Brand Ambassadors – the pros and cons

With the recent reinstatement of the Sugar Puff Monster and the possible termination of Gary Lineker’s contract with Walkers, the subject of brand ambassadors has come to the fore. 

Fans of a celebrity endorser will be keen buy a product promoted by their idol. One only needs to look at the success of brands that use well-known sports personalities like David Beckham (Police sunglasses) to see that this tactic is highly successful. 

However, it isn’t all plain sailing. Along with the clear advantages of employing a ‘face’ there are several drawbacks of which marketers must be aware.  Often a brand ambassador can take on a significance that goes above and beyond its original purpose. This was the case for the Flat Eric character used to advertise Levi jeans Sta-Prest range. Flat Eric was designed by Jim Henson and became a cult figure, spawning spin-off toys, merchandise and even a hit single. In cases like this there is the danger that the ambassador will eclipse the brand itself, but of course marketers may not see this as a problem.

 Another issue is the possibility of an ambassador tarnishing a brand by their actions, political stance or reputation. Ethical concerns may render certain brand representatives obsolete or require a shift or alteration. This was the reason behind PG Tips’ adoption of ITV Digital’s ‘Monkey’ to replace their famous costumed chimpanzees. The chimps had been something of an institution since their introduction in 1956 by advertising agency Davidson Pearce Berry and Spottiswoode (later BMP DDB). When the ad campaign began PG Tips was fourth in the market, but within two years it had become Britain’s best selling tea brand. When alternative ad techniques were tested over the years, sales fell, and thus the chimpanzees returned. However, modern sensibilities and heightened political correctness have decreed that their tenure should end, hence the arrival of ‘Monkey’ partnered by Johnny Vegas. 

 Rumours surrounding Gary Lineker’s potential split with Walkers have been brewing since news broke that Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO are discussing a new campaign concept. In this case Walkers may simply want a change after 13 years’ endorsement from the ex-footballer. The danger of overexposure looms large over celebrities; once the public grows weary of a certain face, complacency or irritation may ensue, which would spell disaster for the brand.

 Moderation and clever placement are key. Brands must thoroughly consider potential obstacles and issues in their selection of an ambassador. Once a fruitful relationship has been forged the rewards are manifold.

 Justin Drummond, 
 
Chief Executive - Media Corporation plc
 
 
Justin Drummond founded Media Corp in February 2000, six years after his first marketing business was established. Justin saw Media Corp listed on the London Stock Exchange just a year after its formation, via the reverse takeover of Chrome Technology plc in May 2001. Justin has overseen the rapid growth of Media Corp and was instrumental in the £14 Million institutional placing in March 2005 and the acquisitions of both Eyeconomy Limited, a leading digital agency, and Search Focus Limited, a specialist in sector specific search technology and marketing. 77 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4AY. Media Corporation plc is registered in England. Company Number: 04058698 
 
Listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, Media Corp is a leading internet media and advertising group focused on website publishing and online advertising.
 
The Group has two principal divisions:
 
Website Publishing - Media Corp has a diverse publishing division specialising in online media. Our impressive portfolio of websites includes a number of market leading sites including www.gambling.com, www.onthebox.com,  www.sport.co.uk, www.creditcardexpert.co.uk and www.flightcomparison.co.uk.
 
Online Advertising - Formed in 1996, Eyeconomy|NASH specialises in mass reach campaigns to over 30 Million unique consumers per month via its own proprietary ad-serving and tracking technology for clients including AOL, Dell and American Express.
 
www.eyeconomy.co.uk
 
www.mediacorpplc.com 

Sex offenders will always find a way

The news that Indiana is attempting to keep sex offenders out of social networks is laudable, but in reality, hasn’t a hope in hell of working.
No one believes that Indiana’s legal heads are wrong to try and prohibit sex offenders from using social networks, Instant Messenger and chatrooms, however their method is laughable.

A bill has been pushed through the state’s General Assembly will require convicted sex offenders to register their email addresses every year, and to alert the state within 72 hours of changing it. The penalty for non-compliance is felony charges. Social networks will have to insure that all their members do not match up with the FBI’s sex offender list. That in itself is a good thing, at least they will comply (won’t they?).

