A great ad is just not enough any more
LIKE a predatory shark — but one looking for a tasty insight and not the disgusting contents of a fishy chum bucket — I cruise advertising and branding agencies looking for the next best thing. More often than not I go hungry.
If I’m told again that clients need to be brave, that agencies need to find out-thebox insights and that creativity underpins everything they do, I’m going to channel the ghost of author Peter Benchley and go Jaws on them. But every once in a while there is a tasty morsel that has to be regurgitated.
There is a growing realisation in the world of advertising agencies that although many are good at what they do, they lack certain skills that are needed to grow brands. Most of this introspection is coming from strategists or the deep thinkers in agencies who, more often than not, have moved beyond the scope of pure advertising and are engaged in everything from product development to distribution logistics and even complex architectural design inside shops.
Mike Abel, who runs the Cape Townbased M&C Saatchi Abel agency, put his finger on it some years ago when he said he competed with the likes of Deloitte and PwC rather than his traditional rivals.
So, recognising the deficit of their offerings in a world where building brands requires more than great copy lines and compelling TV ads, smart agencies are preaching the gospel of collaboration: harnessing a range of experts to provide
Although output continuity is critical, sometimes a difficult needs gap is better filled by a specialist
thinking that may or may not be based solely on an advertising solution.
Several well-known ad figures are moving beyond the bounds of the accepted agency construct and into a business model that is one of forming and managing skills hubs.
The latest incarnation comes from former ad agency head Ivan Moroke, who has joined forces with the local arm of the French-headquartered Havas group to form a company called Co-Currency.
Moroke says the world is too complex not to depend on collaboration. Veteran adman Graham Warsop has taken a similar path with his new project, The Cradle, which offers a variety of marketing services, depending on the scope of a specific project.
Brand stewards would do well to start understanding this collaborative model. They need to start investigating the skills of their agencies, which understandably like to make, cook and serve the whole service pie because of the potential of multiple revenue streams. Although output continuity is critical, sometimes a difficult needs gap is simply better filled by a specialist.
Maggs is a writer and broadcaster and edits the marketing website theredzone.co.za