I refuse to go into much detail on this as I having a paying client to serve, but I must bring this article to your attention, if for nothing else to cause you distress or amusement. Your choice.
Ms. Jodi Harris, who we can tell from her picture, is not some wizened much less long time experienced observer of the Public Relation scene, reports on a speech by Bryan Weiner, CEO of 360i made at something called the IAB Ecosystem conference held last week in Carlsbad, Calif. Her reporting includes the following:
"It's time to leave the pessimism behind. This represents an unprecedented opportunity for agencies to become indispensable marketing partners," said Weiner...
Not to be too catty, but I've always believed deeply in my heart that pessimism was Very Counter Productive for agency life.
If marketers want to radically impact change in the marketing ecosystem, it starts with how you allocate dollars.
Well, that's Painfully Obvious for some of us who have toiled in the Public Relations fields for almost any length of time.
Think about how your property can serve as a conduit for deeper interactions between brands and consumers.I'm just going to leave this nugget from Ms. Harris in the file marked "cryptic."
Here's a real good one:
Yet the fact remains: Advertising is about getting consumers to be product and service advocates. To be able to do that today, agencies need to find innovative solutions, and do so at reasonable prices.I double dare you to walk into the cube of anyone responsible for spending precious corporate dollars on advertising to support this idea. I have met and worked with the folks, some from our most highly esteemed companies and can honest report to you that advertising is about selling more stuff to more people. Nevertheless, as a Public Relations guy, I'm happy for anyone to take a shot at Advertising.
As Weiner sees it, the model for the agency of the future doesn't exist yet, but marketers can help create it in their own environments by focusing all their efforts toward meeting client needs.
Well, that's probably why the speech is about the Agency of the (wait for it) ...Future.
Again, I apologize in advance for taking such a cheap shot at this reporter and the story. I'm an almost old and certainly crusty PR guy who has seen how the business works (and doesn't work) and I become annoyed when people who obviously have know idea what they're talking about blow some of their bloviation in my direction.
That's all for now except to wish you a great weekend.
