One of the
most surprising insights gleaned during the opening “branding” panel discussion at OMMA RTB Seattle was the discussion about how the “rest of the organization” is reacting to
programmatic, particularly the most senior strategists, planners and, well, creative type people.
“We are finding that
at slightly more senior levels, there’s a loss of interest,” Marlo Huang, VP-strategy at Liquid Advertising, and moderator of the panel noted, adding that it runs the gamut from planners
to strategists and creatives.
“They want to be like Don Draper,” she added, noting, “They want to be the
cool thing and [get] an article in Ad Age -- that kind of thing.”
Huang said it “becomes a challenge to
retain” that talent, in a programmatic sense. At the same time, she said Liquid Advertising is trying to get the other side of the table -- “the quant guys and gals” to “think
more big picture and challenge the numbers.”
Here’s my suggestion for fixing the problem, and it’s one
that was conceived by none other than Golden Age agency chief Bill Bernbach, who created the original copywriter/art director creative team to deal with the then new technology of television
advertising.
Fast forward to the last decade and digital agencies morphed that concept into teams of experience designers and
technologists to conceive and create brilliant Web, mobile, social experiences. Well, how about doing the same thing by pairing programmatic traders with media strategists, and dare I say, actual
“creatives.”
Okay, I know that as soon as I publish those words, oodles of bleeding edge agencies and trading desks will reply, “Hey, that’s exactly what we’re
doing.” To which I respond, “Prove it.” I’m all ears -- and words.