The Changing Face of Digital Media & Marketing : agency

When Will Things Get Back to Normal?

Scott Berg — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:23:00 GMT

During the past 6 months, I can’t tell you the number of times someone has commented about “when will things settle down” or “I can’t wait until things get back to normal.” And although I’m a bit nostalgic about wanting things to settle down and “get back to normal” I’ve come to realize this is the new norm for the media, digital and advertising industry. So what is the new norm? Tough question to answer, but here’s my stab at a few of the general themes.

Technology will drive new media models -- for instance, HP’s own MagCloud allows anyone to be a publisher, thus, opening up a new way to go to market for both small and large publishers.
Buzz will rule/Listening will be critical – just look at the Dominoes situation and the recent Swine Flu discussions occurring on Twitter. Not only does marketing need to listen to customer’s requirements, complaints, etc. but PR will need to be much more active in the listening and decisions they make related to response. Getting in front of a story is moving from hours to respond to minutes.
Advertising budgets will continue to fracture – given more avenues to reach the customer and the need to purchase additional tools, metrics to react and manage the communication ecosystem.
Media plans will migrate to communication plans – is Twitter a media type? What about blogs? Who knows? Who really cares? The bottom line, companies will use these different channels and the media plan will reflect these new realities.
Campaigns will morph into communication ecosystem management – being able to influence, analyze and put metrics around the entire purchase funnel on a consistent basis will drive companies to manage the ecosystem vs. coming in and out of the market with campaigns. This will be a necessity given the need to manage and forecast financial performance on a more consistent basis.
Media properties will either “thrive or die” – all you have to do is look at the news daily to see companies merging, selling to someone or shutting down. I don’t think this will be limited to just traditional media…the next phase could start impacting online sites, content distribution platforms and toolsets.
“Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is” – companies will begin to require true performance aka sales as a measure of a media channel or properties worth. Let’s face it, everyone says media works during the sales pitch… if that’s the case, guarantee it. If you hit targets you get paid, if you don’t hit them, you don’t get paid.
Media representatives and properties will become consultants vs. sales focused – see #7 as the reason why.
The workday will be 24 by 7 vs. 8 to 5. See above.
Change will be the only constant…we will all be faced with major differing challenges every single day – our worth will be determined not only by our financial performance to the companies bottom line, but in our ability to manage change.

Welcome to the reality!

Scott

Contacting Our New Media Planning & Buying Agency – Omnicom Media Group

Scott Berg — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:42:00 GMT

Many in the media community have been calling or emailing me asking who to contact at our new media agency OMG. The team at OMG, have requested you go to the following web site to register, that way they can respond to the large number of media partners who are contacting us during the transition.

When you complete the form you will receive an automatic reply. The OMG/HP media team will get back with you shortly thereafter. Please keep in mind OMG officially takes over the HP media buying and planning June 1^st.

http://hpmediahub.omnicommediagroup.com/

Scott

2009 Digital Media Trends – Update & Scorecard

Scott Berg — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:28:00 GMT

Late last year I posted my 2009 Digital Media Trends. I thought it would be a good idea to see where they stand as well as add in a few other trends I’m starting to see emerge.

It’s the Economy Stupid...

More newspapers and print publications will go out of business -- I hate to actually say this one is dead on. All you have to read are the following articles on the demise of newspapers across the US.

San Francisco Chronicle Might Shut Down

Denver Rocky Mountain News Shuts Down

Derby Daily Reporter Shutting Down

Taconic Group Newspapers Shut Down

Accuracy: Dead On

Weaker online sites will see advertising revenue sales fall – the economy is not only pushing pure “print” revenue down, but newspapers online revenue as well as “pure play” digital advertising is taking a hit as budgets get tight.

Search Revenue Falling

Online Video Ad Revenue Decreasing

Digital Shops Begin to Feel Effects of the Economy

Accuracy: Dead On

Sponsorships will take a beating….

RBS Sports Sponsorships

Sports Sponsorships Take a Beating

Accuracy: Dead On

Social Websites will see a decrease in ad revenue –

Accuracy: Too early to tell

Community development will be a priority – marketers will engage differently with the end customer by developing stronger communities and/or engaging with current standing communities.

