The Changing Face of Digital Media & Marketing : emerging media

Create Change

Scott Berg — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:35:00 GMT

A bold statement to say the least…but HP’s latest social media program is centered around that very phrase “Create Change.” When you purchase HP product through our online store, HP will donate 4% of the proceeds to one of seven charities listed…. Everything from Susan G. Komen to the American Red Cross to the World Wildlife Fund.

And you can post or send the offer to others you know through a variety of social platforms.

http://h30484.www3.hp.com/CreateChange/index.html

Scott

Global Expansion of Social Networks

Scott Berg — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:46:00 GMT

While reviewing the latest e-marketer article on Social Networking I found it interesting that Russia’s growth in people who created a social network profile was at 85.3%. India, China, Brazil follow with growth in the 60 to 70% some odd range.

Frankly those numbers surprised me… let me explain:

1. Technology – the technology pipeline in these countries seems to be developing faster than what I estimated….allowing for stable platforms, etc.

2. Time Spent – if these countries follow the US… look for shifts in media time spent to shift more to the digital side vs. the traditional media landscape.

3. Content Growth – with higher demand and usage will come the increased demand for content… with more video shifting to digital/online for viewing vs. current TV or satellite use.

We live in an increasingly “connected age”…as technology continues to expand, the world gets smaller, the access to information becomes easier and the authenticity of our brands is more important than ever.

Scott

Interview With Chris Curtin -- VP of HP.com & Digital Strategy, HP -- via Fortune's Brainstorm Conference

Scott Berg — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:41:00 GMT

As you probably know, Fortune's Brainstorm TECH Conference is going on this week in California. Mark Hurd speaks on Friday with Jeffrey Katzenberg from Dreamworks. In the meantime, I'm posting a great interview done by Tracey Pepper with Chris Curtin, VP HP.com and Digital Strategy here at Hewlett Packard. As we all know, the world is changing fast...Chris has some very unique thoughts and ideas on where HP is heading. Enjoy!!

Scott

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Tracey Pepper talks to Chris Curtin, Vice President, HP.com and Digital Strategy, at Hewlett-Packard Co., at Fortune’s Brainstorm: TECH conference in Pasadena, California, on July 22^nd, 2009:

A former Vice President of Global Media and Technology at the Walt Disney Company, Chris Curtin now serves as Vice President of Digital Strategy for Corporate Marketing at HP. He is responsible for driving the HP brand in existing and emerging digital channels with oversight that includes managing HP.com, where he drives the site’s next-generation activities, including initiating new online customer experiences and rebuilding Internet publishing operations.

Tracey Pepper: At what point do you bring your customer in on the innovation process? Is innovation at HP customer-driven or is it driven more internally?

Chris Curtain: I think it’s both. It’s certainly expected from and by our customers. But innovation is really at the heart of all things that HP does. And it’s not just innovation with respect to our products or service mix, it’s also innovation in our marketing. The very same type of innovative practices that we’ve put into building the TouchSmart or the Mini will be applied to the marketing of those products. From [CEO and President] Mark Hurd all the way down, innovation is a part of what we think we stand to offer, and frankly it’s something that we like to be known for. We have HP Labs, which are incubators for many great things. They’ve done an excellent job of figuring out appropriate handshakes with the businesses for technologies, be they in the cloud or even more practical ones like i-catcher, which helps us better understand why people do what they do on the web and be able to put back against those actions information that’s relevant to what we think you’re interested in.

TP: What types of challenges has HP faced over the last year?

CC: Some of the challenges we face are not dissimilar to challenges that other companies in the Fortune 100 or Fortune 500 face. We’re looking at a tough economy and companies need to be very careful about where they place their bets and investments. Because of that, there’s probably a greater desire to do different things than there is an actual budget to do different things. So making sure that HP understands what is important to a partner, how to move that partner’s business, and ultimately how to show our value proposition are things that we wake up and go to sleep thinking about.

TP: Are there any specific innovations that HP has implemented to meet those challenges?

CC: One thing we’re doing right now is revamping our entire website, HP.com, which exists in 68 countries and is our global footprint for the company. We want to make sure that today’s website meets today’s consumer expectations. We have consumers on the B to C side, as well as consumers on the enterprise side, so we really make sure we have a flat experience on the website, such that the browser quickly reaches the information the consumer is interested in, and that we maintain, not just cultivate a relationship through the website.

One thing we’ve been doing is showcasing the successful things our partners are doing because many companies want to understand what their competitors or peers are doing with respect to IT and technology in general that could benefit them. So we post case studies on our website. For example, UPS came to us and said, ‘We’d really like to buy an all-in-one printer and scanner.’ We worked with them and today UPS can scan label packages, free, via HP technology. That’s good for the business and it’s good for the environment, which is important to both of us. It’s a real success story. So we highlight that by putting it on HP.com. Then other companies will come to us and say, ‘We’d like to do the very same thing with you guys.’

TP: How has the perception of what HP does changed?

