• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, October 6, 2014

Oy! Can't people just talk normally? In yet another article about the demise of agencies and the rise of specialty companies that work directly with brands, Andrew Reid, creative director of newfangled ad agency BKLYN1834 said: “We are the audience. We are the artists. We are the influencers in fashion, art and design who inspire trends. We are the actual point of the trend.” Perhaps voicing the same sentiment in a far more down-to-earth, levelheaded, less pompous tone, Deutsch LA CCO Pete Favat said: “We love making stuff; it’s fun, makes us money and attracts a different type of talent and skillset into the agency.” And indeed, the agency has transformed who they hire and gone to work getting things done more directly, namely handling all the creation, directing, shooting, editing and animating recent Snapple work. All without uttering a bit of BKLYN's pomposity.

Well, Gwyneth Paltrow is having none of Martha Stewart's bad attitude. After Stewart told the New York Post: "She just needs to be quiet. She's a movie star. If she were confident in her acting, she wouldn't be trying to be Martha Stewart," Gwyneth went right out and hired former Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia CEO Lisa Gersh to become CEO of her lifestyle brand, Goop. Of the hire, Paltrow said: "She's the perfect person to build on the momentum we have already created at Goop, and to diversify our opportunities to bring Goop's positive energy directly to consumers in what they read, what they try, what they buy and how they live." Take that, Martha!

Programmatic buying might be doing a whole lot more than just increasing media efficiency. According to a recent AOL study, Programmatic Futures: Where Culture Meets Code, 48% of advertisers (media owners, agencies, trading desks) believe programmatic is bettering creativity. But before you all utter a collective "Say what?", 57% of respondents feel programmatic will not replace humans and 29% said it gives them more time to focus on the expanding aspects of marketing creativity such as native advertising and content marketing. And a whopping 65% believe programmatic has given them more time to develop better strategies and audience targeting. Which, again, begs the question, is the development of creative the only place that requires creativity?

Okay -- so native advertising, brand journalism. You've heard of it. You're doing it, right? And you've probably had an argument with a journalist (or Bob Garfield) about how the practice is ruining journalism. Well Brandalism Managing Director Tracy Fitzgerald has another point of view. She writes: "What I see here is far too much attention on the definition and zero focus on the solution -- which is that journalists could actually help shape this industry into something that creates a really positive impact." Yes, she wants journalists to join the party understanding that with their history and experience they can help properly shape native advertising, brand journalism and content marketing or whatever you choose to call it. And apparently, she’s taken this approach very much to heart adding: "I care about integrity, I care about the truth, I care about stories and I care about giving people a voice -- and I still do all of this as a brand journalist." Can that work? Can words meant to sell something not read like words meant to sell something? Can marketers tone down the rhetoric? Can they cast aside their pride and listen to those who've "created content" long before marketers began tossing around that term as if it were seemingly interchangeable with "creating advertising?" What say ye?

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