Accuracy: Too early to tell

Rise of the “Un-Badged Employee” – most people use reviews before making a product or service purchase… but in an economic downturn, that input revs up to make sure the purchase is what the consumer wants. Check out this article.

Accuracy: Dead on

SEO will become more important – with decreased budgets, SEM will also feel the budget pinch, so advertisers will focus more attention on SEO to decrease costs and increase search page placement.

US Search Spending Falters

Accuracy: Too early to tell

Again, mobile will struggle – tough to tell right now… but keep your eyes/ears tuned in the coming months.

Mobile Marketing Watch Newsletter

Accuracy: Too early to tell

Google will continue to gain share – ok this is a “duh” prediction, I admit it. But with Yahoo in turmoil, the recent layoffs, Microsoft not making headway on revenue in the online space… Google will extend it’s lead – either by sure will might and force or through acquisition.

Google’s Share Extends

Accuracy: Dead On

Online Upfronts get more momentum –

Accuracy: Too early to tell (but if I was a betting man) – I’d say I’m way off on this one. Prices are falling as demand craters… who wants to get locked in on long term inventory when the short term rates continue to fall.

Digital television platform (aka Canoe Ventures) will get serious attention – Certainly the new administration pushing back the digital transition date didn’t help, but frankly with the advertising world in a tail spin right now, Canoe still holds promise of better targeting….although I think most advertisers wished it were live and ready to go today.

Accuracy: Too early to tell

CRM and database marketing will make a comeback – well I’m not seeing it yet… although my email box is deluged daily with a great deal more email than ever, but I can’t attribute that to better CRM or just desperation on behalf of marketers. Plus, with the economy in the dumper, big tech projects are harder to sell unless they can guarantee a result.

Accuracy: Seems I was a bit too optimistic

Media inventory costs will decline – regardless of whether you’re buying upfront or not. This one is definitely on track… with the networks taking a bath on inventory, newspapers having difficulty selling pages prices are falling. What’s concerning is we’re only in March…what will this look like in July?

Accuracy: Dead On

Scott

What To Do About the Meltdown in Media

Scott Berg — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 01:44:00 GMT

Apocalypse is one of those words that I remember from bible study as a kid. The word itself just sounds scary – even if I didn’t know what it meant it would freak me out. But it seems everyday we’re hearing about media companies making massive layoffs, shutting down publications, cutting costs and the like. Even the agencies are cutting staff because of client budget cuts and the need for leaner expenses on the income statement.

So as a client what should you do? Here are a couple of thoughts:

Lock in Low Prices. Just like the stock market – you buy low and sell high. So why not negotiate hard with media suppliers for lower CPM’s and lock those prices in for 2-4 years and with the ability to further reduce if thing get worse. When the economy does turn-around, you’ll get a higher ROI aka make more money.
Renegotiate. Why not renegotiate your contracts with agencies and suppliers? Think about it… if your media/marketing spend has gone you’re paying more fixed and variable costs as a % of media/marketing spend. So renegotiate the costs and contracts in order to keep those “non working dollars” as low as possible (or at least even). While you’re at it, why don’t you put in some clauses that put some of the supplier/agencies income at risk? If your company or campaigns do well… the agency does well.
Step up the SEO. Get your webmaster to increase the SEO terms on your web site so you’re not paying for terms that your own website should drive.
Fish Where the Fish Are. Dig deeper into your database and determine who those best customers are and start using a Recency, Frequency, Monetary Value model to determine who is likely to response. To learn more about RFM I recommend you read the book “Libey and Pickering on RFM and Beyond” by Don Libey and Christopher Pickering.
Get Closer to Your Customer. If you haven’t been talking to your customers – get to it and start. If you’re not talking to them, odds are your competitor is.
Listen, Listen, Listen. Do I need to say more? If your customers are telling you they want x from your product… give them x. Stop listening to 30 person focus groups and start listening to the entire web, including blogs, social media, etc. There’s a number of software available… many free some that you have to invest in. Check out a product from a company called Aubice.
Look Deep into Your Organization for Recommendations. I’ve often found the best ideas from the deepest parts of the company. So start having lunch and coffee with a new group of folks and start asking them for their ideas.
Get Even Leaner! You’ve probably had to cut budgets, perhaps even some headcount… but start eliminating or reducing costs. Couple of areas to think about: Ad Serving Costs, Agency/Supplier Costs (see points 1 & 2), get rid employees who are deadwood and replace them with many of the outstanding professionals looking for employment, conferences (do you really need to go?), stop traveling all over kingdom come and use technology and the good old phone.
Shift Channels. If your customers costs are getting out of hand – for instance they’re calling your call center a ton…. Perhaps you should start to direct them to the web where they can self serve themselves.
Lead. If you’re not stepping up to make the tough decisions… start. If you’re planning on “keeping under the radar” until the current economic environment turns, then I’d recommend you refresh your resume.

