• by March 30, 2005

By Lisa Seward

Have you ever noticed that the science side of the advertising equation, considered the more sensible of the media siblings compared to that artsy wild child, creative, is as susceptible to fashion trends as, well, fashion?

Think about it and you would have to agree that the media business sets and follows trends in a very real sense. Remember the era of the "Big Three Networks" and the print world's "Seven Sisters?" No, I didn't think so. Or how about the "Recency Is Your Answer" phase, when otherwise able-minded professionals mistook the sound, yet hardly all-purpose scheduling strategy as some sort of media planning holy grail? Or more recently, the "Optimizers Über Alles" years, followed quickly by my personal favorite, "Buying Clout Is The New Black?"

Each of these trends, like leisure suits and leg warmers before them, had a natural life cycle  a quickly swelling popularity, followed by a downward spiral during which a new, seemingly better media fashion took its place. To this observer, it appears we're in the early stages of yet another such trend, one I'll call "Media Takes The Lead" (MTTL). And I, for one, can only hope it dies a natural death before too much damage is done.

The MTTL era is marked by the growing power of huge media agencies, and more specifically, their strong relationships with senior marketing leaders at client companies. Suddenly it's not a huge leap to see Carat or Starcom taking the lead role on Procter & Gamble, rather than Saatchi or Grey. Or Coca-Cola listening more closely to the suggestions of MediaVest than the legions of creative shops they have on their roster. And if you don't think these media agencies plan on "owning" the client relationship and reducing creative shops to mere vendors of film and photography, you simply aren't paying attention.

Why shouldn't media shops be leading the way, you might ask. After all, this is the time of consumer choice and control, so who better than media strategists to understand how to engage fickle consumers in a sea of so many options? I realize this might be heresy, but I'll tell you who better: creatives. Not better overall, but certainly better in areas like story telling and artistry. And I tend to think that if we're truly going to engage people, whether through crafty product placement, short films, blogs, or whatever else comes along, we're still going to need brilliant writing, artful lighting, dead-on humor, and inspired casting - the stuff creatives do best.

I'm not suggesting that media people should go back to being obedient order-takers and do the creatives' bidding. Clearly that era, if it ever existed, is gone forever. But I am suggesting that media types are shortsighted if they try to get in front of the creative process and, in effect, put creatives in the order-taker role. Such a linear work style, "we'll figure out what the answer is, and you, Mr. Creative, can just supply the pretty pictures," will limit the happy accidents that come from a full immersion of media and creative brainpower.

Here's a case in point: last fall, Fallon's Lee Jeans media team realized it needed to do something different and experiential in order to capture the attention of Lee's highly plugged-in young male target. The team also knew the answer involved content and that it should take advantage of Lee Dungarees' spokesdoll, Buddy Lee in all his eerie coolness. Because the media team works at Fallon, where we see just how creativity makes everything work harder, it took the idea to the creative team.

And you know what? Through lots (and I do mean lots) of interaction and debate, the combined media/creative team developed "Buddy Lee's Control Freak." This unique program, featuring Buddy Lee as a character in three episodes of mtv2's program "Control Freak," turned advertising conventions upside down. We had Fallon creatives writing show scripts and mtv producing our commercials. And you know what else? It was a hit with young guys and a huge success for Lee Jeans.

Now, I can't say what might have happened if the Lee Jeans team worked at a big media shop instead of Fallon. But I can guess, and my guess is that the creatives would have been pulled in later, if at all. And the idea wouldn't have been as good, or as powerful, or as profitable for the client. Maybe instead of jumping on the "Media Takes The Lead" bandwagon we could usher in a new era, one most certainly welcomed by clients. Let's call it, "Best Idea Wins."

Lisa Seward is media director at Fallon, Minneapolis. (lisa.seward@fallon.com)