Advertising Agencies 2028--Part III

This post is part Three of our series on the future of advertising agencies.

I spoke to both creatives and media people about the future. The comments will be mixed together a bit on purpose.

Creative Director, Mid-Sized Shop—“Over the last decade, both me and my team had a newfound respect for the media folks at our agency. As digital grew, some of our younger people were bursting with ideas and I keep shutting them down and said you can’t do that. After a while they made a beeline to the media team and would ask if they could execute their idea online or in mobile. Sometimes they could and let me know how out of it I was (am). Other times, the media supervisor would say 'no but you could do this which is close to what you want and may work better.' It took me a while but I got the message. Media was no longer the group that got tickets for clients or the boss. They were pros who were engaged in the industry changes. For a while, we had them in to meetings at the early stage of development that we never did before. It was a nice environment.”

Founder, Mid-Sized Shop—“In recent years, I have been monitoring the growth of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC). It is not just a new term to toss around. IMC is the blending of Advertising, Direct Marketing, Consumer Promotion, Internet, Public Relations, Publicity and Personal Selling. Don, you have told me directly that a big challenge for marketers will be to determine the proper mix of IMC pillars going forward and each company will be different. I refused to accept your suggestion but now see that you were right. Advertising, due to the advertising avoidance that you discuss a lot, is on a downward spiral. Increasingly, it will take up a smaller portion of the marketing dollar pie. So, the role of creative will be diminished in my view. As Amazon and others grow and hit people directly, their ROI has to be much higher than conventional advertising. My creative director shakes her head in anger when I bring the topic up. It will not happen overnight but it will occur.”

Media Director (with new wave title) at Mid-Sized Shop—“For several years, we pretended we were up to speed on digital. We had some success but eventually our largest client got wise and shifted to programmatic buying with a major player. Their results are light years ahead of ours. We could not compete and conventional media works for us against older demographics but not against the under 40 set. We have had a nice run. I see no way out of it for us.”

Creative Chief, Small Shop—“I am glad that I am getting old. Advertising’s role has to diminish going forward. The Big Data boys at Amazon, Alphabet, Alibaba, Facebook and a few others can reach people with the right message at the right price. It has been great fun but we are in the bottom of the 7th.”

CEO, Small Shop—“Don, I do not dispute what you and others have been saying about the future. The big issue to me is how do we keep the creative and media teams motivated over the next five to seven years. My game plan is to morph in to a consulting firm but the smart ones will have to see what is going on.”

Media Director, Small Shop—“I have a woman on staff who is what you once described as a ‘bust your chops’ negotiator. She is a legend in our small DMA and lives the business. She still gets her pound of flesh (and then some :) ) but her best deals no longer work very well. She is in her late 40’s and refreshingly honest. Last week, she asked me what could she do for the next 20 years? She knows the game is about up. What do I say to her?”


More to come. If you would like to contact Don Cole directly, you may reach him at doncolemedia@gmail.com