But if the threat of jail in the first place if they commit the crime is so rubbish a deterrent, they’ll find a way round this. And they won’t have to even be bright.

I have around six email addresses. One I use for those idiotic sites that still insist on spamming you, one for family and one for jokes and the likes. Can’t even remember what the others are for!

I would never argue about laws that protect children, but this mad law of deterrent clearly doesn’t work, and any criminal in his right mind would register a fake address so the box could be ticked.

However, if the law was to be changed to force email providers to carry out similar checks then that could be workable. Slightly (!) unlikely, but certainly more likely than this mad idea catching any sex offenders.

Only in Japan...

This weeks post takes a solemn tone as I draw your attention to a bizarre yet fascinating use of QR (Quick Response) codes in Japan.

Our friends in the land of the rising sun have come up with a service that allows you to have your tombstone etched with a QR code! When photographed with a camera phone, the QR code takes whoever is paying their respects at your grave to a mobile site containing your personal message.

I suspect Spike Milligan would have had a field day with this technology but I'm not sure if my personal story is exciting enough to warrant a digital voice beyond the grave. Some of you though no doubt would jump at the chance to have the 'last word' and stick one on those who've wronged you via a Multi Media Message. Bizarre though this example may seem, it is a perfect demonstration of why mobile will become such an important medium to advertisers in the very near future.

The technologist & social commentator and author of the prescient ‘Communities Dominate Brands’, Tomi Ahonen, calls Mobile the 7th Mass Media and he believes that it will be more important to advertisers than the fixed web. In his book he cites the usual – although still critical - reasons why mobile will be so important; that it is the only medium that is not shared; that it is always on and always carried. But Tomi’s insight is sharpest when he discusses measurement. In his book he talks about the difficulty of accurately measuring audiences on legacy media such as TV, Radio and Print despite the efforts of BARB, RAJAR and the NRS; he then points to the laser like accuracy with which we can target (and therefore measure) individual users of mobile phones. The handset is not shared so there is no doubt that a unique user is a unique user - the same can’t be said when measuring clicks from that ‘family PC’ in the corner of the living room. Moreover, with mobile we know where the consumer is. And soon, when all the network operators begin opening up their databases we will have access to demographic and, eventually, mobile behaviour profiles. Vodafone is leading the way and has announced that it will offer targeted mobile advertising using demographic information held on its contract database this year.

The virtual tombstone idea then could only be realised with mobile – no other medium allows you to personally interact digitally at the point of experience. And this plays to the point of this post. We are just beginning to learn that the internet is about the exponential power of networked human interaction. Mobile will add another dimension to this phenomenon and I can’t wait to see what impact consuming, reacting to and creating media in real time will have on the digital advertising industry.

A sign of the times

Pepsi’s decision to market its new soft drink Tava at 35 to 49 year olds solely online is indicative of the progress of the online marketing industry. Importantly, it reveals that the internet is becoming increasingly integrated into every audience’s lives. No longer simply the domain of the young, the internet is now a tool that spans all demographics.

With Broadband penetration now one of the key economic indicators to a country’s development, the increasing role of the internet in daily life cannot be ignored. Simpler interfaces and imaginative, targeted sites that do not require technical expertise to navigate, contribute to an increasingly broad spectrum of audiences. While technology-proficient youth are happily creating online identities and chatting on MSN, parents are now speaking to their children across the world using Skype. Boomers are looking for the latest films or gallery openings, people in their sixties are browsing Saga’s online magazine and the police are starting Facebook groups seeking information on specific crimes. 

There are further implications of Pepsi’s decision that show an awareness of online marketing’s power to target highly specific audiences. It embraces audience fragmentation and seeks to target only those who matter to the brand. These are the decision makers and style leaders who will create the buzz. It is all wheat and no husk with a message that, if marketed correctly, will reach exactly the right people. This is a more mature generation which is not intimidated by the internet, more often than not embracing its useability. 

