To commemorate its 50th anniversary which comes upon us in December, SHOOT continues a special series of features that will run through 2010 in which noted industry executives and artists reflect on the changes they’ve seen over the decades, as well as the essential dynamics that have endured. These folks–from different sectors of the business–will additionally share their vision and aspirations for the future.
In our first series installment (SHOOT, 12/11/09), we tapped into the insights of Lee Clow of Media Arts, TBWA Worldwide, and TBWA/Media Arts Lab; Bob Giraldi of Giraldi Media; Larry Bridges of Red Car; and Robert Greenberg of R/GA.
Now we garner observations from Rich Silverstein, co-chairman/creative director of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco; Stephen Dickstein, global president/managing partner of worldwide production house The Sweet Shop; and Phil Geier, former Interpublic Group CEO and current chairman of The Geier Group, New York.
Rich Silverstein The metamorphosis that diversified mainstay creative agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, founded in 1983, into the interactive arena has been cited in recent years as a showcase example of an ad shop evolving to successfully span traditional, digital and integrated forms of marketing and communication.
Yet the inherent paradox about such change is that there are unchanging tangibles and intangibles that are needed to bring it about. Indeed Rich Silverstein sees his agency’s oft-cited transformation as representing both a willingness to change and a steadfast commitment to not changing one’s core values. “Some years ago, it was out of fear that we felt that we had better start embracing the Internet,” recalled Silverstein. “We had to in order to stay relevant. Showing a reel of great commercials over the years means nothing in a media changing marketplace. Yet at the time we embraced interactive, the Internet was banners–not exactly the most inviting option. How can you win a gold medal for a banner?
“But for us the key is that we were able to change and delve well beyond banners because we didn’t change who we were. We just applied our values to new technology. Our values run deep as storytellers. Jeff [Goodby–co-chairman/creative director of the agency] grew up as a journalist. I grew up as a designer. Neither one of us started in advertising. I did graphic design. Jeff was a reporter. We applied our skills to advertising and when you look at it that way, the web was just waiting for those kinds of skills–storytelling, design, art direction, theater, writing, creative concepts. To help our agency adapt to the web, we did bring in fearless young people who didn’t have a 35mm reel. We learned from them but we also applied our values to them–values which include respecting the intelligence of our audience and bringing them something of value.”
At the same time, Silverstein sometimes wonders how valued those values are in the marketplace at large. “We have all these incredible delivery devices but it’s amazing how many of them deliver bad television,” he related. “I don’t care if I can get live TV on my phone or on an airplane if the content is bad. YouTube is an amazing delivery device with a lot of crap. You look at the reality TV shows, a society where Sarah Palin can be a heartbeat away from the presidency and you can’t help but think that we are dummying down America. It’s not about her politics. It’s about someone who isn’t even well read and informed–that’s unacceptable no matter what your politics are. And then you have the Supreme Court decision opening the floodgates for more political advertising and dummying down clutter. I know it means more money for the advertising industry but that’s not the way we should elect people or deal with issues.”
While Silverstein sees this environment as the antithesis of the core creative, storytelling and educational values he and his agency espouse, add to the quandary a recession and high unemployment. “The economy has gone into the tank and that makes clients nervous, and so I don’t see a high form of advertising out there right now. I just heard from one of my partners who came back from the U.K. and reported that things are pretty dreadful there right now. I always looked at the U.K. as a country that loved advertising and that does unique things. But fear and economic uncertainty are also being felt there, resulting in people being unwilling to take chances. And you need to take chances creatively in order to have great breakthrough advertising.”
Yet the flip side, he noted, is the perspective of viewing the glass as being half full. In a dumbed down environment, thoughtful ideas can stand out even more. And in a tight economy, breakthrough ideas are needed more than ever. “People don’t want to be part of a faceless company. People want brands that have identity, that mean something,” said Silverstein. “People want brands that reflect themselves. So as an agency, you cannot operate out of fear. We never go into a situation thinking we might lose the account if we don’t do so and so. We don’t come from that position. We come from a position of what we believe is right for the account and is it something we can be proud of. As long as we stay true to that, we are fine. Steve Jobs is true to himself and the world has come to him. The world has come to Richard Branson, and to companies with points of view who stay true to who they are. Marketing is a reflection of what a company is. Instead of making stuff up, the best work is honest work. For example, I have great respect for Lee [Clow] and how he keeps true to Apple’s values.
