The following is a rich resource if you want to know where advertising agencies are headed and the future for agency new business practices.
We’re in the midst of a revolutionary period unlike anything we have ever seen. It’s predicted that more change will come to the advertising industry within the next five years than we have seen in the previous fifty.
I’ve highlighted Edward Boches a number of times through Fuel Lines posts. Edward was one of the first agency creatives from a large agency to genuinely grasp the potential of social media. He has even been awarded an additional title. He’s not on the Chief Creative Officer for Mullen but also their Chief Social Media Officer. He’s earned not only the title but also the position of “thought leader” among his prospective clients. That’s led to an impressive list of new business for Mullen in 2009 and it looks like 2010 is going to be an excellent year for them as well.
If you are part of your agency’s creative community, I would recommend you follow Edwards’ example, one of your peers who is doing social media and agency new business the right way.
Check out Edwards blog, creativity_unbound, and especially his article on “The future of advertising agencies: learnings from Forrester.” He highlights some excellent nuggets of information that has been derived from Sean Corcoran’s research, a Forrester analysts.
The following is just a taste of those findings, you’ll need to click through to Edward’s post for the rest. I assure you that it’s worth your time:
- Despite Edelman’s recent findings, Forrester insists that consumers trust consumers more than they trust brands: it means we need to mobilize fans and followers to evangelize on our behalf
- The Groundswell has gone mainstream: the consumer is now a creator/sharer/distributor; learn to harness and inspire that
- WOM reigns again: your content and the experiences you create must stimulate it
- 3.5 billion brand conversations happen every day, all of them in public: time to master the art of listening
You’ll be able to fill-in the blanks from Edward’s article and hopefully fill-in the blanks as to where we’re headed as an industry:
- Consumer’s ______ most advertising
- ________ marketing is the new model
- Media needs to combine _____, ______ and ______
- Successful agencies will move well beyond ________
- Three things clients will look for: _______, _______ and ______
Additional agency principals on point for new business:
- Shiv Singh, Razorfish: Ad Agencies: An Excellent Resource for Understanding Social Media Marketing
- Edward Boches, Mullen: Ad Agency Draw 63,000+ Twitter Users for BrandBowl 2010
- Sam Decker, Decker Marketing: Social Media Marketing Map Used For Ad Agency’s New Business
- Stephanie Holland, Holland + Holland Advertising: Tiny Ad Agency Generates Big Interest and Opportunities Through Social Media
- Chuck Donofrio, Carton Donofrio Partners: “StopTheAdness” Campaign Builds Buzz for Small Ad Agency
- Jaci Russo, The Russo Group: Ad Agency’s New Business Initiative: $1 Million Brand Ad Campaign
- Steve McKee, McKee Wallwork Cleveland: When Growth Stalls For Ad Agencies
- Bob Hoffman, Hoffman/Lewis: The Ad Contrarian
Mullen really practices what it preaches, that’s important for ad agencies and it sets them apart.
Agencies must look at brands and develop meaningful communications and platforms. Digital is a great way to connect with people, not in a trivial way but with style/substance (brands values) and start to build something that people want to talk about.
Modern Agencies – Future of Agencies http://post.ly/faOt