POST is a collaborative publication of the International Branding Association. Using Blogger's user-friendly interface, registered members post and discuss branding news and events.
POST is a collaborative publication of the International Branding Association. Using Blogger's user-friendly interface, registered members post and discuss branding news and events.
Brand New
By Jeremy Maggs
Power is shifting, says Enterprise CEO
The traditional authority of creative advertising agencies is being usurped by media and branding agencies, says Simon Bolton, the new global CEO of Enterprise IG.
Before joining Enterprise - one of the big branding shops in the global WPP advertising and marketing group - he was CEO of ad agency J Walter Thompson in Britain and Ireland.
Bolton was in SA this week, as part of a familiarisation tour of the group's African and Middle East division. He argues that advertising power has shifted to agency disciplines with more access to confidential client data that can help shape a more cost-effective brand communication strategy. That means media agencies - which are dealing with "real corporate investment issues and big numbers" when they buy media space and time - and branding agencies are moving into the same operational arena as management and business consultants.
The result, says Bolton, is a diminution of creative advertising agencies. Though they still have an important role to play in brand development, they are not as powerful as they once were.
He says: "The separation of the media disciplines, where the planning and buying function has been stripped out of ad agencies, has finally taken hold."
Bolton predicts a greater future role for media agencies on the creative front, with some even hiring in-house creative directors. If ad agencies want to fight back, they must invest more in creative capacity and ensure their offering remains crucial to brand development.
Branding agencies, however, still have to articulate more clearly to clients exactly what it is they do and why long-term brand development is important to bottom-line success. Bolton says they must develop a better set of measurement principles to illustrate the difference they can make.
Will a point be reached where branding agencies eclipse ad agencies? Bolton believes there is room for both. "Branding agencies ultimately have better insights than ad agencies and they can do just about everything except 30-second commercials. But they don't have the storytelling and script skills that ad agencies have."
Bolton's strong views will no doubt upset supporters of traditional advertising and the entrenched view that ad agencies occupy the prime position in the marketing dynamic. But he's right when he says they no longer have a divine right to dictate advertising.
He suggests that, in future, advertising agencies will have a "more transactional relationship" with branding agencies. By that, he means short-term or project co-operation.
Bolton is critical of the way big organisations fail to promote their brand internally. "Internal communication is generally dull all over the world and should be a huge focus. If it's not well managed, it's the place where most brand damage can be effected."
Power is shifting, says Enterprise CEO
The traditional authority of creative advertising agencies is being usurped by media and branding agencies, says Simon Bolton, the new global CEO of Enterprise IG.
Before joining Enterprise - one of the big branding shops in the global WPP advertising and marketing group - he was CEO of ad agency J Walter Thompson in Britain and Ireland.
Bolton was in SA this week, as part of a familiarisation tour of the group's African and Middle East division. He argues that advertising power has shifted to agency disciplines with more access to confidential client data that can help shape a more cost-effective brand communication strategy. That means media agencies - which are dealing with "real corporate investment issues and big numbers" when they buy media space and time - and branding agencies are moving into the same operational arena as management and business consultants.
The result, says Bolton, is a diminution of creative advertising agencies. Though they still have an important role to play in brand development, they are not as powerful as they once were.
He says: "The separation of the media disciplines, where the planning and buying function has been stripped out of ad agencies, has finally taken hold."
Bolton predicts a greater future role for media agencies on the creative front, with some even hiring in-house creative directors. If ad agencies want to fight back, they must invest more in creative capacity and ensure their offering remains crucial to brand development.
Branding agencies, however, still have to articulate more clearly to clients exactly what it is they do and why long-term brand development is important to bottom-line success. Bolton says they must develop a better set of measurement principles to illustrate the difference they can make.
Will a point be reached where branding agencies eclipse ad agencies? Bolton believes there is room for both. "Branding agencies ultimately have better insights than ad agencies and they can do just about everything except 30-second commercials. But they don't have the storytelling and script skills that ad agencies have."
Bolton's strong views will no doubt upset supporters of traditional advertising and the entrenched view that ad agencies occupy the prime position in the marketing dynamic. But he's right when he says they no longer have a divine right to dictate advertising.
He suggests that, in future, advertising agencies will have a "more transactional relationship" with branding agencies. By that, he means short-term or project co-operation.
Bolton is critical of the way big organisations fail to promote their brand internally. "Internal communication is generally dull all over the world and should be a huge focus. If it's not well managed, it's the place where most brand damage can be effected."
Article
First posted at Creative Latitude by Jack Yan
Last year, Errol Saldanha spotted a problem among the branding profession: not many of us were in positions where we could affect strategy properly and solve some of the world’s problems. Finance ruled the roost in boardrooms, and for the most part, ad agencies were more in the public consciousness than branding consultancies.
One thing that finance and advertising have are associations: a chance for practitioners to band together. Branding, even though it has plenty of evidence for its benefits to business and to consumers, lacks such groups. There are exceptions: the Medinge Group is one think-tank but, generally, you need to have authored a book or two and shown some form of leadership in the area to get in. Groups such as Wireality use email to bring branding experts under a single banner.
In this world, the idea of a virtual branding association surfaced. To recognize that the online world was an extension of the physical one, Errol set about creating associations in different countries. Errol is concerned, too, about a unified definition of branding, and ways to bring people in the profession together.
There is evidence that such groups work. Many years ago, I cooperated with colleagues in the font business to form TypeRight, an advocacy group for designers’ rights. It did help with awareness of the copyright surrounding font software, and the group remains active, though not as much as during the early days. Bringing people together through the International Branding Association and its national offshoots can work—the trick, now, is to find people who are both qualified and passionate. Some of the top practitioners are busy enough without greater commitment, or they seek to break in to the strategic side of business; while there are a lot of phoneys out there, too, pretending to be part of the brandwagon while it has some cachet in the mid-2000s.
Nevertheless, the idea is valid and these associations are needed, if only to further the awareness of branding as a discipline, not a mere operational add-on where people think we are charging millions for simple logos. So, who will join us?
Last year, Errol Saldanha spotted a problem among the branding profession: not many of us were in positions where we could affect strategy properly and solve some of the world’s problems. Finance ruled the roost in boardrooms, and for the most part, ad agencies were more in the public consciousness than branding consultancies.
One thing that finance and advertising have are associations: a chance for practitioners to band together. Branding, even though it has plenty of evidence for its benefits to business and to consumers, lacks such groups. There are exceptions: the Medinge Group is one think-tank but, generally, you need to have authored a book or two and shown some form of leadership in the area to get in. Groups such as Wireality use email to bring branding experts under a single banner.
In this world, the idea of a virtual branding association surfaced. To recognize that the online world was an extension of the physical one, Errol set about creating associations in different countries. Errol is concerned, too, about a unified definition of branding, and ways to bring people in the profession together.
There is evidence that such groups work. Many years ago, I cooperated with colleagues in the font business to form TypeRight, an advocacy group for designers’ rights. It did help with awareness of the copyright surrounding font software, and the group remains active, though not as much as during the early days. Bringing people together through the International Branding Association and its national offshoots can work—the trick, now, is to find people who are both qualified and passionate. Some of the top practitioners are busy enough without greater commitment, or they seek to break in to the strategic side of business; while there are a lot of phoneys out there, too, pretending to be part of the brandwagon while it has some cachet in the mid-2000s.
Nevertheless, the idea is valid and these associations are needed, if only to further the awareness of branding as a discipline, not a mere operational add-on where people think we are charging millions for simple logos. So, who will join us?
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