Culture Clash - Social Media & The Ad Agency

Culture Clash

Social Media & The Ad Agency

Jason FallsTransworld Advertising Agency Network

Wilwaukee, Wisc.September 18, 2009

Social Media has overtaken porn as No. 1 web activityGen Y will outnumber baby boomers by NEXT YEAR78% of consumers trust peer recommendationsOnly 14% trust advertisementsOnly 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI90% of people that can TiVo ads do24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines Soon products will find us via social media

Source: Socialnomics by Erik Qualman Image: Tan Wei Ming on Shutterstock

Image: Mike Baldwin on Shutterstock.com

Image: Copestello on Shutterstock.com

Consumers Grew Tired Of Us

Social Media Is Personal

All About Relationships

“Campaigns” Aren’t Relevant

Traditional Is One-Way

Social Implies Two … or Many

TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony Survey - 2009

"I think traditional ad agencies have very little contribution to make. They are mostly driven by their compensation models which are made for closed media. Those models don't apply in open media.”

-Bryan Simkins, FedEx

"You get the sense that agencies talk a good game. They put up a good presentation about what social media is, but when you get to implementing campaigns, the day-to-day management skills are not meeting the marketers' expectations.”

- Jim Nail, TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony

Image: synthmaniac on Shutterstock.com

Creatives think print, outdoor, TV; art, not experience.Interactive lacks creative juice; is still an “oh yeah”Client services are seldom taught web first

???Why do all our ads have the web address on them?

Image: Copestello on Shutterstock.com

Social media demands contentAd content is slow, methodical and perfectSocial media content is nimble, conversational and unfiltered

Providing content requires trained staffingWe’ve never been in the content businessWe shouldn’t be speaking for our clientsThis won’t scale well

Image: Copestello on Shutterstock.com

Social media is essentially customer serviceAd agencies haven’t given a damn about customers … everAgencies drive to purchase, seldom work beyond

How do you bill this?Blog posts = $25 per (high end)Agency bills $150-200 for same

Image: Luis Francisco Cordero on Shutterstock.com

Understand The WebWebsites are connecting points, not brochuresContent drives engagement, but must be portable SEO is critically importantOnline/Search advertising is more effective than traditionalEffective email marketing beats just about everythingMobile is more relevant everyday

Image: Luis Francisco Cordero on Shutterstock.com

Embrace Social Media InternallyUse Yammer to cut down on frivolous emailsBulletin board/forums for informal internal communicationsWikis/Project Management software for team collaborationEnterprise software includes social toolsIf you ever attach a document to an email, you’ve missed an opportunity

Image: Luis Francisco Cordero on Shutterstock.com

Collaborate With Your ClientsGoogle DocsBasecamp

Train, Train, TrainCreativesClient ServicesClients

Image: Luis Francisco Cordero on Shutterstock.com

Prioritize Interactive & Social Competency In HiringTomorrow’s Creatives May Not Come From Art SchoolModel Best Practices

Read blogsWatch competitors in social spacePay attention to the social thinkers in your agency/area

“The current downturn will accelerate these trends in agencies as everyone is looking to innovate and stand out from the crowd. I don’t think [social media] is a replacement for paid-for media, it is just going to be a challenger for [consumers’] time and attention.”

-Moray MacLennan, M&C Saatchi Worldwide

“I believe that in the future, social networks will be like air. They will be anywhere and everywhere we need and want them to be.”

-Charlene Li, Altimeter Group

“As much as we love social media, the audience there is opt in. Mass media isn’t. Even though the messages are force fed to consumers they still have better reach. We need to build communities of consumers through social media to the point mass media becomes less effective in driving people where we want them to go. Until then, we should use the traditional to help populate the non.”

– Me

Your Agency Should Have An understanding of social media’s place in the mix Clear ownership of social media responsibility The ability to educate you and your company Strategic thinking both apart from an a part of plan Measures and metrics for success No guarantees of “viral” or immediate success

How Do You Tell Them Apart? Google Them- Are They Walking The Walk? Is Staff Recognized In The Social Media Space? Do They Have Case Studies? Is There Strategic Focus Behind Recommendations? Are they honest with you about peripheral services

(Mobile, Community Platforms, Apps, etc.) 

Questions For Them How is your agency leveraging social media? Who does strategy and who executes? What role will we have in social media execution Illustrate the business case for my brand. What mistakes have you made and what did you learn?

Solutions Are ThereSolutions Are There

Dell $2MM+ in sales via Twitter Marriott $5MM in reservations from corporate blog Southwest Airlines engaging fans via blogs Sony uses several community platforms to better segment

customers for efficient targeting Joffrey's Coffee developed new flavor via bloggers feedback Martell Home Builders solved major flaw in contracting

business

Web Strategy (web-strategist.com/blog/) – Jeremiah OwyangFuel Lines (fuelingnewbusiness.com) – Michael GassTwist Image (twistimage.com/blog/) - Mitch JoelMarketing With Meaning (marketingwithmeaning.com)Logic+Emotion (armano.typepad.com) – David ArmanoConversation Agent (conversationagent.com) – Valeria MaltoniOnline Marketing Blog (toprankblog.com) – Lee OddenChris Brogan (chrisbrogan.com) – Chris BroganJason’s Agency Resource (delicious.com/JasonFalls/agencies)

Let’s ConnectLet’s Connect

Jason FallsPrincipal

Social Media Explorer

Email: jason@jasonfalls.com

Twitter: @JasonFalls

Phone: 502.619.3285

Web: socialmediaexplorer.com