In recent weeks, SHOOT has chronicled the changing roles of agency artisans as they adapt to emerging media opportunities. This was reflected in the experience of Peter Cline, a managing partner and the head of production at 180, when he worked on the currently running adidas “Basketball is a Brotherhood” campaign for which the centerpiece is an 11-episode web series (SHOOT, 11/9). Or in the observations of Eric Hirshberg, president/chief creative officer of Deutsch LA, who offered up guidelines for branded entertainment, the overriding one being that there should be no distinction made between content and branded content as if the creative bar is somehow lower for the latter.
Furthermore, Ian Schafer, CEO/founder of bicoastal interactive agency Deep Focus, noted that the business needs to aspire to and attain a higher plane, meaning that branded entertainment must be “re-imagined as branded experiences.”
And Lori Sale, head of global branded entertainment at International Creative Management (ICM), offered ad agencies food for thought when dealing with talent firms. She observed that ICM’s orientation is different from the traditional m.o. of its competitor talent agencies that often represent actual brands. “Instead we represent our talent to brands and agencies,” Sale related. “Our talent are our brands and we try to connect them to brands with similar DNA.” This led to ICM securing financing from Unilever’s Dove for a remake of the classic 1939 film The Women (SHOOT, 11/2).
Now add to this array of observations and developments the take of an agency veteran, Bob Jeffrey, chairman/CEO of JWT Worldwide, who’s concerned with the state of branding in the face of all these new opportunities. Speaking recently at The Next Big Idea: The Future of Branded Entertainment confab in Beverly Hills, Jeffrey’s remarks were largely consumer-centric. He offered an atypical take on the notion that consumers are “in control” as they seek out content.
While there’s some truth to that, he said what’s often overlooked is that “in today’s time frame, there’s a sense of loss of control” on the part of consumers. That’s because they find themselves in a constant decision-making mode (Web MD or a doctor, The New York Times or a blogger). He observed it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find quality within the quantity of options.
This, he contended, is contributing to a dumbing down of brands as agencies grapple with new content forms and channels to reach consumers. But in their zeal to master branded content, agencies are paying more attention to the medium than the message as it pertains to shaping and maintaining brand continuity. Add to this the fact that many consumers, he said, are becoming “brand sluts,” flitting from one brand to the next. And if agencies don’t stay true to the brands they create for, the result is a schizophrenic brand trying to be all things to all people. And when a brand is schizophrenic, related Jeffrey, what’s to stop a consumer from looking at other brands?
The problem, he said, is that when agencies don’t keep their creative eye on the ball, two key relationships erode–that between agency and client, as well as the one between consumer and brand.
He said the situation is akin to guy who jumps into bed with the “it girl”–the “it” being trendy branded content–when the reality is that the cute alluring “it” blonde is really bad for him. Instead a relationship should be consummated only when the “it girl” is simpatico with the core truth of the brand. Otherwise, he said, “You wind up fallen prey to the executional side.”
Jeffrey cited several brands who have stayed true to themselves, engendering customer loyalty, such as Apple, Whole Foods, Harley Davidson and two JWT clients, Jet Blue and DeBeers.
In the case of the latter, for example, he said JWT’s relationship with the client is simply, “Instead of creating advertising, we became a business partner.”
That partner orientation led to a line of “Journey” jewelry based on the concept that true love grows stronger, with jewelry designed accordingly, showing diamonds as stepping stones in a necklace, for example, reflecting a progression from small gems to large ones just as a relationship builds over time. The Journey campaign has thus far yielded some $800 million in sales.
Jeffrey said that Journey has proven successful because the agency created work that was “properly rooted in the client’s brand.”
The litmus test, he said, for advertising, including branded content, is simply the query, “Does it drive the brand idea?” If it does, then the proposed creative/strategy has a far greater chance of being worthwhile.
Jeffrey conceded that agencies are “under a lot of pressure to show we’re future ready.” But ad shops need to resist the temptation to somehow prove they are just by adopting some new media execution.
“We’re supposed to tell them [clients] what they need–not what they want,” he affirmed.
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