The Connected Agency (1)

Forrester recently caused a stir with it's report ‘the connected agency’. Peter Kim and Mary Beth Kemp wrote in name of the research company a sharp analysis about shortcomings of ad agencies. These agencies would not be capable to effect the necessary engagement that would bring brands closer to consumers.

Looking back on the Forrester two years later we notice that agencies and media still have quite a challenge in hooking up with the new circumstances. When I wrote about this report back in 2007 I stated that I found the contents rather shallow and easy and I warned my readers not to overrate pull marketing and social media as the 'Holy Grail'.
I was right at that time, back three years ago traditional advertsiing was still very powerful.
I was wrong about saying we should'nt overrated the power of social media. Today, three years later social media are more powerful than ever.

Forrester opened with a statemen that consumers were less approachable by means of display advertising and television ads, and that emerging technology (i.e. adblockers) are due to that change. According to Forrester 60% of the Dutch consumers use spam- and popupblockers on their computer, which actually proves banner advertising is virtually dead.



Another visible trend is the increase of 'trust agents' via distribution of trusted connections. Word of mouth will be more powerful, and in 71% of the cases people prefer messages by related, friends or collegues. Still very powerful is the ongoing trust in productreviews in newspapers, magazines and on tv. 39% believes in print reviews.



Push replaced by pull

Consumeners have three reasons to turn away from advertising, Forrester states: irrelevance, interruption and waste. Cause: mediaplanners too often chose for the least complex solution, and buy as much reach as they possibly can. Showing their message at places they gather are being visited often and by repating that message as often as possible. The consumer however is much more interested in pull marketing, Kim en Kemp state. As an example they refer to the increase of RSS and podcasting of 0 tot 10% and 14% in 5 years time. I know, who uses podcasting of RSS these days when Faceook and Twitter have repaced them.

Fragmentation and complexity

To advetsisers, the number of media is virtually infinitive. It offers advertisers a massive amount of opportunities as using or building social networks, and mobile and branded entertainment. Having said that, these media all have their specific character, and were too young to deliver clear ROI.
Moreover it might take some time to generate pullmarketing activities. And that's one of the reasons why this field is so underdeveloped.

Marketeers and their deficiency

According to Spencer Stuart, an ackomplished agency in executive search the average marketingmanager is not longer than 27 months at the same position: too short to establish a thorough investment in enduring pull marketing activities.

A different cause for the ever increasing distance between advertiser and consumer is the traditional segmentation, or better, the lacking of it. According to Forrester advertising around tv-shows is not effective knowing that both a 46 year old mother and a 15 year old kid are watching with completely different mindsets and demands. I think Forrester neglects the fact that in print, radio and TV it suerly is possible to wel segmentise in title, and, more important, that a structural online segmentation is a complex and expensive operation.

Advertisers are disappointed by agencies

Forrester did ask marketeers about their experiences with ad agencies, and came to the conclusion that the vast majority is not happy with the perfomance of the agencies. When asked why they did het involved with them nevertheless one of the respondents said 'it's inevitable, it's the necessary evil'. The problem according to Forrester is in the fact that agencies are built around familiar and safe competency. Advertisers are educated in a way that of thinking ‘above the line’ whilst creating concepts and messages aimed at mass media.



Online agencies disappoint too

Ja. Want ondanks dat het steeds vaker voorkomt dat er totaalaccounts naar online bureau’s gaan (Agency.com voor LG Electronics), is het nogsteeds de uitzondering op de regel. De onliners hebben dan ook in de meeste gevallen geen ervaring in ‘branding’ of merkenbouw, waar traditionele bureau’s juist weer in excelleren. De werkelijke oplossing voor marketeers en adverteerder is volgens Forrester het nieuwe hybride bureau, dat vanaf scratch zijn organisatiestructuur en processen kan inrichten. Een frisse cultuurstart is alleen dan mogelijk.