Daddy, what did you do in the last recession?

I was very small indeed when the three day week was a legitimate concept to bring the nation's economy back into line. It's a curious concept now to think that working less would help.

Back then, the manufacturing and industrial heart of the nation was all about production, and increasing supply without so much thought for demand, until the orders for ships stopped coming. Britain now is far more oriented to service than industrial businesses, and working harder seems to be the general idea all round. We talk of a demand economy, and to be successful we have to know how create demand as well as desire for brands.

Advertising then was about differentiating products from each other, sometimes with a benefit, sometimes with glamour, and outspending the competition was too often the strategy. Advertising (which isn’t advertising any more, of course) is now about experience and brands are diversified services rather than just things you buy off a shelf. Outspending a competitor remains possible. Outspending the competition (just think how many brands were launched last year) just isn’t.

Admittedly there was significant shrinkage in advertising work force in the 1990s, (just post shoulder pads, red Porsches and personal cab accounts). But there was no digital, sales promotion was in the basement and direct marketing was direct mail. Now, there is a real issue about the true nature of talent in the industry, as all of these previous departments have formed their own mini industries, claim each other’s space, and don’t always operate efficiently together. It is less easy to decide how to recalibrate budgets now as it was then.
The good news imho is that there is definitely room for clever people who can bring new ideas for how to take brands to market in new ways, and insight remains valuable. The less good news is that clients expect so much more knowledge, especially about digital complexity, that everyone has to work twice as hard just to keep up. (Just one look at the upcoming Ad:tech London agenda gives us a veritable smorgasbord of clues).

In a harsher economic climate, more questions will be asked about the efficient use of clients’ budgets, and the big question we’re being asked is about how digital will fill the gap. I don’t believe that running TV ads as online video is the answer. Although I’ve commented on the Orange campaign execution, I do think the brand should be applauded for its commitment to new endeavour. The online experience will become, for Orange, the main touchpoint for the consumer. (Read the interview in Revolution). This is already true for many B2B brands, and is really only beginning to kick in mass consumer oriented brands. Amongst the doom and gloom in the national press, this can only be good news for (digital) economists.

Which is your favourite 'I am' ad? Mercedes, Orange or the pet food?

Another ad about me hits our screens. Mercedes has taken a spooky and moody treatment to promote the cars to a younger audience with three TV commercials using 'I am Mercedes' as the payoff. The first aired in May featuring Josh Brolin, star of ‘No Country for Old Men’, and the last has just gone out featuring David Leon, soon to appear in Guy Ritchie’s next piece of work. These ads take time, care and significant investment to develop.

They are artworks. I am Mercedes. But am I any the wiser as to why I should spend £40K on one? I am unclear. It’s not that complicated a brief to sustain the emotive connection the ads make as we go online. Now that pretty much every new car sold is substantively researched online before anyone goes near a dealer, it should be an imperative to have a linked up strategy for the web. But (and I hate to say it again) when I search ‘I am Mercedes’ I find two sponsored links – one to the Mercedes web site, the other to the I am Orange thingy I’ve commented on previously both here and on the MRM Worldwide UK blog. All the natural search links are to various trusted places where I can see the ads again, so that’s good. On the Mercedes web site though, I can only see…the ads again!

And some production sequences as well. Hmm. Two things spring to mind. When will we stop thinking that the making of the ad is interesting to anyone but ourselves? Secondly, in this instance, shouldn’t the online experience be the starting point? 

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That ad gave me a heart attack.

Steven Berkoff is a compelling, forceful and powerful stage presence. This ad, endeavouring to show us what it feels like to have a heart attack, seemed to me to be a good use of of his talents, but one wonders if he could easily have done the job in 30 seconds. Or less. Mind you, being shown only once in the Midsomer Murder repeat says rather more about the state of our ITV than the state of the nation's tickers. I'm just a little unclear about what the ad is asking me to do, other than ring 999 if I happen to have a heart attack. Which, I can assure you, I'll be doing. I think I'll also be going for a run later.