Scott

Michael Mendenhall, CMO – Hewlett Packard and his Masters of Marketing Discussion

Scott Berg — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:34:00 GMT

Our CMO, Michael Mendenhall made a presentation at last weeks ANA’s Masters of Marketing Conference. And as I listened to the video and read the article on AdAge, what struck me was everything he’s talking about is related directly to change and innovation. Not just a one time fix or shift, but the ongoing transformation of business models, agencies, skill sets, etc. and how that impacts our brand and the way we interact and work with our customers.

They say the only constant in the world is change… Michael’s insights certainly bring that into focus.

Scott

CMO’s Annoyed by Agencies and Networks

Scott Berg — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:09:00 GMT

Over the past couple of days I’ve received a number of phone calls and emails regarding presentations made by Gary Elliott, VP-Corporate Marketing and Michael Mendenhall, our CMO.

I’d like to add a few thoughts in 2 separate posts… first let’s talk about the article in AdAge regarding the ANA panel that Gary Elliott sat on.

Gary Elliott was quoted in the article in a couple of areas:

“The overall message, I would have to say, with HP, is that I don't think any of these [agency] relationships are satisfactory enough that we would continue them without having some degree of experimentation," said Gary Elliott, VP-corporate marketing at Hewlett-Packard. "We've been experimenting with different agency relationships where we're looking at agency partners and vendors in ways that connect them loosely with each other. We're looking at models where we have everything with one of our key partners." What's lacking in agency relationships now is speed to market, Mr. Elliott said. "I don't think with our current system we're achieving that. ... We're going to pilot a number of different relationships where we go direct with media companies." My thoughts: 1. Business Model – as I’ve blogged about before the media, marketing & advertising business model is changing. It’s not all about advertising and media anymore. It’s about developing projects that have mutual benefit between two companies. I point to the deal HP just did with MySpace as a great example of this. Agencies are still focused on creating ads and placing the media. And for some companies, that’s what they want them to do. But for larger advertisers we must have more. Every single agency presentation I’ve sat through always shows how the “campaigns” they’ve worked on generated revenue. And all of us in marketing say we generate revenue for the bottom line through branding and direct…the problem is there is more to branding and direct than ads and media. A company the size of HP with distinct businesses and different needs for each business requires us to think creatively and continue to explore the best way to structure our agencies to meet the needs of each unique business. 2. Technology -- And what about the way we transact business… we still use an antiquated system to do the upfronts each year…but search terms are being purchased via an auction model every single day through Google and Yahoo! We must learn how to utilize new forms of technology to drive and increase our speed to market. We no longer market 8 hours a day… our customers are doing business/choosing brands/making purchasing decision 24 hours a day. And they’re utilizing all different forms of technology to do it – from mobile, interactive TV, the internet, search, etc. And believe me, I’ve experienced the pain when a media network incorrectly distributes online creative or radio/tv spots in the wrong place or within inappropriate content. These “mistakes” impact our brand in the consumer’s eye which ultimately makes our job of selling product harder.

Relationships – the world is built on relationships. Look no further than linkedin.com, Facebook.com, or MySpace.com to understand how important relationships are to folks. It’s my job to ensure that HP is given an opportunity to look at unique ideas from media partners before any other competitor and/or advertiser in the marketplace gets a chance. And that’s done by having strong, solid relationships with the major media players in the marketplace.

