Remember the old days? The days when ad agencies made TV ads, DM agencies put ads in envelopes and SP agencies did shelf wobblers? The days when brands defined themselves in the way they wanted? Simple days.
Now, however, life is infinitely more complicated, everything has become blurred and, actually, for those of us who love constant evolution, much more exciting. Media fragmentation and the growth of digital and social media now mean that brands can no longer control messaging the way they once could.
Brands are no longer just defined by expensive commercials and state-of-the-art websites. They live – and are discussed and debated – on Facebook, Twitter, iPhones and in all the hyperamplified conversations that are the lifeblood of the modern world.
Brands have become what people say they are. What they say is based on their experiences with the brand – and what other people are saying about their experiences with the brand. Logically, therefore, the way to stay ahead of the game is to create experiences that excite, inspire and move people. That, for me, is the role of the modern day agency.
And, I’d argue, those of us in DM are best placed to deliver these experiences. The evolution of DM from predominantly direct mail to multimedia has made us comfortable in an integrated, media agnostic environment. Even more importantly, our heritage in data and insight mean we are the ones who can justifiably lay claim to really understanding consumer behaviour.
But, crucially, it’s not just about the insights we unearth. It’s what we do with them that really matters. These days we can explore infinitely richer, realtime, revelatory data from myriad sources: multi-dimensional data that we remix, mash-up, pull apart, piece together and distil to reveal potent truths.
Brand truths, market truths, consumer truths. Truths that reveal the innermost drivers of human behaviour and that we then transform into strategic stories. Human stories, compelling stories, coherent stories. Stories that ignite all kinds of powerful experiences. Experiences cleverly designed to change how people talk, act and feel about a brand.
So for me, life is now about experiences, not channels. And it’s about creating profitable customer experiences for our clients. For while much has changed, it is our relentless focus on ROI that is still our greatest strength. How we get there may have changed, the end result has not.
Peter Mitchell is chief executive of Rapp London
Are you the same Pete Mitchell who used to work at Link House Magazines? If so, you’ve come a long way mate…I’m impressed!
I don’t know, I quite liked those simple days – at least you could nip out for a beer at lunchtime and no-one gave you a filthy look!
The more you know, the less you understand:
As Einstein said: ‘Not everything that can be counted matters and not everything that matters can be counted’