Too many agencies spoil the brand
I find the most successful campaigns or brand strategies has the idea owners (usually the strategic, brand or above the line agency) run the idea through the relevant channels. That’s not to say that they need to do everything, more that they need to be hands on where the the rubber hits the road, the point at which the creative concept (the big idea) becomes a tactical execution. It’s in the clients interest to give this responsibility to the lead agency, and hold them accountable for the execution. So many times, the way the “big idea” is executed becomes about cutting corners because of “saving money”, or its “death by a thousand cuts” the slow, slicing and removing of functionality because of a lack of understanding how it is an essential part of the bigger, strategic picture.
Brand Hijacking, Brand Advocacy and Social Media identities
If you are in the brand building business, whether agency or client side, it pays to think early about your brand’s online and social media component – no matter what the brand is.
The best case study to illustrate this is what happened to to AMC’s Mad Men, a drama about a Madison Avenue advertising agency Sterling Cooper in 1962, shown in Australia on Movie Extra. Despite critical success for Season 1, and numerous awards including the Golden Globe® for Best TV drama and actor, Season 2 started well but had lost a million viewers in a month in the US. The characters in Mad Men are completely compelling – cigarette smoking, hard liquor swilling and delightfully old school.