The online environment breaks free from traditionally confined message/receiver models. Marketing becomes a conversation between brand and consumer, with responses that can be measured with unique precision. Has the user clicked on the ad? Have they turned on the sound? Have they downloaded a widget or game? The consumer voice is, as always, incredibly powerful, but perhaps for the first time, marketers can engage in an encompassing dialogue with users.  Pepsi’s decision to market Tava using only online advertising reflects this powerful new relationship between brand and consumer and acknowledges that it is one that now affects every audience. Brand leaders from all demographics look to the internet for what is fresh and new, whether it is Daily Candy updates (cleverly utilised by Pepsi for Tava) or the Times online.  

During a time in which many companies are reining in their marketing budgets, preparing for trouble in the US markets, online advertising is the least affected. For many, this constantly expanding space delivers more measurable results. Pepsi’s decision to market Tava gives the brand an authority through its delivery by consumer buzz rather than by television or print advertising. By focusing on an online campaign Pepsi can create a brand image that is not passively delivered but rather ‘discovered’ by users through its association with leading sites and arts and music events. A brand that successfully engages users in this organic way can take a very powerful hold in the consumer mind that is hard to match in any other medium.

Chief Executive - Media Corporation plc

Justin Drummond founded Media Corp in February 2000, six years after his first marketing business was established. Justin saw Media Corp listed on the London Stock Exchange just a year after its formation via the reverse takeover of Chrome Technology plc in May 2001. Justin has overseen the rapid growth of Media Corp and was instrumental in the £14 Million institutional placing in March 2005 and the acquisitions of both Eyeconomy Limited, a leading digital agency, and Search Focus Limited, a specialist in sector specific search technology and marketing.

77 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4AY. Media Corporation plc is registered in England. Company Number: 04058698 
 
Listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, Media Corp is a leading internet media and advertising group focused on website publishing and online advertising.
 
The Group has two principal divisions:
 
Website Publishing - Media Corp has a diverse publishing division specialising in online media. Our impressive portfolio of websites includes a number of market leading sites including www.gambling.com, www.onthebox.com,  www.sport.co.uk, www.creditcardexpert.co.uk and www.flightcomparison.co.uk.
 
Online Advertising - Formed in 1996, Eyeconomy specialises in mass reach campaigns to over 30 Million unique consumers per month via its own proprietary ad-serving and tracking technology for clients including AOL, Dell and American Express.
 
www.eyeconomy.co.uk
 
www.mediacorpplc.com 

Here's 50 mobile pounds for every web pound you spend

It's the day after St Patrick's day and I'm trying to discover the best hangover cure. Once again, I found myself in a Soho bar, contemplating Ireland's performance in the Six Nations and sipping my quota of the black stuff to earn my tall blue and green hat. At some point during the night, I wondered why I was doing this. Was it simply the challenge of a earning the triumphant right to wear a silly looking hat? Was I paying tribute to my Irish roots? What is clear, is that the brand managers at Diageo have stumbled upon a very simple driver to stimulate St Patrick's day behaviour that defies normal logic and reason.

So as my stare into my effervescent cure, I am reminded of a similar behaviour that defies normal reason and logic. Mobile advertising click through rates (MCTRs) are fifty times higher than web, yes 50 times higher! There is now ample evidence, both research studies and validated case studies, to prove it. Yet mobile remains the poor cousin when carving up the digital budget. This should raise alarm bells with advertisers. If a digital advertising pound can stimulate fifty times more of one type of measured behaviour in the mobile environment, why is it allocated only a tiny percentage of the digital budget?

I have put this question to marketing directors, agency heads, agency account planners and media planners and this is what they say:

Marketing director: 'We need to get to grips with the web first.' This is a very interesting point. Digital budgets are growing fast, as more advertisers move budgets across and their time is taken up with understanding a new media environment, effectiveness and new insights, but advertisers need to realise that mobile is now the web too, and that getting to grips with the web should include mobile, otherwise they could miss a crucial investment in the most highly performing channel in the digital mix.