“Yes, marketing in the cloud of what’s going on in the world today can be difficult,” continued Silverstein. “But there’s a place for marketing that tells relevant engaging, honest stories. Jeff and I started our business to give something back. Yes, we’re marketers but we try to treat consumers with the deep respect and intelligence they deserve. We apply that to TV, the web, smart phones, Facebook, any delivery system. As long as there are people who value good writing and storytelling, who value educating and informing others and consistently giving back to society, there’s hope.”
Stephen Dickstein “Over the last five years, everyone has felt change–more than they felt during the five years prior to that,” related Stephen Dickstein, global president and managing director of The Sweet Shop. “The fact is that change is now happening at an accelerated pace. In our business, an obvious example of major change has been audience fragmentation. But it’s important to remember that when in a world of change, the most important thing is being nimble, anticipating and reacting to change–not looking at the good old days and trying to hold on to them. I recently saw a college professor I hadn’t seen for a long time. He asked me why I hadn’t been in touch. My answer was that I’m much better at managing my present than my past.”
Dickstein’s professional past includes the vertical production house business model, perhaps best reflected in the venerable Propaganda Films, a breeding ground for talent and creativity. (Propaganda was founded in 1986 and closed in late ’01. Dickstein, president of Propaganda’s commercial operation, exited the company in ’99.)
“Today in the commercial production business, the landscape has changed,” he said. “Those big vertical structures are challenged by economics. There’s no room for those types of edifices because of thinning margins.”
Now at The Sweet Shop, he’s helped to shape a horizontal model. “Businesses are going from vertical to horizontal to cover a greater swath of opportunity. The Sweet Shop and [its sister shop, the London-based digital solutions/interactive house] The Rumpus Room provide a single group of talent globally, taking advantage of opportunities throughout the world for our directors and digital talent. We don’t rely on regional business that ebbs and flows with certain economic conditions in each country. You also aren’t confined to one country’s business seasons–whereas the second quarter could be traditionally slow in the U.S., it might not be in Europe, Australia or elsewhere. And you can take advantage of exchange rates wherever they offer the most leverage. Globalization is a reasonable antidote to the changing tide of business.”
Per the globalization at The Sweet Shop, directors work all over the world at one company with one vision, being able to access low cost production centers as needed. This, Dickstein related, is far more economical than a director being represented by different shops–be they rep firms or production companies in different parts of the world. Factoring in production services, you have a scenario in which multiple sources of markup and multiple company agendas are part of the equation before you expose a frame of film. If you have a single company handling a director’s schedule, contended Dickstein, you can leverage it the best way possible for a global rather than a local career.
A world view, affirmed Dickstein, also opens up far-flung opportunities. He noted, for example, that China, India and what was once the Eastern Bloc have expanding middle classes that have been growing at a healthy rate. This means more consumers for products, more competition for brands, with a deep need for marketing in order to be viable in that competition.
“But in some of these countries,” observed Dickstein, “it’s a matter of us adjusting to budgets that might not be quite as big as they have been in more mature markets. That’s why flattening out and horizontalizing the business is important, being amenable to working within local and regional rules and realities instead of applying imperialistic methodologies and importing them around the world. If you’re working from the old rules and a sense of entitlement based on the way things were, you are in for a rude awakening.”
Beyond growth in different parts of the world, Dickstein sees another prime cause for optimism being the entertainment sector. “We may be seeing the demise of the major television networks but we also see the incredible rise of cable, a model that mixes advertising and subscription, a better way to get entertainment sponsored. Entertainment sponsorship isn’t going away. People are not going to create Avatar for half a billion dollars unless there’s a chance to get a billion in return. Entertainment as a commodity is in demand all over the globe–and sponsor growth and opportunities are attached to it.”
And with entertainment comes the chance to develop intellectual properties across traditional and digital platforms. Though he wasn’t at liberty to publicly discuss specifics, Dickstein noted that the aforementioned The Rumpus Room–an idea think tank with a track record of creating and producing integrated digital advertising for agencies and clients–has some endeavors in the offing that will register on the intellectual property front.
Dickstein is enthused over multiple platform opportunities. “Even though there’s fragmentation, there’s been no death of the big idea. Now a big idea can be bigger when it works across different platforms. The big idea guides all facets of a brand campaign. Ideas need to work in different media and ad agencies will still have a strong place at the table in this mix. Not too long ago, integrated media, online digital content and events were an afterthought or ancillary to major ad campaigns. That’s still the case at some places. But the leading agencies today are from the outset exploring and bringing together all aspects of media that can come into play and work for a client.”
