Agencies Warned: In Digital Media, Change Or Die
Posted by Mark Levy | Posted in Advertising | Posted on 22-03-2007
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DEVELOPMENTS IN DIGITAL MARKETING AND media are happening at such breakneck speed that marketers must prepare to navigate them–or be left behind. The same goes for the agencies that advise them. But the consensus among a panel of experts appearing at OMMA Hollywood earlier this week is that they’re not ready, not by a long shot.
“Agencies aren’t prepared for where things are going,” said Tim Hanlon, senior vice president-Ventures Group, at Publicis Groupe’s Denuo. Hanlon was, by far, the most strident of the group. Agency silos, he said, remain the order of the day, referring specifically to the relationship between brand and direct response media.
“Consumers, especially younger ones, if they see something in any form of media, they’re going to want to go further with it,” Hanlon said. “Agencies should be de-siloing to make that TV expression both a branded and DR vehicle,” whether it’s a TiVo vehicle or a telescope unit, “a little TV with a DR component,” adding: “Is that the direct marketing agency’s responsibility or the brand agency’s? I think it’s both, so why do have two separate groups?”
Good question. The role of the agency will need to change, given the rise of online-based ad auctions, hyper-local media planning and buying services, like SpotRunner and Spotzer, and other emerging media planning platforms.
“Google showed us that search and targeted ad messaging is not only a viable business, but a gargantuan business,” Hanlon said. “The holding company model missed it. Now they’re scrambling to be experts or to acquire this skill.” Hanlon noted Publicis’ acquisition of Digitas late last year.
Guy Kawasaki
China will not allow any more internet cafes to open this year, according to a government order obtained by the state news agency Xinhua. The notice, issued by 14 government authorities, also vows to crack down on gambling through online games. Xinhua said the new restrictions were part of a campaign to combat the rising problem of internet addiction. Internet cafes that have already been given approval must be completed by the end of June, the news agency reports. There are currently about 113,000 internet cafes and bars in China, according to the country’s Ministry of Information Industry. China has already banned minors from such cafes, and levies heavy fines on operators who flout these regulations. The number of people using the internet in China has grown by 30% over the last year, to 132 million, the state Internet Network Information Center announced in December.
Tired of being turned away at the theater box office when a movie’s sold out? Unhappy there’s no art-house theater in your neighborhood to cater to your hoity-toity theatrical tastes? Those days could be ending, say representatives of Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment and a company called Digital Cinema Implementation Partners. The three are working on a new digital film delivery system that, if successful, could give theater operators the flexibility to put a popular movie on an extra screen as quickly as the demand for it arises. At the same time, theater operators could boot out a surprise stinker and even book in for a day or two an art-house film with a small but devoted audience. The process, still in the early stages of development, would use satellite and broadband delivery systems to beam digital films directly to theaters, rather than have them copied onto hard drives and delivered by hand, as for the most part they are now, said Darcy Antonellis, Warner Bros.’ executive vice president for distribution and technology. That kind of rapid delivery that would allow theater operators the flexibility to economically market niche films that could be shown for just a day or two to a targeted audience.