Ad Forum Worldwide Summit New York Day 3

So by Day 3, normally there have been one or two agency presentations that have not lived up to our expectations as consultants but this year, the standard is extremely high and very competitive - so we have not been disappointed.  In general the US agencies believe that the economy is improving and that business is picking up – they see this in the quantity of new work that is being commissioned by clients.

 

I think it is also important to add from the IAS perspective – that we do not share any of the confidential information that we are presented with during this important week.  As consultants we are privy to a great deal of information from both agencies and clients and our value is being objective and able to assist both parties.

 

The notes that I am sharing in this daily blog are really a summary of observations or of any important comments made during the course of the day.

 

Day 3 of the Summit always includes an hour or two of rest in the afternoon – which is always very welcome after two consecutive 14 hour days of non stop meetings until 22.00 most evenings.

 

This morning we met with Critical Mass – a digital agency born in Canada and now with 700 employees in US, UK, Hong Kong and South America as well  as Calgary, Canada.  Let by a very impressive female CEO, the agency shared their focus with us which is delivering cumulative Customer experiences for clients.  An excellent presentation, very informative and a great start to our day.

 

Some interesting case studies for Nissan – Usain Bolt, Clorox – Green Works and the adidas – make it mine campaign at miadidas.com.

 

We moved on to the McCann Group whose network includes 23 000 staff members across many countries. McCann works hard at making sure that they have a global network of agencies with at least 65% local business – the model is not perfect yet – it is work in progress.  Some magnificent creative work which has won major awards this year at every major competition and for which they are justifiably proud.

 

Lots is planned for the Africa continent so watch this space.

 

We met briefly with the brand new Publicis Worldwide CEO, Arthur Sadoun,   after lunch – he shared with us his early thoughts on the positioning of the Publicis brand in the Publicis/Omnicom Group.

 

After a two hour break we met  with Sapient Nitro – they meet with us as consultants each year at Ad Forum and always have a great deal of news to share. Now numbering 10 000 people with offices in many parts of the world, we are hoping that South Africa will be next on their list of countries – and certainly if business warrants it and clients need it I am told that an office can be opened in a week.  They talked to us about their culture, philosophy and – most importantly – the drive to attract the greatest talent. From a business growth perspective they are looking at double digit growth this year. 

 

And so – once again – after an excellent dinner and charming hosts, we wend our weary way back to the hotel ready to sleep a few hours before Day 4 which looks like this:

 

      Thursday 10 October                              

                8.30 -     10.30 am              Steve Harding, Global CEO, Geometry (Breakfast)

                                                                The Chocolate Factory, (Ogilvy), 636 11th Ave., (bet. 46th & 47th Sts.)

                                                                Lobby Level Theater

                11.00 -   1.00 pm                David Jones, Global CEO, Havas Worldwide (Lunch)

                                                                200 Hudson St. (just below Canal St.)

                1.30 – 2.15 pm                  Michael Roth, CEO,  Interpublic

                                                                1114 Avenue of the Americas, (43rd and 6th Ave)

                2:30 - 3.00 pm    Tara Back, President,, Jack Morton (@ IPG offices)

                4.00 – 5:30 pm                   Brian Prowley, President, iCrossing

                                                                300 W. 57th St., (bet. Eighth & Ninth Aves.)

                6.45 pm                Cocktails & Dinner hosted by AdForum

                                L’Apicio, 13 E. 1st St., (bet. Bowery & Second Ave.)         

 

 

Looking forward to meeting with Geometry tomorrow – Ogilvy’s newest agency and also just opened in South Africa – and to seeing my former colleague Howard Smiedt – a South African now in London and ECD of this newest agency.

 

More tomorrow.

 

Day 2 of the Ad Forum Worldwide Summit in New York City

Today started off with a taped message from Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP in response to key questions we were asking re the WPP group as well as the potential impact of the Publicis Omnicom Group merger.  Sir Martin refers to it as POG – which of course is funny and interesting at the same time.