Phil Geier
A veteran marketer perhaps best known for his 20 years (starting in 1980) as CEO of the Interpublic Group, shaping much of the blueprint for the modern advertising holding company, Phil Geier today is chairman of The Geier Group, a New York marketing communications consulting and venture capital firm. He also has become an author, penning the recently released book Survive to Thrive: Sustaining Yourself, Your Brand, and Your Business from Recession to Recovery.
While globalization and localization (local creative agencies gaining a worldwide footprint by tapping into resources of the parent company and larger sister shops) helped to make the holding company business model successful, there were pitfalls that detracted significantly from that success. In his book, Geier pinpoints both the positive and negative dynamics.
But as he reflects upon his years in the business and the changes he’s seen during that time span, among the most important lessons Geier has learned is centered on the fact that success stems from building relationships as well as brands, and by putting clients and their customers first. “In these days of the Internet and e-mail, everybody is doing business and connecting with each other through technology,” Geier observed. “We are losing sight of the fact that to be successful you have to maintain personal relationships, to see people and get to know them. If I have a problem with the advertising business today, it’s that people don’t get to truly know each other–their clients, their competitors, their suppliers, their customers, even people within their own companies. Without these relationships, you cannot find out people’s real needs.”
Being out of touch with those needs makes risk taking harder. “You have to be able to take risks to do breakthrough work. I was a great believer in having our people try new things and experiment,” affirmed Geier. “But you have to know one another in order to build the trust necessary to take risks together. And taking them together is important–people will feel more free to take risks if they know management is behind them. I always made sure the creative risk takers made sure that management knew what they were doing. With that in place, if you succeed, you get credit. Or if you go down, you go down together.”
While he will leave those who read his book to mull over his 10 principles to stick by in good and bad times, as well as his reflections and remembrances of his first roost, McCann Erickson, and then Interpublic, Geier noted that his life-altering experience came when he almost lost his own life in Feb. 2006, just three weeks prior to his 71st birthday. He was playing tennis and collapsed on the court. There was no defibrillator at the tennis club but luckily cardiac surgeon Dr. Karl Krieger happened to be working out there that day. After four minutes, Krieger got Geier’s heart beating again.
But Geier still was far from being home free. He later received a heart transplant. “The heart I received came from a 39-year-old woman in West Virginia. A liberal Democrat, no less,” wrote Geier, a lifelong Republican. “Some have noted that the arrival of her heart in my body has coincided with a new sensitivity in my nature.”
Before he got his new heart, though, Geier discovered the value of giving back. He had chaired the Ad Council, and has been active in such organizations as Autism Speaks, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the New York and Columbia Presbyterian Hospitals, and Save the Children.
The latter has become more prominent recently in light of the Haiti tragedy. Geier urges us to visit www.savethechildren.org.
Click here to read Part I of this series. Hear from…
Lee Clow, chief creative officer/global director, Media Arts, TBWA Worldwide, and chairman, TBWA/Media Arts Lab
Bob Giraldi, award-winning director, Giraldi Media
Larry Bridges, director/editor & founder, Red Car
Robert Greenberg, chairman/CEO/global chief creative officer, R/GA
Click here to read Part III of this series. Hear from…
Joe Pytka, award-winning director, PYTKA
Bryan Buckley, award-winning director, Hungry Man
Joe Sedelmaier, ground-breaking director
Click here to read Part IV of this series. Hear from…
Dan Wieden, founder and CEO, Wieden+Kennedy
Susan Credle. chief creative officer, Leo Burnett North America
Noan Murro, award-winning director Noam Murro, Biscuit Filmworks, Los Angeles
Click here to read Part V of this series. Hear from…
Tony Granger, global chief creative officer, Young & Rubicam
Kevin Roddy, chief creative officer, Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), NY
Kristi VandenBosch, CEO, Publicis & Hal Riney
Click here to read Part VI of this series. Hear from…
David Lubars, chairman/chief creative officer, BBDO North America
Jon Kamen, chairman & CEO, @radical.media
Stefan Sonnenfeld. president/managing director, Company 3 & oversees features and commercials business, Ascent Media’s Creative Services
