If you're reading this blog, then you probably read this story in ADWEEK, "Agencies Seek the Right Mix." If you didn't read it, the article describes a kind of power shift in agencies from the "traditional creatives" to the "digital people."
The two quotes that jumped out at me were this, from JWT's Ty Montague:
"It used to be a caste system where traditional creatives came up with the 'big idea' and then turned it over to digital... We' re creating a system where the traditional creatives cannot overrule the digital people."
And this, from Mother London's Dylan Williams:
"Great ideas have always been viral. Digital is just one way to fan flames."
The first quotation tells me that, when Aquent's CIO became my überboss by adding marketing to his numerous responsibilities, this was but a ripple in the stream of the Zeitgeist ... or at least a symptom of this broader trend: Marketing is becoming indistinguishable from a technology, specifically, the Interweb, which contains all media without being a medium itself.
The second quotation highlights this and points to the impact that the web's ascension has had on the marketing and advertising industry. In the end, it's not about digital versus analog, print versus web, or web versus TV. It's about the way that communication is currently conceived, planned, orchestrated, and enacted.
Check it out: The difference between "digital people" and "traditional creatives" hangs less on their attachment to a particular tool set than it does on what they think actually make. The "traditional creative," orientated around the brand, as David Kenny of Publicis points out, ends up making things: products, ads, inserts, etc.
By contrast, Kenny says, "Digital is about the customer. You start with human beings..." This focus on human beings -- whom we tend to call "users" nowadays, you'll note, rather than "consumers" -- means that "digital creation" produces processes and experiences, fosters and nurtures engagement, and, ideally, engenders and encourages community.
More than merely projecting a concept, an idea, or a vision across various media, today's digitized marketers and designers must project across time. This requires looking past the technology and opening one's mind to that what technology enables one to do.
Paradoxically, adopting the perspective afforded by digital technology enables a conceptual liberation from any particular technology or medium, allowing for a new, pure, and multi-dimensional creative freedom.
Ah yes - very interesting subject indeed.
I remember when I first really became passionately interest in branding, I picked up the book "Problem Solved," and I remember being utterly enamored with a lot of the campaigns in there - old campaigns for The Economist and the Volkswagon Beetle most readily come to mind. I loved how clever the ideas were and how well the creatives had solved the respective communications objectives. However, from my perspective at the time, that was all in books, fairytale land really. Meanwhile, Facebook was devouring 75% of my campus's total free time. Hell, I even built a business that relied on Facebook as its sole promotional method while in college.
Nonetheless, I definitely think there is something to say for the ideas that came out of the yesteryears of advertising-
-TO CONSUMERS: They were experientially robust. I still remember when Calvin Kline first released the fragrance "Crave." They had a tent set up on North Beach in Chicago with a live DJ & free product giveaways. It was the perfect summertime experience. Although I never bought the cologne, I remember really liking it after that day. Years later, I've smelled Crave, and honestly, its nothing special. Therefore, non-digital communication is certainly capable of creating very strong impressions and emotional associations with brands. I remember that campaign from years ago. Ask me what the last digital campaign I remember is? Couldn't tell you.
(Ok. Admittedly, I do remember Diesel's "Heidie's" campaign, but that is far and above anything else I've ever seen online. As for banner ads, etc., none are memorable to me.)
-TO CREATIVES: The availability of a wide variety of mediums really gave creatives the opportunity to be CREATIVE and create truly unique communications/experiences. I think a lot of creatives are going to be resistant to the digital trend, just because creating an intricate multimedia campaign is more rewarding than developing a set of standardized online ads, a good cpc/search strategy, etc. Call it romanticism, but it is what it is.
Although I'm seeking employment primarily in the digital space, I still want to work with BRANDS more so than individual digital tasks/units. Although I believe that digital media is critically important in IMC due to its focus on user experience/targeting and its increasing relevance, I feel that the digital medium is limited in the kinds of EXPERIENCES that it can create for CONSUMERS (not users).
I think this is a really interesting discussion and probably one that will become increasingly prominent over the next few years.
P.S. I posted a thought on twitter along the lines of, "Perhaps the only thing that'll break the tech echo-chamber is traditional advertising a la Leo Burnett." Just a thought ;)
"