Advertisers have had to evolve to provide support for the unwavering development seen across the advertising industry, but are the ‘experts’ failing to lead when businesses need them to
ADVERTISERS Have continued to fail clients and the wider economy due to a lack of knowledge, faith in what works and understanding of client needs.
While this notion may seem easy to quash and rebuke amidst the consistent increases in advertising spend and revenue, yet how this success is segmented and realised, leads to a damning indictment of an industry bereft of leadership, knowledge and chutzpah.
Marketers omni-industry desire above-all-else, agencies that can provide thought leadership and innovation – yet both are woefully lacking.
As a result of the Richmond Events survey, ahead of The Marketing Forum 2018, the metrics that affect whether a company chooses an agency or not have shifted starkly in recent years – with the clamour for change, actionability, data and measurement rising to the fore.
Amidst this technological assault on traditional and burgeoning agencies and production companies, the creative industry has struggled to provide both service value and appropriate innovations to compliment changing media consumption and business needs.
Ultimately the technology has gradually been developed and harnessed, yet has not enter ubiquity – something that should have changed just through the intuitive business clamour for commerce.
Although success has been relatively stable, linear TV revenues have been in decline, yet its effectiveness has increased.
The fallacy that just using an avenue of advertising because it works in theory, does not translate to actual success.
This tact has acted as a pernicious plague that has pervaded the overall economy and how sales and engagement can be boosted.
As what people regard as experiential or convenience shifts, the technology sector can be used to create either augmented realities, more sensual emotive deliveries and finally ensure that the entire population is delivered adverts.
Before a truly meritocratic, egalitarian and accessible advertising sphere can permeate across all of society, knowledge of the tools, services and software that can assist the creative and production industries needs to be of imperative importance to businesses and advertisers alike.
This situation though is symptomatic of the culture that prevails in the agency/business relationship.
Marketers want control of how their brand is portrayed – they know it more than anyone else, thus the insecurities ensue that ensure of a risk averse cycle that serves to further stagnation and stymie progress and reduce effectiveness omni-platform.
Extrapolations from the Richmond Events report imply a lack of faith in agencies on a business’s part, yet the irony exposed illustrates a lack of knowledge that clamours for thought leadership.
Of the reasons for a business choosing an agency, fostering personal chemistry and offering innovations takes precedence.
For desiring an agency in the first place, the primary reason why marketers choose to work with agencies is thought leadership – something that both sides remain complicit to.
This thought process though is simply indicative of the other outcomes of the survey – with costs being reduced, amount of agencies used, declining and clamour for improved production increasing.
The implication of these findings would point to a culture of fear that is infiltrating the conduct of agencies as they liaise with production companies; trust continues to decline and the amount of time spent with one particular agency is also falling.
Given the aforementioned reasons ultimately posing an unhealthy juxtaposition where integrity and delivery are concerned, the desires of business and tact of agencies are simple not compatible.
In order to nurture improved confidence in agency workers and restore the faith of businesses in their capabilities, an improved technical, creative and anthropological skill-set is needed to arrest the decline.
As businesses look for thought leadership and innovation from advertisers to support them, more will be needed from a skill and versatility perspective from agencies to remain relevant and cost-effective resources for marketers.
Effectiveness; whether something is funny; perception and other emotive factors are subjective to individuals, therefore both the media buying and creative production need to be more intrinsically linked.
If the knowledge base is there and the creative executions can be extrapolated, but improved by newer technologies, the imperative is to have faith and trust in ability – a business needs an agency for a reason.
This lack of confidence aligned to the overall lack of knowledge of a continually adapting industry has lead to decline in trust across advertising.
Until decisions are taken to make adverts more accessible, for more experiential, convenience-driven content across all platforms, the leverage of advertising will only stagnate further at a time when it should be enjoying vigorous growth.
Space City has been producing TV, online and radio advertising for over 25 years, with innovation at the heart of production – ensuring profitability and ROI flourish.
Contact the team now and ensure that your next advert is prepared with award-winning creative and emotional flair.
