• by Diane Mermigas , September 1, 2009

Denuo CEO Rishad Tobaccowala has an uncanny way of simplifying all of the complex issues and challenges of digital transformation dogging media and advertising companies. "The future doesn't fit in the containers of the past," the Madison Avenue guru told a fawning crowd the opening day of ad:tech Chicago. And then hundreds of metaphoric light bulbs went on and a collective "ah ha" could be heard across the room.

 

Examples are everywhere. Static TV commercials don't belong on streaming online video. Blaring banner ads have no place accompanying the intimate chatter on a social network like Twitter. The world is going digital, but people are still analog, observes Tobaccowala, who also doubles as Chief Innovation Officer at Publicis Groupe.

The media and advertising industries are trying to take what they know best in the traditional analog world and drop it into the new digital interactive world. That is resulting in all kinds of problems. In the digital arena, "it's not about advertising; it's about marketing!" he chides.

The fluidity and relevance of Internet-connected platforms is well suited to marketing because "it allows us to understand and meet our clients' needs," he said. For decades, the advertising industry talked about marketing; now it's absolutely forced to do it.

This can be the golden age of marketing, he said, answering questions from Drew Ianni, ad:tech advisory board chairman, in a casual keynote interview. "The work is there; the creativity and bravery are not!"

"The biggest change is having to work in real-time. Twitter is great. I use it. It's much more of a business application than most people think ... If you know how to use it, it is actually better than search," Tobacccowala says.

Tobaccowala, a popular, easygoing and insightful speaker, does not pretend to know all the answers. But his insights get people thinking. In a half-hour, he can take you to the future and back.

But great thinkers like Tobaccowala don't take breaks, and his instruction is energizing. The driving forces of change are social ("It will be the tsunami that overcomes marketing"), search and mobility. "Only the schizophrenic will thrive: You must have two [business] models. One is smaller and faster, and more risk-prone, and one regular model," Tobaccowala says. Partnering is essential, and don't expect to get innovation, creativity and quality content for free.

The search for talent should be continuous; look for candidates with wit, high energy and integrity, he said. There is no way to minimize the drama of digital change. So, manage your service company like a software release, with ongoing integration, updates and changes.

When asked to explain how he remains abreast of new developments and formulates his ideas, Tobaccowala drew a deep breath and rattled off five things. He reads the print versions of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, which allows him to discover stories and information he might otherwise miss online.

He also runs through a host of favorite blogs each day. He talks with his clients and is constantly "educated" by his support team. Finally, he makes a point to regularly be mentored by younger people in specific fields, such as video games and music.