Hey, you might not have liked what the Advertisers said on the panel… but remember this…it’s them and other CMO and marketing professionals inside companies who have to justify budgets and drive revenue to executive management and ultimately the company shareholder. Try sitting in that chair for while and I guarantee you’re view of the world will change. Scott

Project Canoe

Scott Berg — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:18:00 GMT

We’re doing a joint blog post this week – Colin Linggo is joining me to discuss Project Canoe. So this past week we had the pleasure of having David Verklin – the new CEO of Canoe Ventures speak to the marketing leadership at HP regarding the company and it’s plans for changing the way people interact with television.

For those of you not familiar with David, all you have to do is Google his name and you’ll get a ga-zillion hits as he is the former CEO of Aegis Media. I’ve heard David speak on a number of occasions and have found his discussions to be extremely thought provoking, controversial at times – but always leaving me with more questions to ponder.

So, for those of you not familiar with Canoe – I direct you some articles on AdWeek, TechCrunch, NYT.com, to get a better understanding. We’re now referring to Canoe as a television platform on steroids!

The part of the discussion which we’ll focus on specific product areas and possible implications:

Addressability – or “targeting” has been an online buzzword for years, but TV has been lagging in this basic online advertising feature. Los Angeles’ interconnect, also known as AdLink, was one of the major DMA’s to employ a technology called AdTag and AdCopy to segment the market and customizing specific messages across it’s footprint. This technology has been around since 2004, but only at the local level. Similar to AdLink, Canoe’s first national go-to-market product is called Creative Versioning Platform which marries the cable industry’s ad zones with demographic databases, and this will offer national advertisers more targeted, relevant and effective advertising with commercials that run simultaneously across the national market with different messages and tags. Although national addressability (or NA) is rudimentary at first, this will be the foundation Canoe will be build upon.

So who might this impact... How about consumer banking? Although there is a major consolidation in recent weeks with consumer banks, they still have specific audiences they are trying to target with their diverse banking products. Imagine Bank of America’s Private Wealth Management group only targeting household income over $150k with one specific message and another message for free checking account for households less than $75k. Or how about Purina dog food for only dog owners? Did you know that 40% of all U.S. TV households own a dog? The opportunities are endless.

Data – will be a major emphasis in Canoe’s charter. Nielsen’s TV ratings methodology has been the currency in which TV advertising deals are negotiated for as long as I can remember. For anyone that sold or bought television knows that Nielsen people meters are only a sample size of the U.S. TV viewing habits. How could this be a true reflection of whom and what people are actually viewing? In the very near future, Canoe will have the ability to measure and monitor viewing via their set top boxes, second by second data by each box. Look familiar? That’s right, the Internet! These boxes will have in-dept and granular data for programmers and advertisers alike. Could this revolutionize how we negotiate TV deals in the future? We shall see…

Voting & Polling – basically being able to use your remote control buttons to vote or answer a poll that shows up discreetly in the corner of your TV. Now this might seem like basic “internet” technology, but think about it from a consumer engagement perspective. As opposed to having to call in to case your vote for American Idol or Dancing with the Stars -- you could simply click the remote control. Or how about during the Super Bowl – as opposed to having Madison Avenue Think Tanks tell us which ads “won” – the consumer could actually vote. And the obvious one, happening right now are the Presidential Debates and Vice Presidential Debate… as opposed to having to do polls after the event, viewers could cast their vote immediately.

So who might this impact….How about cell phone companies, internet surveys and possibly research companies who rely on the internet, telephone or in-person interviews to get quick answers to simple voting, etc.

Request for Information (RFI) – another basic feature with high potential. Basically requesting information on a product/service, etc. via your remote control through a visual that comes up on your TV screen. Now I’ve used this service with my TIVO device to receive information on the new Land Rover vehicles – and it worked great. So imagine being able to have mass network commercials running and people requesting a coupon, information, etc. Pretty powerful stuff – high level of tracking, reduced costs of doing “mass” mailings, ability to test different offers or creative, etc. etc.

T-Commerce – or purchasing products by using your remote control via a TV infomercial or commercial. Now you can sit down and watch The Home Shopping Network and purchase today – but you have to call in, give them your credit card number and sit in front of HSN for hours/days/weeks to find what you might want vs. having it appear as a 1 minute TV ad while you’re watching House and then allowing you to purchase it. What could be better – you buy it during your favorite show, have it billed to your cable bill, have it shipped to your house (as the cable co. has your address) and you pay for it at the end of the month.