CC: Well, the whole paradigm of printing and printers is changing. We’re going to have touch-screen printers and you’re going to be able to do many things on your printer that you may have associated historically with your computer. It’ll be more of a smart device that enables printing, but there will be many more elements to it, like getting your directions off of your printer, and printing those directions via your printer. In some ways this economy has been great for competitiveness because people have gotten better pricing and competitors have really sharpened their game in order to be top-of-the line and stay relevant.

Houston Interactive Marketing Association Presentation

Scott Berg — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:46:00 GMT

(Please visit the site to view this media)I had the opportunity to present to the Houston Interactive Marketing Association (HiMA) a couple of weeks ago. This group is really a fantastic organization dedicated to teaching and providing guidance to teh Houston marketing community. We had a very lively discussion with 200 or so marketers from the Houston area. I've attached the presentation and video if you'd like to take a look.

Scott

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Are We Teaching Future Marketers the Right Stuff?

Scott Berg — Sun, 03 May 2009 02:07:00 GMT

Great article from a survey by e-Marketer on the changes in digital spend. I won’t recap it in this blog post…but for those of you who keep predicting the comeback of print, you won’t be happy with the article.

And what I read between the lines… is the need for people who understand the entire digital marketing mix as well as individual experts within the specific digital domain. That being said, I am concerned our colleges and universities are teaching marketers skills that aren’t remotely what we need today and in the future.

I work with a couple of major universities on curriculum and it’s certainly something they are reviewing as well. So what can all of us do?

Get Involved – with your local university or college and help them understand the changing marketplace.
Ensure your HR department understands the change in skill demand and communicates it the schools you recruit from.
Mentor – students to ensure they understand the requirements and skills they will need.
Internships – offer them to students during the summer… (NOTE: don’t have them fill your coffee cup or make copies). Have them get intimately involved in the digital programs and initiatives your company is working on.

Scott

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

Forbes CMO Network Interview – Michael Mendenhall HP CMO

Scott Berg — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:53:00 GMT

An interesting interview from Michael Mendenhall on our marketing focus during this downturn in the economy and his take on digital. Take a look… would love to hear your comments.

Scott

2009 Digital Media Trends

Scott Berg — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:21:00 GMT

About this time every year, I make my predictions on what I think lays ahead for the media industry. And again, this year, I’ll do the same, but with a slight focus on the Digital side of the world.

It’s the Economy stupid!

More newspapers and print publications will go out of business – as you’ve probably read, Tribune recently filed for bankruptcy. And with the current economic climate, print advertising will continue to suffer the woes they’ve been feeling the past 5 years. The problem… not only are advertisers shifting to digital, but the cost per thousand for online is usually significantly lower than other forms of media so it’s not a just a matter of gaining share, but they’re caught between a rock and hard place as it relates to raising prices.

Weaker online sites will see advertising revenue sales fall – reason? Advertisers are seeing advertising budgets decrease or be frozen… thus the pie is getting smaller.

Sponsorships will take a beating….unless they can offer a unique customer experience or become very digitally focused. Between NASCARs challenges, the NFL re-evaluating sponsorships, etc. The days of putting signage up in an arena or naming rights are gone. The next phase of sponsorship is customer engagement and digital experience.

Social Websites will see a decrease in ad revenue – for all the above reasons (see point a), but more because marketers are realizing that community development is critical.

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.

Rise of the “Un-Badged Employee” – when people are look to purchase a product or service they usually ask around if anyone has any experience or recommendations. So marketers will start to drive more influence communications to key individuals who act as “brand ambassadors” and recommend the brand to others. Apple has been doing this for years, but it’s becoming more commonplace. If you don’t agree, just look at Amazon.com or CNET.com.

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.

Again, mobile will struggle – although mobile applications are becoming more widespread and the use of data is becoming more commonplace, the issues of separate network carriers, too many media rep companies, and the general confusion of what you can/can’t do with mobile will keep it from gathering steam in the US.

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.

Online Upfronts get more momentum – in order to secure inventory and reduce costs look for more advertisers to commit to online upfronts. Which begs the question, what about the television upfronts? Hell if I know. The past 3 years I’ve been predicting a shift in the amount of dollars going into the upfront and I’ve been wrong… suppose I’ll stick to that prediction this year because as my boss Chris Curtin is famous for saying “a broken clock is still correct 2 times a day.” Perhaps I’ll hit paydirt this year!

Digital television platform (aka Canoe Ventures) will get serious attention – as Canoe begins to roll out it’s digital tv platform, more advertisers will begin experimenting and targeting advertising in the new nirvana state of advertising.

CRM and database marketing will make a comeback – yes you heard me right, the data geeks will reign again. With Canoe Ventures, integration and analysis of click stream data, advertisers will become even more focused on eliminating inefficient advertising and marketing and getting the right message to the right person.

Media inventory costs will decline – regardless of whether you’re buying upfront or not. See point 1. The glut of inventory will put marketers in a stronger position to negotiate further cost cuts and added value. Look for the auto industry to cut spending so dramatically that prices could fall 30% in some media categories over the current levels.