 

WPP sees the need for more scientific skills within the group in order to manage the future and the needs of data and technology.  He also commented that business in general is much better than in 2009 but is still tough and will continue to be so for some time to come.  Regarding POG,  Sir Martin believes that it is a “fatally flawed” merger, badly handled from a PR and client perspective with little consultation with staff and clients alike. It spells great opportunity for WPP.

 

We then moved onto Group M – the media trading group which contains the four WPP media agencies. An excellent overview of the market in general from the CEO, discussion about “ horizontality” ie harnessing group structures for the benefit of clients across countries and disciplines eg Team Detroit within WPP.  Lots of discussion and questions around media and where the future lies.

 

Y&R was next and it has transformed itself in the past three years under the leadership of David Sable and his team – including a move to new premises – the first move in more than 90 years of being in business.  A whole new energy, great traditions and experience at the top, lots of new young people.  We were shown some of the newest – and very impressive -  work and some interesting new thinking about the duality of brands. 

 

One of the trends observed is that more people have access to mobile phones than to toothbrushes or toilets – makes you think!

 

Y&R in South Africa and Africa is of course very strong and the conclusion of the transaction with Native was a feature of the growth in the VML (digital ) Y&R network.  A delicious lunch on the rooftop of the agency premises with a magnificent view of Central Park rounded off that visit.

 

Good discussion then among the consultants only around agency compensation and why agencies need to articulate their thoughts on what makes marketing spend different from any other spend pool for a marketer.  More on that at our next Subscriber master class – 10 key messages.

 

We then moved on to MRY – which is a merger between Mr Youth and LBi and now owned by Publicis. Brave and creative social media work on a big scale and competing with R/GA and Razorfish, this full service digital agency believes in creating connected ideas make people’s lives better.  They use data to predict consumer behaviour and then supply the products and campaigns which will meet those new needs. 

 

Finally our last destination for the day was Wunderman – where we learned about Emotional Data along with how Wunderman views the future.  An excellent dinner with a very stimulating group of Wunderman people rounded off what was certainly a most stimulating second day of the Summit.

 

Day 3 looks like this: 

 

 

Wednesday 9 October

                9.00 -     10.30 am              Dianne Wilkins, CEO, Critical Mass (Breakfast)

                                8.30 – 10.00 am Meet at the Apartment, 101 Crosby St.

                                (bet. Prince & Spring Sts.)

                11.00 -   2.00 pm                Diamond Harris, CEO, McCann Worldgroup (Lunch)

                                10.30 – 1.30        622 Third Ave., bet. 40th & 41st Sts.

                                2.00 – 2.30           Miles Nadal on MDC Update

                                                745 5th Ave, (58th St)

                2.00 -     5.30 pm                Open Afternoon

                                6.00 pm                Gaston Legorburu, Executive Director, SapientNitro

                                                40 Fulton Street (Pearl St.)                                          

                                                Dinner hosted by SapientNitro, same location

  

 

We might even have time for a short rest in the afternoon!!

 

More tomorrow.

 

#adforumsummit – follow us on Twitter.

 

Day One of the Ad Forum Worldwide Summit in New York

Day 1 is always a big day for a number of reasons.

 

Firstly it is often the only time the consultants have seen each other in a 12 month period and there is always a lot to catch up on.  For many of us we have made real friends as a result of this Summit and it always good to see friends.

 

Secondly – on Day 1 we have a lot of energy and spirits are high.  This year is no exception – especially as we are meeting  with or hearing from all five of the marketing communications holding companies.

 

But first today it was to MediaCom – who impressed us with their business focus and “a shared belief that everything is connected” with three excellent case studies – Gillette and body grooming in Latin America, Nerf – a toy gun in Germany, and Coca Cola content development. The big question with media agencies is where do they start and end as increasingly our observation is that they are more and more involved in content. MediaCom commented that they want to continue to collaborate and assist with content development but that the role belongs to the creative agencies.  We will see.

