We've heard it all a million times. Consumers are in control and they're feeding on multiple media options each day. So what do they have to do with integrated marketing?
A panel on
integration, or the lack thereof, led off Day Two of the OMMA-West Conference and Expo here in San Francisco. Integrated communications plans, integrated experiential marketing. It all sounds like
agency/marketing world jargon to these ears.
The thing is, according to today's panelists, consumers are already integrating their media by going to Web sites mentioned on TV commercials
and participating in contests and polls that are part of shows such as "American Idol." You can bet they don't call their media behaviors "integrated media usage."
The marketing and media industries resist integration at every turn, according to Cory Treffiletti, senior vice president, managing director, Carat Interactive, San Francisco, who moderated the
morning panel. "The consumer fundamentally doesn't care. Different agencies focus on different things; consumers don't differentiate between mobile and outdoor [marketing]. They don't
differentiate between where they saw the messages," he said.
Integrated marketing and media programs - integrated across media (offline and online) - appear to be highly desirable
for clients, but both agencies and clients operate, more often than not, in silos, making it difficult to work collaboratively.
Integration has been a problem in the communications
industry for a long time. Cooperation is the key word to integration. You cannot provide a desirable, finished product without integration," said Kate Everett-Thorp, president, interactive
advertising, AKQA, San Francisco.
That said, Jon Raj, vice president, interactive marketing for Visa USA, which counts AKQA as one of its agency partners, says, "Online has come a
long way, but Id like to see an offline agency on the panel. I don't think the online agency is the problem. At Visa, we do a good job of putting interactive at the table and I mean at the planning
table. AKQA, BBDO, OMD ... they're all at the same table when we plan."
The problem, according to Raj and Greg Wilson, CEO of Red Ball Tiger, San Francisco, is that offline agencies
have their own agendas. "They make more money when they have more work, and when they plan what they do... It's very difficult for any agency to step up on their own," Raj says.
Is integration happening? "No," Wilson said. "Look, cooperation comes down to compensation. If you're going to compensate me, I'm there."
Asked who should drive
integration, client or agency, Raj responded: "It's a dual responsibility. It's only going to happen if a client steps up and mandates it. I said back in 1997, 2000, and last year, frankly, if I
had one agency that could do it all for me, I would jump at it. The fact is though, it's not there," Raj said, adding, "We're not going to settle for anything that's less than best of breed.
A lot of the onus goes on the client, but also on the agency to play nice in the sandbox with others."
Integration works best when senior leadership is involved, said Katie Riccio
Puris, group account director, partner, Atmosphere BBDO. She credited Andrew Robertson, CEO of BBDO Worldwide, for being proactive on the integration front.
All the creatives work
together. That's the answer. At BBDO Atmosphere there's been a real sea change in how people are working together. We get TV creatives from BBDO who call up with online ideas," said Riccio Puris.
"I need the name of these creatives," said Visa's Raj amid laughter from the audience.
"Our best collaborative relationships are when the client is
involved," said AKQA's Everett-Thorp. The agency's client Nike also works with Wieden & Kennedy. "No one feels threatened. We have clear roles and responsibilities."
Red Ball's Wilson doesn't think it's so easy for agencies to play nice. "If I'm a TV agency, I want my idea. I might not make as much money on yours. I want my idea advanced. Are we integrating
our egos? No, and that's a major problem."
"Agencies have become very competitive," Everett-Thorp responded. "Everybody is emotionally and professionally involved.
You want your creative and media people to be passionate. We don't want somebody the next time to throw in the towel. It's passionate and ego-driven," and that's what makes it difficult.
Riccio Puris agreed: "From a new business perspective, we want to get everyone involved. It helps everyone feel like they have a piece of the puzzle and that they are involved in the
outcome."
"The cure is the client saying, 'this is really best for the business.' It's not always just taking a TV spot and making it an online ad. It's more of a strategic
integration that's needed," Raj added.
"In the future, the viewer is going to access advertisers. The business model is going to change. If the message is different on TV than
what I get online, there is a disconnect and consumers will leave. That's why we need to integrate. The viewer reacts differently online than he does with TV. Each of the different platforms requires
a very distinct discipline. A good TV person doesn't make good online ads and vice versa," said Red Ball's Wilson.
Atmosphere's Riccio Puris disagreed: "It's about having
integrated thinkers, not only specialists; it' about one simple idea."
Wilson responded, "The novelist isn't the screenwriter." But who owns the client relationship, asked
Treffiletti.
"We have to take responsibility as a client, but we also rely on our agency. BBDO is our offline agency. In most cases, they will lead the process, in some cases AKQA
will," Raj said. "If there isn't an online component, BBDO will lead. If TV is leading the charge and online is complimenting it, that's the way we determine who's leading."
"A few of our companies have said the priority for their brands is to spend more on TV because it costs more, not because it's a priority. There's a shift going on within clients, of whether
finances are a reflection of their priorities," Everett-Thorp explained.
In the non-linear, longer-form space, which Red Ball Tiger is a specialist in, the object is to involve the
viewer for three to four minutes, rather than merely 30-seconds. "The clients themselves aren't integrated. Advertisers come to media agencies to do this. The media agencies don't say 'no,' the
media agencies decide to do the creative," Wilson explained.
In a time when the talk is about media-agnostic technologies, planning, and strategies, who then owns the core idea,
Treffiletti asked.
"The agency should own the adaptation of the idea in their particular discipline," said Everett-Thorp. "You can't have integration with a client who
doesn't want it," she added.
"The idea can't be individually owned by anyone. It has to be co-owned," Wilson said. "Everyone has to be responsible for the platform
they work on."
"Look, there is no killer medium, they all work together. Search is incredibly enhanced by other media. You can measure them all alone, but they don't have an
effect alone. They all work together. It all works together. That's why it's called a communications plan," said AKQA's Everett-Thorp.
Raj explained his need for increased
integration and as Web sites become extensions of advertising and the 30-second TV spot, they will become more important as advertising and branding vehicles than they are today. "Then you have
to have those folks in the room."
Treffiletti asked: "So how long before integration really happens?"
Wilson: "It took us 50 years to get us into this
mess. The change that we need is structural in nature. I think our parent is the advertising industry that is slowly dying... I think the speed of change will not go fast enough unless the advertisers
jump in and drive it."
Raj put an idiosyncratic spin on the question: "It's never going to happen, it's a constant evolution."
"I believe there is some
integration now and there will be further integration, but for us to keep growing, we need to keep dropping spores from the tree," Everett-Thorp said, referring to Wilson's metaphor about redwood
trees evolving by dropping spores.
"As consumers consume differently, technology evolves, and the expectations of our clients change, one of the fear factors for me is burnout.
People need to stay inspired and keep learning and wanting to do new things," Riccio Puris added.
Meanwhile, while OMMA attendees were schmoozing, networking, and learning something
new, we hope, quarterly online ad spending numbers came out courtesy of the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The IAB/PwC reported that online ad spending rose in the first
quarter to hit $2.8 billion, a 26 percent increase over first quarter 2004. Web ad sales reached $9.6 billion in 2004, an increase of 33 percent over 2003, according to the IAB.