Tech Savvy Crucial To Advertisers, Clients

Keeping up with technology is an ad industry obsession, given the pace of technological change and its impact on consumer touchpoints. But the obsession must be focused properly -- or agencies and marketers risk wasting a lot of time and effort, agency C-level types told a Tuesday morning Advertising Week crowd.

"We're a marketing services company, not a technology company," said Nick Brien, CEO of Interpublic Group's McCann WorldGroup. But technology, he said, plays a key role as an "enabler of ideation and creativity," with the primary goal of allowing clients and brands to better connect with their consumers.

Don Coleman, CEO, Global Hue, said he views technology and new media as "an opportunity to create engaging branded content for our clients."

John Partilla, chief operating officer Dentsu Network West, said the agency's Tokyo headquarters has "floors dedicated to experimenting with technology and media." In Japan, he noted, consumers use mobile routinely for tasks, ranging from purchase checkout to vending machines or checking for discounts and coupons.

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Christine Fruechte, CEO, Colle + McVoy, said agencies must experiment with new technologies "to be ahead of the curve." Otherwise, once a technology becomes mainstream, they'll be behind.

Agency employees have to be immersed in technology in order to advise and help clients navigate media channels today, said Coleman.

But Mainardo De Nardis, global CEO, Omnicom's OMD, said that among the challenges that technology presents to the industry is "the balance between specialization and integration." It's a balance, he said, that can be "very hard" to achieve. No all clients embrace as much change as their agencies would like, noted Coleman. "Legacy clients want results but don't want to change the paradigm," he said.

Brien agreed, asserting that some clients are "living on the fumes of an old business model that is running out of steam." New technology and media channels must be embraced, he said, if brands are going to connect with consumers "in a sustainable way."

Technology forces agencies to take a more "entrepreneurial" approach to their work, said Coleman. "You can't have cookie-cutter management in this dynamic age."

Partilla said that as clients shift more of their ad budgets to new technologies, the buys may be less expensive, but the overall cost may be just the same or more because clients require greater help from agencies navigating the different media paths. "It's an opportunity to work in a more strategic way with clients," he said.

The pace of change brought on by technology alters the tenor of planning, said De Nardis. "Long-term planning is a direction," he said. "Everything else is real-time management."

One byproduct of technology is data -- endless streams of it. The good news, said Maria Luisa Francoli, global CEO, Havas' MPG, is that technology also enables the harnessing of data so that it can be used "in a good way."

But data potentially can be problematic if not used properly, said Brien. "It should be used for informing judgment, but it doesn't replace judgment," he said.

As for traditional versus new media, Partilla said that is no longer an issue now that print, for example, is embracing the tablet computer to retain readers. "Forget old versus new media," he said. "Just be relevant media."

1 comment about "Tech Savvy Crucial To Advertisers, Clients".
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  1. Tim Smith from Centro, October 5, 2011 at 1:28 p.m.

    Steve - your opening paragraph says it all: "the obsession must be focused properly". I could not agree more.

    As marketers, we spend a lot of time chasing the 'new' and 'never-been-done-before' – and for obvious reasons (awards, accolades, etc.). However, once that wow-factor has dissipated, we pull back in order to look for the next place to make a splash. The classic ESPN adage that “chicks dig the long ball” holds true for our entire industry – people don’t stand up and cheer small ball.

    If we step back for a moment, though, it’s clear that this approach is missing a genuine opportunity to make an impact in the lives of consumers. We don’t need to make a splash to have an effective approach in reaching consumers that can lead to results and ROI. The fact of the matter is that the traditional Media Mix is out of touch with consumer behaviors. We spend 50% less time at home than we did 30 years ago, which means there are a lot of impactful touch points being left on the table if we don’t have effective strategies that reach on-the-go consumers. Technology has opened the door for us to play really smart small ball.

    At Centro, we spend a lot of time talking about the ‘customer journey’ – this journey doesn’t end the moment consumers turn off the TV, or put down the magazine, or log off. Technology has allowed us to put together strategies that build awareness throughout the journey and ensure our clients’ messages are present at all the relevant touch points along the way. The more the industry starts to recognize the role of technology as a necessity versus a novelty, the more we will see campaigns that look like small ball, play like small ball, but have the results of the long ball.

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