 

Second up was Grey  - who have experienced a remarkable renaissance under the stewardship of Jim Heekin in the past three years. A veteran of the industry, Heekin pulls no punches and has surrounded himself with a brilliant team.  They have focused on their internal culture – a long neglected area within advertising agencies traditionally – and the positive results are proving to be very worthwhile regarding client business, creative effectiveness and profitability.  We wait for them to re open in Johannesburg and are assured that it will not be long before this happens. Meantime they are chalking up successes in other areas and countries and breaking new ground from a virtual perspective.

 

Shopper Marketing was the subject for the afternoon and we met – three speed dates – with three separate companies. The content of the presentations was rich and varied and proved to me that we need to focus on helping our clients find suitable companies – not only agencies – which will assist them with this vital part of the marketing spectrum.  Lots more to talk about here.

 

WE met with Maxus – media agency and part of Group M in the late afternoon.  Relative new comer in the media space and the fastest growing media agency with significant global business but a pride in the fact that they are a global network of local agencies. A refreshing and uncomplicated approach to media and the courage to have two global clients – S C Johnson and Barclays – attending the session and describing what it is like to work with Maxus.   It would be great to have them open up in South Africa – plans are afoot.

 

Finally we met with Huge.  Creative digital agency, born in Brooklyn and now with offices in London and Shanghai as well as six offices in US alone.  Significant clients and part of IPG they are an agency to watch.

 

And so to bed before another full day tomorrow.  Agenda below – we cannot be late for Sir Martin.

            

 

Tuesday 8 October                         

                9.00 -10.15 am   Sir Martin Sorrell on WPP (Video) (Breakfast)

                                                Dominic Proctor, CEO, Group M Update

                                                @ JWT, 466 Lexington Ave (46th St.)‎

                10:45 -   1:45 pm                David Sable, CEO, Y&R  Brands (Lunch)

                                                3 Columbus Circle

                2.00 -     3.00 pm                Consultants roundtable:  Agency Compensation  policies

                                                Moderated by Gerry Preece

                                                Y&R, 3 Columbus Circle

                3.30 - 5.00 pm    Matt Britton, Founder & CEO,  MrY

                                                11 West 19th St. (bet. Fifth & Sixth Aves.)            

                                6.00 pm                Daniel Morel, CEO, Wunderman

                                                Museum of Art & Design

                                                2 Columbus Circle, 7th Floor

                                                Dinner hosted by Wunderman, same location

 

 

Twitter: #adforumsummit

 

Arriving in New York this morning after a 17 hour flight was – as always – an exhilarating experience.  Kennedy Airport was at its most efficient this morning ( whereas last year they were on a go-slow) and more than 300 passengers were through immigration ( finger prints et al) within 40 minutes of landing. Impressive.

 

Autumn is only just starting in New York – they have enjoyed a late summer and New Yorkers are still in summer clothing and all looking quite relaxed.  The government shut down does not appear to be affecting daily New York life – although it is early days.

 

Ad Forum always tries to select hotels which represent the new trends in New York – and the Refinery is no exception.  A new hotel created in New York’s garment district – it has been renovated from the old Colony Arcade Skyscraper.  It is brand new – and surrounded by small interesting shops and diners – the shops often being in the garment and accessories trade – heaven!

 

The position of the hotel – between 5^th and 6^th Avenues on 38^th Street, makes it the ideal spot to start each day of meetings at ad agencies.  The week coming up is probably the fullest agenda that I have seen since I first came on one of these Summits some six years ago.  We are seeing all of the holding company CEO’s – either in person or on video conference – as the big issue under debate this year is the Ominicom/Publicis merger and what the industry thinks about it and the broader implications.

 

The other big theme this week is Shopper Marketing – the last mile.  Very topical and our quest is to discover what agencies are doing about it. 

 

On Sunday – we have a few hours of leisure and time to look at New York ( catch up on some work as well) then we meet in the evening at the hotel with all of the consultants so that Ad Forum can preview the week with us.

 

Day 1 on Monday looks like this:

 

Meeting at hotel with Ad Forum and the 40 other consultants coming in from all over the world from 8.00 am.

