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“Should Ad Agencies Act Like Tech
Startups?” & vice versa?
Rei Inamoto, chief creative officer at AKQA
• Why The Future Of Marketing Belongs To Geeks And Freaks
• The End Of Advertising As We Know It--And What To Do Now
• Madison Avenue’s Identity Crisis (And Why Silicon Valley Still Needs To Learn From
The Ad Industry)
• Why Ad Agencies Should Act More Like Tech Startups
• Why Ad Agencies Should Act More Like Tech Startups
Vir: http://www.fastcompany.com/user/rei-inamoto
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Data and creativity, art and science, aren't either/or propositions …the
brand world needs tech and creative talents to work together to
usher in the next ad era.
The future belongs to Geeks (tech) and Freaks (art) > embrace the
notion of Art & Code!
• The reality of technology is that it's already replacing humans. But
technology shouldn't replace humanity. Oftentimes, geeks create
technology for the sake of technology.
• What freaks can remind them of is that technology should serve
humanity.
• Alan Kay, the famous technologist and futurist: "The best way to
predict the future is to invent it."
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Vir: http://www.fastcocreate.com/3032428/why-the-future-of-marketing-belongs-to-geeks-and-freaks
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Why would we assume campaign ideas are creative and product
ideas are not?
• Do brands now have to compete against not only other brands but
also companies outside of their immediate industry?
• And do agencies have to compete not only against other agencies
but also companies that make products and services?
• Yes and Yes.
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Vir: http://www.fastcocreate.com/1683292/the-end-of-advertising-as-we-know-it-and-what-to-do-now
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4 guidelines for moving into the next era:
• FROM INTEGRATED TO CONNECTED
it’s about how well connected you are with the audience and how well you connect the
audience themselves. Red Bull, Nike+ Kinect
• FROM BRAND STORY TO PEOPLE STORY
If you choose to tell stories as a brand, don’t make it about you. Make it about the real
people. Use the power of your brand and reach to reflect the truth. The Real Beauty
Sketches" for Dove, "Find Your Greatness" for Nike, and "Paralympics 2012" > They are
reflections of "people stories.„ + "purpose-driven" work
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Vir: http://www.fastcocreate.com/1683292/the-end-of-advertising-as-we-know-it-and-what-to-do-now
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4 guidelines for moving into the next era:
• FROM 360 TO 365
The scale of an idea should be measured by its longevity, ambition, and the impact it
could have on society > one that can create 365 days of connection between a brand
and people
• FROM MEDIA DISRUPTION TO BUSINESS INVENTION
We should use our creativity to provide better businesses and solutions rather than
constantly trying to disrupt what people are doing.
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Vir: http://www.fastcocreate.com/1683292/the-end-of-advertising-as-we-know-it-and-what-to-do-now
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A number of advertising professionals have left the agency world and
joined or launched their own startups.
• Startups that provide value to consumers because ad agencies
really don’t.
• Startups that make useful things and solve problems because,
again, agencies don’t.
• Startups that don’t try to sell you stuff you don’t need.
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Vir: http://www.fastcocreate.com/1680055/madison-avenue-s-identity-crisis-and-why-silicon-valley-still-needs-to-learn-from-the-ad-ind
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Identity crisis?
• One day, it wants to pretend that it’s Hollywood (Branded
Entertainment, anyone?).
• The next day, it’s trying to be Silicon Valley (just because you use
the word “Innovation” in your lexicon or title doesn’t make your shop
innovative).
• And the day after, it’s all three (“Siliwood Madness!” was the name
of this infographic in Fast Company).
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Vir: http://www.fastcocreate.com/1680055/madison-avenue-s-identity-crisis-and-why-silicon-valley-still-needs-to-learn-from-the-ad-ind
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But, learning shouldn’t be one-way!
Startup world can also learn from Madison Avenue.
In advertising, consumer insights are key to great strategy that leads to
great work. Silicon Valley and startups can often get caught in their own
echo chamber and fall out of touch with “the Normals.”
One of the reasons why so many startups fail is because they build
stuff for themselves without thinking through real consumer
insights and needs for normal people.
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Vir: http://www.fastcocreate.com/1680055/madison-avenue-s-identity-crisis-and-why-silicon-valley-still-needs-to-learn-from-the-ad-ind
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But, learning shouldn’t be one-way!
Madison Avenue can also learn fromStartup world.
For agencies, bringing in people who understand and build
technology is an important step.
But without changing the way agencies behave and structure
themselves, they are not going to go far.
Hiring a digital expert to fix your “digital” problem is like hiring a
baseball player for your football team.
Without changing the way you play your game fundamentally, you
are not going to win.
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Vir: http://www.fastcocreate.com/1680055/madison-avenue-s-identity-crisis-and-why-silicon-valley-still-needs-to-learn-from-the-ad-ind
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"In order for agencies to stay relevant, they must embrace the Culture
of Code.”
One said that I should replace “code” with “technical know-how.”
“Code without ideas is just ones and zeros.”
“Ideas without executions are just dreams.”
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Vir: http://www.fastcocreate.com/1679247/cannes-pov-the-evolution-of-the-idea
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Telling stories is an important aspect of what we do but that alone is not
going to get you much. We have to figure out how to enable stories.
In the 20th century, copywriters had film scripts hidden in their drawers.
In this century, creatives should have product ideas ready to go.
A recent example of the "idea" that is both emotional and functional is
Heineken Star Player.
It wasn’t the regular copywriter + art director duo who came up with the
Idea. It was a combination of a Storyteller and a Software Developer
who conceived it.
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Vir: http://www.fastcocreate.com/1679247/cannes-pov-the-evolution-of-the-idea
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Leveraging technology in a simple & creative way will get us closer
to capturing the hearts & minds of consumers of the 21st century.
Evolution of the Idea: Idea = Emotion x Function.
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Vir: http://www.fastcocreate.com/1679247/cannes-pov-the-evolution-of-the-idea
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TBWA Project: Pilot.is Projeqt Spotlites
There has been much discussion recently about how agencies should
behave like startups
agile, iterative, and product-oriented.
In the same breath, many startups, brimming with engineering
smarts, covet the pure marketing skills of agencies.
Pilot.is, a new technology company spun out of TBWAChiatDay,
brings the two disciplines together in a design-driven development
lab that focuses on building products that create efficiencies within
large organizations.
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Vir: http://www.fastcocreate.com/1680568/tbwa-launches-product-development-arm-pilotis-to-help-big-companies-get-creative