Mix and Match MarketingBY: Vernon Stent
If you are responsible for the marketing spend at your company I pity you. Nowadays you and your agency are spoilt for choice. There are endless ways of putting your message across to potential purchasers. In traditional media such as print, radio, tv and billboards there are bargains to be had. The online world has not settled, nor are there any signs that it will settle any time soon. Because of the maelstrom of options that are to be had there are also great deals waiting to be struck. So, with so much choice, why the pity? The answer is that, whatever you decide to do you will be wrong. As soon as you have planned your campaign you (and your boss) will discover 20 ways better ways of doing things - despite the fact that there will be 1 million worse ways of doing things. Who Needs Experience? >> The media is more fragmented than ever before with an almost infinite count of outlets. Therefore, consumers are also spread more thinly across these outlets. In bygone times a decent marketing budget often meant using a well established agency. You didn't mind giving them a large chunk of profit for running your account. You were paying for expertise, contacts and experience. Now things are pretty much upside down. Does worldly-wisdom count for anything these days when we are in the middle of a media revolution? When there are thousands of tv and radio outlets to choose from and multiples of ways of using the internet, cell phones and I-pods not to mention games consuls and even Blackberries - who needs experience? Mixing it Up >> I exaggerate to make the point. Yes, of course experience is important. New-ness is also important in this day and age. Personally I would be looking for an agency that has a blend of both these attributes. But how can you judge? This need to keep up with trends depends on what your product offer is, of course. If you are selling chair-lifts, you may not need to be so near to the cutting edge, but remember, even the elderly are being forced to channel hop through an increasing array of tv and radio channels. And more and more of them are going on line themselves. There are many old dogs out there learning new tricks. As you may be an old dog yourself - a typical marketing director may be in their mid-40's - how can you expect to keep up with the times yourself at such a noble age (no offence intended)? If your budget allows, why not bring a young graduate into the office? When you meet prospective agencies bring the young pretender along. Let him or her ask some searching questions about digital media and the latest fads and fashions. Hedging >> If a prospective agency doesn't have the right mix of old and new then you have a choice. The first choice is that you can keep looking. Trouble is you need to settle the matter soon. You have a campaign to plan and launch. If your search for the right agency is becoming an endless (and expensive) chore, consider hedging your bets and have two agencies - one old-school and the other cutting edge. You can split the budget and hold some back for the one that performs the best. You can have your cake and eat it! Bygone TV >> If you are one of the old-timers that I have been referring to above, you may just want to take a moment to reminisce. There was a time when agencies could spend more time on creativity and less on worrying about where to place spots. In the days when there were a handful of tv stations and when many agencies and their clients virtually ran tv shows there was less choice - and less to go wrong!
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