Coming into Focus.

The Status Quo.
I have, for the last 10 months, been doing an a large amount of discovery into the future of my chosen profession. Blogs. Seminars. Networking with peers, clients and future clients. And some things are starting to become clear.

It is an exciting time. The communications industry has been pulled the shrub backwards and we are better off for it. Had it not been for consumer created content, media proliferation and the economic disaster, we may have never evolved. While painful, the metamorphosis was overdue. Companies, Brands and the marketeers that manage them now have options that make advertising and communications quantifiable, affordable and immediate. An early trial balloon was the what the explosion of cable networks did to the big 3 national networks. Now multiply that by an exponent and today's connectivity picture begins to materialize. Direct, Interactive, Social, Mobile. Crowd-sourced, Collaborative content, Consumer generated. Open-source, Ad supported, Proprietary tech. Add these options to the still valuable 'conventional' means of communicating and the path to meaningful messaging is not unlike driving in Boston. Even with the best GPS system you are likely intimidated by the thought.

Yesterday's Advertising Agencies prided themselves on being Full Service. It was tough but possible to maintain the commiserate services-- account management, creative, production, media. Then medium proliferation encouraged the spawning of smaller shops with specializations mirroring the new mediums. Also during this time the economic meltdown put many talented communicators on the street as freelance consultants.

I wish there were an App for that.
So where does a brand (other than super-mega brands with endless resources) turn to get messages made and distributed to the appropriate targets? Few companies have the staff to keep abreast of the options. Further, the learning curve is so great it is just not feasible to create that knowledge in house. Brands have more important things to worry about (production, distribution, sales, etc) than the most effective way to make, distribute and track communications. Ideally you would have an aggregator. Someone to gather the correct resources for your business. Not generalists that try to be all things to all people, but someone that knows your needs and where to find the resources to fulfill them. Whether they are on staff or at large.

More and more agency folk are going client side to serve this function. But there is also emerging a large pool of talent (from agencies, media and even production) that is available to companies. I would suggest that advertising communications are still more efficient and efficacious when outsourced. Couple that with the fact that the new work force (coming out of school) understands communication but does not understand the old model. This should be a good thing.

My peers in the ad industry will likely spin all of this as just an evolution. Add a resource or two with catchy titles and charge something new on your retainer to cover growing the agency offering. I see it as bigger than a simple step change. I think we will totally shed ourselves of client + agency thinking as we know it. If history repeats itself, we will probably see some consolidation that might put these smaller more agile resource aggregators together under one roof. But the specialization and expertise that are required to know what's what, suggests that 'all-star teams' assembled to solve specific challenges are the best answer. The U.S. wouldn't send the Lakers to the Olympics. Even though they are a great team with a great coach. Instead we select the best from all of the teams and pick the hottest coach of the year.

The resurgence of business partners.
Manufacturers need to find people they trust, and I mean really trust, to help them pick the right resources and activities to best advertise their products. Then they should be open-minded about doing things differently. Today's communications come with ROI. Metrics for everything. You are entitled to know how effect your spend was. If you are not getting some validation from your provider-- keep looking. If your relationship with your communications partner isn't rock-solid, it likely needs rethinking. Today's budgets will not afford the luxury of wasted marketing dollars.

Now I must go. I have the good fortune of having a few brands that have entrusted me to put this model into practice. And so far the baby requires around-the-clock attention.