Written by Mihai Dragan on Friday, June 26th, 2009 ( Start discussion )
Tags: iran, michael jackson, social media
“Michael Jackson, Mike, Jacko, RIP Michael Jackson, Michael, Thriller, King of Pop, Iran”
Written by Mihai Dragan on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 ( Start discussion )
Tags: conventional, digital, media, online
As I’ve worked so far with quite a few, I have noticed that advertising on large media companies usually means selling digital as an extra to existing TV/Print/Radio clients.
I think this is wrong. A large client that usually advertises on TV, print and others might not really be interested in the company’s digital content advertising.
Also, a client that is not usually a conventional media buyer might be really interested in the digital content. It seems that they are unfortunately ignored usually.
Written by Mihai Dragan on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 ( 4 responses )
Tags: agencies, future, interactive, media
As I previously gave you a brief (very brief) history of advertising here and here, now is the time to talk a little about tomorrow. About tomorrow’s agencies, as I see them.
New Media. Printed on old media.
I found a great post by Tim Williams called “What if the advertising agency died tomorrow”. Probably the best sentence I found there was “The advertising agency passed of a narrow mind. It died from a lack of understanding that there is no such thing as “new media”“. It states my take on interactive versus conventional perfectly.
Long time ago print was king. Along came radio and TV. They changed the media scape and advertising as well. It was the birth of the 30 second spot, the blockbuster brand and helped advertising industry establish itself as one of the fastest growing industries.
This was also the birth of “trumpeter swan” creative and art directors, the birth of advertising festivals and a certain lifestyle for all those in this industry.
One day, a bright computer scientist by the name of Tim-Berners Lee, started what will has become the fastest growing media in the history of human kind: the world wide web. This was the wonder that tied people together and changed the way we see information, media and even ourselves as citizens of the world.
Frankly I find old media (print, TV, even radio), those one-way communication channels, so limited and limiting that I cannot comprehend their survival to this day. I am, however, sure they will converge to interactive driven media in a very short span of time.
So will agencies. Tomorrow’s “conventional” agencies will be interactive – powered. That’s why MB Dragan was repositioned to “Agency for Tomorrow”. An interactive agency that can deliver results just as well as conventional agencies.
Written by Mihai Dragan on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 ( One response )
Tags: advertising, direct mailing, ogilvy, targeting
In his legendary “Ogilvy on Advertising”, David Ogilvy had a very interesting opening sentence in his direct mail chapter:
“One day a man walked into a London agency and asked to see the boss. He had bought a country house and was about to open a hotel. Could the agency help him to get customers? He had $500 to spend. Not surprisingly, the head of the agency turned him over to the office boy, who append to be the author of this book. I invested money in penny postcards and mailed them to well-heeled people living in the neighborhood. Six weeks later the hotel opened to a full house. I had tasted blood.”
Ogilvy fell inlove with direct mailing and he later mentions the wonders he has witnessed over the years: computers. He shows enthusiasm in how can they be used to select names by demographic classification, by frequency or amount of purchase. The man is thrilled at the idea he can merge and purge lists, send personal mails and many others we now take for granted as the internet evolved. Have I mentioned we are talking about 1983?
He is also known for his clear and to the point copywriting, for inserting coupons encouraging readers to “buy now” or send feedback to companies.
With his focus on targeting, filtering, measuring and interacting with consumers Ogilvy built one of the biggest agencies in the world and probably the most popular.
But that was then …
[to be continued]
Written by Mihai Dragan on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 ( One response )
Tags: advertising history, giants of advertising, raymond rubicam
Back in the day (and by that I mean around 100 years ago) Raymond Rubicam (founder of the famous Young&Rubicam) had a hard time getting clients to admit or even understand his impact on their business. Business back then had more to do with production and assembly lines than it had to do with sales, marketing and others.
These notions were not too popular with the big guys at the time but Raymond knew what he was doing. He knew his impact on the business he advertised was huge.
So he helped his clients hire the best sales managers around. He helped them see a new way of doing business. He opened their eyes. How did he do it? He trusted what he did. He left his mark on the clients he advertised. He helped them evolve. Most important – he didn’t quit. He did not settle for the second place either.
“Resist the usual” Raymond used to say. He encouraged copywriters and art directors in his company to change whenever needed. He was a genius and an innovator.
But that was than…
[to be continued]
