Is now the time for new kind of communications business that connects marketing specialists with corporate marketers?

Its been obvious for a while now that the generalist media era is coming to an end. No longer do a handful of large media outlets determine our news and entertainment the way they did during the last century. Increasingly we are turning to a multitude of specialist media providers to satisfy our many needs. Media consumption is splintering so rapidly that it’s difficult to keep track of the vast array of options available to us.

Marketing "connectors" assemble teams of specialists

One hangover from the generalist media era is the full-service agency. Whilst “everything under one roof” may have been feasible when there were only a handful of media options, in 2010, with a ridiculous number of feasible marketing options available….Free to Air TV, Subscription TV, Radio, Digital radio, Press, online press, outdoor, SEO, SEM, social media, inbound marketing, micro sites etc…. its seems ludicrous to believe that one shop can do it all.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sticky is looking for a Digital Account Manager with great project management skills to join the team. The role is a crucial link between our growing client base and digital team. Its an important position so we’ll be taking our time to find the most suitable person for the job. All the details are here.

A few years ago it occurred me that digital media had enabled transition for marketers that allowed them to become their own media outlets, to engage their audience directly and bypass the traditional media outlets. I have subsequently posted extensively on the subject here on Media Hunter.

So naturally I am thrilled when venerable industry watchers like AdAge concur with this theory.

Recently AdAge editor Jonah Bloom gave a speech saying

the marketer has become the media owner…the job of the agency is going to morph into bringing their expertise to bear to help marketers build channels that connect them with potential customers and continually reward the customers who come back with new valuable information.

I couldn’t agree more. A new age of marketing is upon us. You can watch the short video with Jonah Bloom’ speech here.

I just came across this excellent piece in AdAge explaining how digital agencies should be the new advertising leaders due to their understanding of technology, speed of iteration and technology. It was written by Jacques-Herve Roubert.

Over the past 18 months, a great debate has consumed our industry: Are digital agencies poised to sit at the head of the advertising table? Depending on whom you ask and what you read, the answer seems to flip flop — with a majority of people still having reservations and making claims that digital agencies aren’t ready to lead.

So why does the debate continue? Does offline or online really matter to an oblivious consumer who’s only interested in “no-line” communications? Are we spending too much time focusing on who should lead and not enough asking: What’s next?

Ana Andjelic’s DigitalNext post, provocatively titled “Why Digital Agencies Aren’t Ready to Lead,” mentions several reasons why digital agencies aren’t ready to lead, one of which was their lack of experience in the business (as compared with the “decades of experience” that traditional agencies are known for). I’m sure there are instances where decades of experience can directly translate into success, but there are certainly instances (uh, Lehman Brothers?) where deep roots had no bearing on their ability to produce — and produce well. Furthermore, a certain percentage of the individuals now working and thriving in digital agencies came from traditional agencies.

Read the rest of this entry »

I have been banging on at this site for over a year now about how the face of media and advertising is changing. The global financial crisis has managed to accelerate the changes that were already underway, and now we are starting to see confirmation.

If anyone is wondering why I have put so much effort transforming my Newcastle advertising agency into an Inbound Marketing agency then read this story we’ve just posted over at GetSticky. Its latest research from Forrester showing the massive change that has taken place.

If you still think that your business will survive based on old-fashioned Outbound Advertising alone then you may have a rude shock coming. Now is the time to start thinking Inbound. Start dedicating a reasonable amount of your marketing budget to creating an effective internet marketing strategy TODAY.

Over at GetSticky we have compiled a leading digital agency websites list. The list is a follow up to B&T magazine’s ranking of the websites of 15 leading Australian digital agencies. We wanted to contrast B&T’s opinion-based methodology with our more scientific Web ANLYZR approach to see how different agencies stacked up.

You can read more about our Web ANLYZR ranking of Australian digital agencies here…

How do you see the current economy? Do the tumultuous ructions in the media and advertising industries intimidate you or excite you?

In the agency world there currently seems to be two camps; those trying to survive and those looking at new opportunities.

Most of the industry news in 2009 has been about layoffs and dwindling ad-spends. Talk of the four-day working week has been rife and many advertising types have moved to reduced hours or 9 day fortnights.

While the bad news has dominated, I suspect there are several smart agencies who have seen the opportunities the current climate presents to reinvent themselves and the industry. They may not be generating much talk at the moment, but as the economy bounces back you will see them emerge from the shadows as the new power-players.

Why? Because there has never been a more important time foster innovation in advertising, media and marketing.

Read the rest of this entry »

From Helen Schuller, Adnews

The advertising industry has become too complicated to ever go back to a full service agency model, said MediaCom chief Anne Parsons today (12 May).

“[A full service model] is simplistic and the simplicity is not relevant. It’s not organic,” Parsons told the Advertising, Marketing & Media Summit 2009.

She said today the industry is much more complex but also more reflective.

“In the last few years the big challenge how to manage large amounts of data,” she said.

Read the rest of this entry »

GetSticky - Internet Marketing System

The team and I at Sticky Advertising have spent the last few years immersing ourselves in online marketing, social media and search engine optimisation and web design. We have been deliberately steering the agency in a new direction as we experimented with online technologies and developed sites and strategies for our clients that have been enormously successful.

The result of our efforts, trials and tribulations is an entire Internet Marketing System designed for small businesses and marketers called GetSticky.

GetSticky systemises and explains the whole Inbound Marketing approach in an easy-to-follow manner, whilst providing businesses with the site and tools to revolutionise their marketing. Its not just hot air, its a system that has been working extremely well for one customer after another.

Read the rest of this entry »

Digital Video Recorders seen as biggest threat to TV advertising effectiveness

According to a recent study, Advertising in the DVR Age (available on www.DVRresearch.com), advertising executives believe DVRs represent the greatest challenge for TV advertising in the next three years. The study was conducted by the DVR Research Institute and was be released on May 1.

Surprisingly, these research results indicate that neither the advertisers nor their ad agencies are confident they have the information they need to make adjustments in advertising strategy to address the impact of DVRs. This is despite agencies identifying DVR’s as the biggest threat to the effectiveness of TV advertising, ahead of the Internet

Nearly 75 percent of the respondents “somewhat” or “completely disagree” that they have all the relevant information about DVRs and their impact on TV advertising.

Read the rest of this entry »