like Media Planning Group are already creating not only integrated campaigns but integrated key account managers that sell traditional and digital solutions altogether. When will be your traditional agency doing so?

Comments

Congratulations for this article Manuel. What you say is so right!
I would give another reason: some advertisers may also remain very conservative in their approach of digital media. That's a good one for agency executives and account managers not to evolve that much!
(this comment is coming from a recently "integrated guy";-)

Interesantes las cuatro razones de Netthink, http://www.netthink.es , a la pregunta de por qué publicidad en Internet?

1.- Internet es el medio de mayor afinidad para muchos tipos de target
2.- Es un medio esencial para llegar a los jóvenes
3.- Los internautas viajan más que la media
4.- Y, sobre todo, cada día hay más internautas

Tarde o temprano tendrán que ir adaptándose sobre todo a medida que la generación iPod adquiera más y más potencial adquisitivo y se conviertan en consumidores más y más voraces... Fijémonos en cuáles son las marcas favoritas de esta generación según el reciente estudio de Viacom:

Google
YouTube
MySpace
MTV
Axe

Salu2

Angel

Talking from inside the sector, I can tell you this trend is rapidly changing: I own a small interactive agency and the big kahunas are hiring my staff by significantly increasing their wages.
Paul

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