Adnerds

First the poll. Then the post.

According to Forrester, just 23% believe their traditional shops are capable of executing interactive marketing. On the other hand, only 22% percent agrees that their digital agency is ready “to lead the brand”.

Read it again and think it over. It is kind of a stupid question in the first place, but Forrester’s findings say in so many words that –according to advertisers, possibly– in more than 75% of the cases, digital communication either sucks or harms your brand.

Even though Forrester adds that ‘the whole industry is in flux’, advertisers should not go with that particular flow. Unless you gladly keep spending your money on either speculations that are of no practical relevance, or on turf wars.

Your brand is built by what you do.

Let’s get your priorities right first. It is not your brand strategy which eventually will determine what your brand is. Not even if that strategy has been carefully calculated and generates brilliant communication which always delivers a consistent message everywhere. Not today. Not anymore.

You simply cannot advertise your way to greatness. Your company truly, authentically has to walk the talk. Consumers judge brands the same way they judge people: by their actions rather than their promises.

So, as a company, if you’re not there yet and if I were you, I’d rather spend my budget on internal marketing than on ’several different agencies’. Because, if the walk is right, whoever does the talk is of secondary importance. Although I’ve already been dishing up our outspoken opinion on that touchy topic in previous posts, I will do it again below. With peppers on top.

If you’re funding a turf war, it’s your loss.

Some advertisers try and play it clever. Like Procter & Gamble for example. They work with lots of different agencies. That is why they ‘incentify collaboration’. It is quite acceptable that this is the only possible approach for a +400-product company, but you really don’t need to spend a lot of money on research to find out that ‘the multiple-agency approach means higher administrative costs and more coordination’. Dixit Forrester.

The multiple-agency approach is far from efficient. Despite the glam smiles you’ll be getting from every party involved, you’ve just started a turf war which will sneakily but very efficiently devaluate your budget. And you know how it is with wars in general: nobody wins. And with turf wars in particular: especially not you.

There’s no real life and digital life. It’s the same place.

We have all become very techno-dependent in both our personal and our professional life. That has changed the way we communicate. That has changed society. And that explains why your next internet strategy has nothing to do with the internet. But everything with how people live today. Your next internet strategy simply is your communication strategy.

Does that mean you no longer need offline media? No, it doesn’t. It simply means that the balance has tipped. Your main concern should be your digital communication strategy. Why? Because today it is inherent to real life. And it makes it possible to tap into the networks of everyone you reach. Then, and only then, you should look into how offline media can serve your digital strategy.

Conclusion?

First get your act together internally. See to it that everyone at your company buys your message before your customers do. And then hire marketing creatives whose brains have been digitally conditioned ever since. Preferably working at 1 and the same company.

Yeah, we are waiting for you to call. ;)