So who might this impact….How about credit card companies to begin with! And if the cable company offered to finance the purchases, they could create their own finance companies – similar to auto dealers. That’s called “extra income.”

As we see it, the key to all of this is getting all the cable MSO’s to agree on technology, platforms, compensation, etc. If the MSO owners don’t see the benefits clearly or get greedy, the whole thing could fall apart – and the hope for a true national platform to conduct business through the cable box would be lost. Frankly, I don’t see that the MSO’s have much choice – with ad revenue falling, the percent of each hour the local stations have to sell, and the competition from the internet, search, etc.

If anyone can pull them together and get this project accomplished it’s David Verklin…

Colin Linggo & Scott Berg

“TV Networks Should Replace Agencies” – Are You Nuts!

Scott Berg — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:20:00 GMT

Sorry it’s been a few weeks since my last post… my family and I took some time to visit the great state of Maine…. specifically Bar Harbor, what a great place I highly recommend it for a relaxing and fun filled time.

That being said, I just viewed the latest 3-Minute Ad Age post from Brian Reich the author of “Media Rules” who believes the future of advertising is the elimination of ad agencies between clients and television stations. He claims ad agencies get in the way and between the client and the television stations and somehow muddy the water in the messaging.

Now in all fairness, I haven’t had the opportunity to read Mr. Reich’s book so he might have some additional points which I’m not privy to, however, I do have some initial thoughts.

What Business Are TV Stations In? Easy answer for me – to sell time to advertisers in order to cover costs of programming, salaries, utility, rent, etc. etc. What’s left over is called profit and that usually goes to shareholders. Yes, TV stations do unique programming things to keep the users engaged with the content or the commercials, so they do have a creative element.

What Business Are Ad Agencies In? This ones a bit more complicated but I’ll list the biggies…

Branding
Communications
Strategy
Program Development
Audience and Research Management
Media Buying/Planning and Idea Creation
Integration
Traffic Cop
Logistics
Events/Tradeshows
Forward Thinking
Oh, and that little thing called Creative

Who Should Do What? I have news for Mr. Reich…. I meet with media folks all the time… guess what every single presentation says “we’re #1” – we beat our competition across the board and we know our audience. And guess what…. each one of them is right, but it depends on the lens you look through.

Agencies are a critical part of the entire marketing eco-system… I dare say that no TV network could produce the level of creative spots that Goodby Silverstein & Partners has for HP.

I do agree with Mr. Reich that the customer is the most important part of the equation, but it’s the client who needs to manage the component parts to meet the goals of the company/campaign/initiative/communication. Do we do it perfectly, heck no…but we’re trying like you wouldn’t believe.

To get another view of the topic, I’d suggest picking up a copy of “Kellogg on Advertising & Media” from Bobby Calder….I’ve spoken about it before, it’s a compilation of a number of business and academics who describe thoughts about the future.

I’ll leave you with this thought…. My Mom’s a pure Saint (I know everyone says it, but she really is) and I love her more than she’ll ever know. She gave birth to 2 sons some 40 odd years ago, but that doesn’t make her qualified to take the place of a doctor and start delivering baby’s on the side. I think we still need the ad agencies to help “birth” our strategy and marketing communications.

Love your thoughts on this….

Scott

The Internationalist

Scott Berg — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:02:00 GMT

If you’re not familiar with the publication The Internationalist…. I suggest you check it out. Deborah Malone who is Publisher of The Internationalist is known globally as an expert on media and marketing. Anyone who has interest in international (for that fact domestic) marketing can gain the thoughts of leading marketing and agency folks from around the globe. Just like going to a fancy conference, but in the leisure of your home.

I was fortunate enough to be interviewed with folks much smarter than myself regarding the changing world of marketing.

Scott

If A Client Created a Stop Sign....

Scott Berg — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:05:00 GMT

I had this video sent to me the other day... and after laughing for 10 minutes.... I realized it also shows the reality of the sometimes insane situation we as clients put our agencies and partners through on a daily basis.

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Scott