• by Tim McHale , June 12, 2002

When’s the first time you heard the expression “cross-platform?” To the ear, it’s such a harsh sounding expression. Sounds a little scary too, don’t it? CROSS-PLATFORM. It’s funny how this march-in-step-like term requires the subtlest of talents. Tinker Bell, where are you now, when we need you most?

When thinking about cross-platform, Tinker Bell comes to mind, based on her Bird’s Eye view of the world, and how she moves the scene on to the next event with a touch of a wand. She’s a fixer. She keeps things moving. We in the cross-platform media consulting business must apply the same touch to connect the dots between online and offline and do it delicately, knowing Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Recently, we were hired to help a major consumer home appliance firm evaluate how balanced and integrated their large global media agency partner’s advice and media investments were between interactive and traditional media. The marketer had recently been taken over by new management, who was not pleased with what they found.

From the media agency’s viewpoint, we were the fox being let into the hen house. “Uh oh, they’ve hired a consultant, didn’t tell us and invited them to the meeting” is surely what the network buyer must have been thinking. Suddenly, the upfront TV buy was being scrutinized in a way the agency hadn’t considered, ever. It was a little painful to see them twist in the wind with new “cross-platform” consultants in the room, vs. just presenting to the client marketing team alone. It was largely the same when we met with the agency interactive group; only it felt, you know, a little hipper.

Determining how to dress for each meeting was part of the issue. Tie or no tie? If we do wear ties, which meetings do we wear them to? Decisions, decisions. Heck, since we were the consultants, we decided to go tie-less (with suits) to both meetings. Okay, I know, these issues are fraught with tension, but that’s why we make the big bucks, right? Someone has to do it.

With all sincerity, someone DOES have to do it. And it is somewhat painful for media executives who’ve been allowed to play within their own favorite vehicle, be it TV, radio, print, outdoor or interactive, to deal with an outsider who is going to work to make these media wizards work together.

The task of bringing traditional media and interactive media together for a client, working with their separate teams is not easy. It requires Tinker Bell-like finesse. Once it’s clear that the media agency servicing the business will continue in that position, the role of the cross-platform consultant is to lead the media leaders.

How does one in fact lead a Master of the Media Universe? How does one both audit and train at the same time? Delicately. What it takes is a person who knows both media inside and out. That means knowing what the difference is between GRPs and R&F’s on the traditional side or hosting and serving on the interactive side. But it also requires other Tinker Bell qualities, such as:

Anticipating, analyzing and interpreting the media agency’s opinions, attitudes, and issues that might impact, for good or ill, the media plan.

Counseling the client marketer at all levels with regard to their approach to media decisions, courses of action, and communications, which play into the process of building, executing, optimizing a plan and directing the agency media groups.

Researching, conducting, and evaluating, on a continuing basis, programs preferable to all media constituencies to achieve the integration necessary to create successful cross-platform solutions. It’s important to remember there may be multiple target audiences besides the ultimate consumer, such as how the media plan is viewed by management, employees as well as other outside communities, such as Wall Street.

Professional cross-platform media consulting requires a generalist view, which perhaps might include experience with psychology, social psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and the principles of management and ethics. Don’t forget, you’re a target and a threat to the media agency, so the more buttoned up you are, the more effective you’ll be in helping them change their old, linear views.

Cross-Platform also requires a background in using modern technology’s ability to gain continuous feedback through opinion research services such as Dynamic Logic, direct mail and promotional event marketing/fulfillment.

We realized that although we could have taken about a hundred pot shots at the linear nature of each media agency buying group, if we were to work effectively for this marketer, we would need to build bridges and new ways of communicating between us, the marketer and each of the media teams. Next week: Building Bridges, Tinker Bell Style.