So here are my thoughts… what do predict???

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

The Latest on the “Berg Electronic Hacienda”

Scott Berg — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:40:00 GMT

You guys have heard me talk about my experience with Facebook and Linkedin before, but it’s been while so I thought it’s time to give an update.

I refer to them as my Hacienda’s -- my motto – come on in, sit a spell, take a look around, talk about what’s on your mind.

Alrighty, let’s get down to the latest details:

Facebook – I now have 155 friends. What’s happened recently is I’m getting more “personal” friends connecting with me, vs. business partners as I did when I first started. So I’m now connecting with folks from high school, college, social organizations, etc. But still the majority of the friends are business side. My profile hasn’t changed much – still very business focused, but I have been uploading some family photos, etc. And I’m getting more comfortable in talking about personal stuff vs. business speak. As a marketing medium… lots of info on people, but I don’t see it being used for targeting as much as I’d originally thought. And the ads that are being served up to me aren’t at all relevant. The social side of gathering people together I believe still has promise, but I haven’t seen great examples as yet. Also, don’t know about you, but I don’t like the new format – too clunky/disjointed and my time “on line” with the site I’m sure has fallen off because of this.

Linkedin.com – Amazingly I have 611 connections. All of them are business. I recently had a presentation from the linkedin.com sale team and I see this site really starting to mature into a viable advertising/marketing vehicle. First, they can target on any of the info you put into your profile – so the ads I receive are very targeted and relevant to me as a user. Second, I like the questions section on the site – where folks can help others/answer questions, etc. Great for connecting on business development, etc. Third, surveying on the site is coming into maturity… this is where a question is poised by a company or well know business executive (targeted naturally) – a great tool to help with all sorts of things – product design, image management/metrics/idea generation, etc. The area that I believe needs development is more relevant applications that can be added to your page.

Your thoughts as always are what this is all about… so feel free to comment!

Scott

Customer Service During Hurricane Ike

Scott Berg — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:37:00 GMT

Having lived through a few hurricanes now I can personally tell you the destruction we Houstonians have seen with Ike is incredible. With a great deal of luck my family didn’t suffer any harm and although we had trees down, water, sewer and electricity issues the overall situation is good. A tragedy like this makes you appreciate those friends and colleagues you know – and I’d like to thank all of you who have emailed and phoned to check in on us… it is greatly appreciated.

I’ll tell you of a FANTASTIC experience I had and it has a marketing and customer service angle to it. I’m an Allstate customer – have most of my insurance coverage with them. What I found amazing is that within 24 hours after the hurricane hit, I had voice mails on my cell phone & work number regarding the claims process. For instance, the message instructed me who to call, the number, that they were overstaffed to help answer the increased calls, etc. In fact, I didn’t even need to have my policy number they said they’d find it for me.

And when I called…. I waited a mere minute or two before I was pleasantly greeted by a Customer Service Rep. Wow – what an experience… proactive help and what do you bet I’ll think twice about ever switching insurance based on that proactive marketing and assistance.

We should all look at these types of “digital” solutions to assist our customers… from the use of email, text messages, etc. to drive better experience.

Congrats to the Allstate Customer Service and Marketing Teams!!

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

A Rose By Any Other Name….Would Be Called Planning and Collaboration!

Scott Berg — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:47:00 GMT

I was reading AdWeek this morning and saw this article about MediaVest’s (part of the Publicis Groupe) decision to rebrand media planning into “Truth and Design.”

As Lisa Donahue, CEO of the new organization Truth and Design, said, “"Planning is bad," she said. "By its nature, planning has the heritage of a plodding, rigid and linear connotation. What we're implementing is a fundamental shift in mind-set where planning becomes design, which does not have a linear connotation and is more creative with less of a building-block approach."

Another negative concept is "collaboration," at least when that consists of the client gathering hired guns from its various disparate marketing and communications firms in a room to generate big ideas and formulate action plans.”

So I have a couple of thoughts on this whole thing…

Planning is not a dirty word and I disagree that it is rigid and linear. Planning, if done correctly, orients the actions of marketing to achieve the goal(s) originally set out to accomplish. When you sit in the client chair you’re held responsible for P&L, achieving shareholder value, customer expectations, etc. If you can’t stand the heat in the kitchen, then get out – fancy terms don’t change the fact that the kitchen is hot.
Collaboration is not the about gathering “hired guns” and generating big ideas. It’s about ensuring buy in from those involved… getting alignment and support, so when the heavy artillery comes in, people hold the line and don’t run. It’s about creating a team, and leading that team to achieve a goal. Meeting in a smaller room with fewer people is the same as meeting in the big conference room with more people.

Frankly, clients are sick and tired of hearing all of this mumbo-jumbo. Call it what you will, but clients are still going to plan and collaborate. Frustration sets in when someone throws in a red herring to try and get us all to look somewhere else and then charge us a ton of money for the same work as has been done in the past.

Let’s focus on what’s important – selling stuff and exceeding our customer’s expectations!

Scott