by Matthew Bull (@StixBull) “Stumbling around like drunks”. These were the words Lord Dan Weiden used last week at the AdAge small agency conference whilst describing today’s advertising holding companies. Little did we know that less than 48 hours later, two of the biggest drunks – to continue the metaphor – would stumble smack bang into each other and end up in bed.
Category archives: Adland
The Ad Contrarian: The ad world’s desperate attempt to remake itself as a tech industry will lead to failure
Bob Hoffman. Over 20 years ago I left the agency business for the first time. We had sold our agency to a “global” network and after two years of working for them I decided it was not the life for me. I took the money and ran.
The Switch: Pitching is like begging at an intersection
by Alistair Mokoena (@AlistairMokoena) Clients don’t enjoy advertising pitches any more than motorists enjoy stopping at a traffic light. We are all trying to leave a stranger with a lasting impression and we are all under huge time pressure.
There was a time not so long ago when all you saw at traffic lights were stories of poverty and strife and all you heard were heart-felt pleas for money and food. You still get a lot of that but in the main, begging has evolved, possibly in direct response to the impact of the global recession. The recession has increased the number of people begging and it has also left many would-be donors with little or no money to donate, resulting in a scramble for a smaller benevolent pie.
In their desperation to make ends meet, people begging have turned to … the power of branding. You can no longer paint them with the same brush. Their tools now range from a neutral plea for help to a bartering system where the donor receives a blessing, a clean windscreen, a garbage free car, gardening services, a joke, a trick, even a dance routine, in return for a small donation.
Getting grads into adland
by Herman Manson (@marklives) Ogilvy last year trialled a programme to get graduates in the fields of marketing and design interested in advertising and the agency. It met with considerable success, landed Ogilvy with four new staffers, upskilled a bunch of students and helped steer many more into a career in advertising.
The Ogilvy Graduate Programme (OGP) already targets students in ad schools and has a good intern programme in place, according to Lauren Woolf, Marketing Director at Ogilvy and Mather South Africa, but the agency also wanted to look beyond those already set on a career in advertising. Last year it teamed up with several tertiary institutions in the Western Cape and Gauteng and encouraged varsity students to enter the Graduate programme. They would not be competing for an internship but for a salaried, permanent position at the agency (after an initial six-month training programme).
Students were invited to conceptualise and publish a blog, which Woolf says already gave the agency insight into potential candidates a CV would not have (think topic selection, persistence, creativity etc.). They also received two challenges they had to complete, and members of the faculties where they studied helped with the final judging process, adding another layer of insight for the agency.
Publicis Omnicom merger creates world’s largest ad group
by MarkLives. Two of the world’s largest agency networks are merging.
Millennial Ad-Grad: Marketing lessons from Brand Obama
by Faheem Chaudhry (@FaheemChaudhry) Arguably one of the most memorable arrivals to South African shores in recent years was that a few weeks back of US President Barack Obama – the man who during his first presedential election captured the imagination of the world through his message of hope and change for all. While President Obama always has and always will have his fair share of critics, I found myself captivated by his trip, his message for our country, simply, by brand Obama.
As disciplines, politics and marketing are social science cousins. In fact, politics is marketing. It’s about projecting and selling an image, talking to human aspiration and bringing people together through common interests and shared values.
But what underpins brand Obama? And what we as marketers can learn from his brand?
Grey closes Joburg agency, looks to buy another
by Herman Manson (@marklives) Grey Group, a WPP agency network, has closed its Johannesburg agency. No reason was given for the decision and the network has so far failed to clarify what happened with staff or clients. It also would not respond to an allegation in Business Day that the CEO of the agency, Derek Shorkey, had already left the country by the time news of the closure became public. Shorkey is listed as being in London on his Linkedin profile, which still lists him as CEO of the South African operation.
Owen Dougherty, Chief Communications Officer at Grey Group, says the network will regroup in South Africa and either acquire or build a new integrated agency, describing it as a key market.
“Grey is committed to Africa and has been increasing its footprint on the continent in recent years to meet rising demand from multinational and local clients,” reads a statement released by Grey Group. “Grey today is working across West and East Africa with a presence in 11 markets including Nigeria and Kenya.”
Book for Bright Talks
Bright Talks, a day long conference aimed at the marketing and advertising industries, is launching in Cape Town on Thursday, 25th July at Kirstenbosch Gardens.
Mike Abel: The Inconvenient Customer
by Mike Abel. As marketers, our lives have become far harder. In developed markets, the “lift pitch” we call advertising has fewer floors to travel with the customer.
OwenKessel: do the right thing, kill those silos
by Herman Manson (@marklives) Own what you choose to be and be good at it. And do the right thing. With these two simple rules, Felix Kessel and Vaughan Owen set out five years ago to a build small but successful agency that tends to punch well above its weight. The Johannesburg based OwenKessel currently employs 40 people with revenue of R20 million and billings of R50 million. It holds the Business Day account as well as Amstel Lager, LG South Africa Consumer Electronics and Diageo Reserve amongst others.
The business launched after Kessel and Owen both left Ogilvy Johannesburg to go on their own. Kessel had been ECD at Ogilvy Brand Activation and Owen a Creative Director. Both were looking for something more entrepreneurial and wanted to shape a more honest agency environment.
They were tired of the continued perseverance of silos within the agency structure, in spite of most agencies preaching 360 vision, and a lack of media agnosticism that they believed held back effective communication. Kessel believes the people that write the TV ad should be involved in writing the Facebook campaign and insists they do at his agency.