 

9.15 – MediaCom – CEO Sash Savic    - breakfast session at MediCom

 

11.15 – 13.15 – Jim Heekin CEO Grey Group Worldwide – lunch

 

13.45 – 14.30  A perspective on Shopper Marketing – Aidan Tracey President of Acosta Mosaic Group

 

14.30 – 15.00 – Panel discussion – Shopper marketing : Agency reviews

 

15.15 – 15.45 – Ken Barnett – CEO, Mars  

 

15.45 – 16.15 – Paul Price, CEO Creative Realities International

 

16.15 – 18.15 – Lindsay Pattison – CEO,  Maxus

 

19.00 – Dinner hosted by Aaron Shapiro, CEO, Huge

 

And we will be finished (literally) by about 22.00. 

 

That’s a 14 hour working day from start to finish!   Our role as consultants is to listen, ask questions and keep ourselves informed about what the agencies are doing to identify and embrace new trends, to give feedback and to bring our news back to home country to share with our clients and agencies there.       

 

Day One is always the first of a stimulating five days of discussion and this will be no different.

 

Watch out for my summary of the day – which I will be sure to do before I fall into bed on Monday night.

Follow us on Twitter at #adforumsummit

 

The client/agency relationship blog: Why every ad agency needs a new business director

The client/agency relationship blog: Why every ad agency needs a new business director: The IAS is launching its "Winning new business" course for agencies in the next month and this has come about as a result of it be...

Why every ad agency needs a new business director

The IAS is launching its "Winning new business" course for agencies in the next month and this has come about as a result of it becoming more and more obvious to us that there is a need for dedicated senior people to play this role in the agency environment.

A phenomenon of the 80's and 90's, new business directors were tough, senior, often female executives, whose role it was to market the agency to prospective clients, lead and motivate the pitch team, manage the process.  I wonder what happened to those individuals - there seem to be less and less of them now - and hardly any here in South Africa.  I can think only of one individual - who happens to be female and senior - who has this dedicated role.

It is impossible for the day to day teams in agencies to also think about new business and most CEO's have full diaries of agency management issues along with existing client meetings.  Sadly we see the new business role delegated to a level too low in agency management structures to be forceful.  A junior marketing or PR person cannot lead the new business charge. 

New business people are hunters of note - their key characteristics being:

* understanding that the odds of winning are stacked against them but see these odds as a challenge
* volunteering rather than waits to be drafted
* seeing the obstacles of prospecting as challenges around which to manoeuvre rather than as  justification to abandon the effort
* understanding when to hunt alone and when a team effort is required to achieve the goal
* exalting in victory and recovers quickly from defeat

These characteristics are typically found in senior ad agency people who are resilient and able to motivate the people around them.

I am noticing more and more agency recruitment ads looking for new business directors as agencies start to recognise the importance of the role and why this cannot be part of the role of an account director or business unit director. These "farmers" are far more inclined to look after and grow their portfolio of clients and will often see new business as a distraction to be avoided.

Winning agencies recognise that the funding of a new business director is essential for external marketing and new client growth. We applaud and encourage this move.

    

Why chemistry sessions save clients and agencies time and money

Since we started the IAS in South Africa, one of the most frequently asked questions has been the role of chemistry in a pitch process.  For us - as well as our UK partners - the chemistry session is arguably the most important part of the process. 

Using chemistry as an elimination phase enables both agency and client to meet each other - at the agency's premises - and with a minimum agenda.  This one hour meeting where the quality of the agency team and its questions to client will be the key components, will ensure that neither party goes any further in the "dating process" if there is not a good match.

Realising that this then saves time on both sides as it means that only those client : agency sessions with good chemistry will be worthwhile pursuing, means that unsuitable agencies will not be invited to pitch thus saving them an enormous amount of time and expense.

From a client perspective, the elimination process makes the final pitch decision simpler and faster PLUS there will be a limit to the amount of pitch fee compensation that the client will have to pay to the unsuccessful agencies.  A three way final pitch therefore has huge benefits all round as there will only be two unsuccessful agencies after the final round and, in our experience, if the earlier chemistry sessions have been good, the client is still left with a favourable impression of the agency.     

That is what makes chemistry a "winner".