Thompson: Research Needed to Do More With Less
- by Frank Saxe , November 12, 2002
“If I become just an operational person, I’ve failed,” declares Thompson. “If anything, I hope to have more contact with clients.” In fact, Thompson will begin a road show this week, meeting with each of OMD’s clients. With the economy on shaky legs, he fully expects clients to charge the media buying firm with finding new ways to make a dollar go even further. “Advertising has to work two or three times as hard as it has before,” he says. To that end, Thompson believes new research tools need to be developed so buyers and planners can do more with less. OMD is looking at conducting a study that will “marry personalities with media vehicles,” he says, plus they’re using more qualitative research and modeling. “What we’re demanding is more creativity – not creativity for creativity’s sake, but to drive results.”
Creativity is what OMD says pushed its negotiations for six months with Disney, which resulted in June’s $1.2 billion deal that gives OMD spots on nearly all of Disney’s media properties. It includes about $400 million on the ABC Network, which has fallen on hard ratings times of late. “They’re in a tough position,” says Thompson. “They played a gamble with Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and it set them back.” With some blips of life coming out of the network, Thompson says they have already made some in roads toward a recovery, noting, “It is extremely difficult to bring new programming in because of people’s inacceptance of change and something new.”
The mega-deal also gives OMD about a quarter of all the network ad time during January’s Super Bowl. At least half dozen clients have already committed to the game, says Thomson. “It’s an event that is bigger than anything in the media world. Not only do people watch the game, but they watch the commercials. For an advertiser it can be a springboard to a whole new campaign and positioning. There is risk going in the Super Bowl because your commercials are highly scrutinized, but at the same time there are several clients whose goal is to be the most-liked commercial.”
So far this TV season, Thompson says he has not seen many surprises in how the public and advertisers are reacting to the big five networks. “It’s going as expected. If you could see one bright star, it’s the WB – although their base is so small.” One thing that caught the media buying chief off-guard was the upfront. “I was surprised at the robust nature of the marketplace.”
Meanwhile, the cable TV world is beginning to get very interesting. “It is a battle for ratings points,” says Thompson. “They have become like every other network out there.” In the multichannel world, most cable networks once had a clear, distinct position. Now he says they are simply trying to get bigger ratings just like the traditional broadcast networks. It appears it is working, too. “They are succeeding in getting recognized from the advertisers and in this market, that means getting more revenue.”
“We have moved from a buying organization to a fully integrated planning, buying, research organization in a very short period of time,” says Joe Uva, president/CEO of OMD Worldwide. To keep that momentum, Uva says he turned to Thompson.
As Thompson leads OMD out of what economists predict will be the fading days of an advertising recession, he says he wants to continue to integrate the buying arm with its sisters BBDO Worldwide, DDB Worldwide, and TBWA Worldwide. “It is even more important today to integrate with the brand agencies that put media upfront in the process so it can help lead creative instead of just producing 30 second spots. It has put media on par with account services and everything else the agency does.” The change is one that is being pushed by clients, which Thompson says are demanding that media be put up front. “Their largest expense is in media and they’re demanding that we move from this commodity-driven pricing factor. They’re really looking for the innovation and ideas.”