Agency head: 'Mobile doesn't have the scale of TV'. Mobile penetration of UK households is higher than TV, but key is that 3G handset usage is approaching the tipping point quickly and as mobile internet usage and flat rate pricing is taken up, mobile advertising exposures to support it, should see an exponential rise. I remember the same argument against web advertising some years ago, and now it has crossed the chasm, the serious advertising budgets have followed fast.

Digital agency head: 'It's all part of the digital mix we consider'. So why aren't digital agency heads allocating more time, resource and digital budget to mobile advertising? Take a headcount of how many staff are allocated to mobile in digital agencies and it will be small across the board, strange for a media that offers a multiplier of 50 on CTRs. The fact is digital agencies are busy handling the substantial growth in web based advertising, and mobile requires specialist creative, technical and strategic support. Digital agencies need to build mobile divisions now if they stand any chance to be ahead of the curve.

Account planner: 'We need to understand when the early majority will arrive'. Big advertising budgets beget generous research budgets as the risk of getting it wrong is higher. So what about opportunity research for emerging markets, how many planners are given adequate budgets to track consumer uptake of mobile internet and advertising? In today's complex, fragmented media landscape it's few and far between and the high risk for planners is that the train has left the station, packed full with the early majority, before they heard the doors close.

Media planner: 'We need to measure beyond the click, we need the whole behaviour'. I'm in total agreement that understanding complete behaviour is crucial to planning advanced digital media, but what we are seeing now is that planners are ignoring the fact the mobile pound can stimulate fifty times more of one type of measured behaviour, because they can't apply advanced web based metrics to a media in its infancy. This begs the question, what other types of behaviour can mobile advertising stimulate that far outweighs web or traditional media? As one heavyweight planner said to me yesterday, 'the CTR behaviour alone merits far more serious exploration by planners'.

So you see, the answer to the question is a complex one and not at all black and white, unlike the cure in a pint glass that I have now decided to opt for.

Politics aside...

Mark Bainbridge was a worthy winner of Revolution’s Digital Marketer of the Year accolade. He is, after all, the man tasked with marketing the British Army to a country whose majority opposes Western military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan, the operations that receive the most media and social commentary.

Of course, these controversial operations don’t represent all that the Army does, from international humanitarian aid to preserving safety more locally.

The Army’s new ‘To The Best’ campaign, a public support push launched this week with a national television campaign, also invites the public to offer online messages of support to the men and women serving our country.

Video clips on the site range from an elderly Yorkshireman thanking the Army for its help during the floodings, to a family’s humorous well-wishes from their sofa to their serving dad, via numerous subtitled heartfelt messages from war-afflicted areas across the world.

Cheesy? At times, but then again, the Army is involved in emotive work that provokes profound reactions.

The public quite rightly has the opportunity across media channels to express reactions ranging from support, to confusion, to outrage at what’s happening in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This site is an important addition to that conversation - one that recognises that while 65 per cent of us don’t agree with current operations, 87 per cent of us still support our soldiers (according to Army-commissioned research).

The question now up for public debate is whether the estimated £2m poured into the campaign could have been better spent elsewhere by the Army, say on equipment.

Successful Mobile Marketing - not if, but when

It’s normal these days to walk down the street and weave in and out of people talking, texting, emailing and browsing the net while on the move. It’s a sign of the fast paced age we live in; multi-tasking is a way of life.  So there’s little doubt that the next logical step for mobile users is the purchasing of goods using mobile phones.  Mobile marketing has moved on from the days of frustrating SMS alerts and now takes the form of text placements and banner ads.  Consumer behaviour may take a while to adjust to the opportunities that will inevitably open up to them, but I have every confidence that they will make the transition.  And with this, exciting prospects for mobile marketing will continue to emerge.  The question is, how will this mobile advertising revolution come about?

Global expenditure on mobile search advertising is forecast to leap considerably from £42.3m in 2007 to £1.94bn by 2012.  Although the figures are small compared to online search advertising (which will increase from £7.49bn in 2007 to £20.2bn in 2012) it is good news for advertisers keen to harness the potential of mobiles as vehicles for ad display.  Indeed, Yahoo! has recently finalised a deal with 3 to broaden their lead in UK mobile space.   

