• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, June 27, 2012

Explaining how much agency services are changing for marketers in a digital age, Valspar Paint Vice President of Marketing John Anton said more often than not, the PR firm, not the traditional ad agency is driving the branding train.

Speaking during the opening panel at MediaPost’s Brand Marketers Summit in Kohler, Wisconsin this morning,  Anton  gave an example of a recent social media endorsement campaign featuring celebrities who used Valspar paints to paint their own rooms.

“Our PR agency came up with the idea, shot and filmed it,” Anton noted, adding that those historically are roles that ad agencies would play.

He added that the PR firm also had a digital arm that developed all the “digital interface” with the social campaign, meaning the PR firm, not the traditional agency, was in charge of that branding effort.

“It’s more of a jump ball right now,” he said.