Writing in the NMA magazine earlier this year, senior analyst for eMarketer John Gauntt stated that “mobile is the only other interactive platform that enables search marketing to penetrate new areas”.  Mobile search patterns have already begun to reflect their online counterparts, and improved content, enhanced search capacities and better deals are pushing things forward. The growth in mobile paid search has also driven the development of affiliate marketing on mobile phones. But before mobile buying can happen, the problems of current user behaviour and platform division need to be settled.  An approach that is likely to encourage users to hit the ‘buy’ button on their mobile screens is to increase the quantity of ads they see by a huge margin.  Advertisers may change banners frequently in order to hold interest, but even with high click-through rates and promising proposed statistics, affiliate marketing is only viable if a large number of consumers are searching and buying goods daily.  Indeed, there is the argument that overall contribution to sales should be rewarded instead (as affiliates are increasingly able to demonstrate the value they add through user tracking systems).  Yet the major prospects for affiliate marketing will come only when consumers begin to take the mobile phone seriously as a zone for monetary exchange.   

So why is mobile shopping taking so long to catch on? It is largely down to awareness and ease of transition.  According to Ofcom only 44% of mobile users know they can access the internet on their handsets.  Also, people are wary of switching their purchasing habits from the computer screen.  A changeover will have to be supported by other platforms in order to capture the consumer on a range of levels.  Multi-platform brands like The Sun help users to feel at ease with both print and online formats, making for a more comfortable progression to the mobile.   

On the technical side, newer handsets, lower data charges and mobile browsers are helping, but content must be adapted to match the technology.  Appropriately designed mobile pages that allow easy navigation and make use of the space they have will need to be constructed; in so limited a space, copy will have to be skilfully written.  At a crucial time for the mobile’s potential, the BBC has done just this, relaunching a new site design with fresh content on mobiles supported by a four-week marketing campaign targeting UK football fans.  It is one of most popular destinations on mobile web with more than 2.7m unique mobile users a month, and now offers a new provision for BBC iPlayer on the iPhone and iPod Touch. 

 Justin Drummond, 

Chief Executive - Media Corporation plc

Justin Drummond founded Media Corp in February 2000, six years after his first marketing business was established. Justin saw Media Corp listed on the London Stock Exchange just a year after its formation via the reverse takeover of Chrome Technology plc in May 2001. Justin has overseen the rapid growth of Media Corp and was instrumental in the £14 Million institutional placing in March 2005 and the acquisitions of both Eyeconomy Limited, a leading digital agency, and Search Focus Limited, a specialist in sector specific search technology and marketing. 

77 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4AY. Media Corporation plc is registered in England. Company Number: 04058698 
 
Listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, Media Corp is a leading internet media and advertising group focused on website publishing and online advertising.
 
The Group has two principal divisions:
 
Website Publishing - Media Corp has a diverse publishing division specialising in online media. Our impressive portfolio of websites includes a number of market leading sites including www.gambling.com, www.onthebox.com,  www.sport.co.uk, www.creditcardexpert.co.uk and www.flightcomparison.co.uk.
 
Online Advertising - Formed in 1996, Eyeconomy specialises in mass reach campaigns to over 30 Million unique consumers per month via its own proprietary ad-serving and tracking technology for clients including AOL, Dell and American Express.
 
www.eyeconomy.co.uk
 
www.mediacorpplc.com 

Can Mobile put 'Ad Man' back into Orbit?

Watching the excellent documentary "The Rise and Fall of the Ad Man' last week highlighted to me the importance of print as an ad medium in the seventies.

The style of storytelling pioneered by DDB back then still echoes today with jab-jab-punch copy, irreverent tone and glorious stop & stare photography seen in any of the Sunday glossies. But this combination is no longer enough as consumers have heard the stories before, seen the pictures and only the most thought provoking copy enjoys fleeting consumer attention. So where does that leave the rest? Unviewed with only the unwanted supplements for company in the recycling bin most likely.

Advertisers today need new ways to bring print to life and the good news is that it doesn't take a creative director on a six figure salary to do so. At the Mobile Marketing Awards last week I was taken aback by a campaign whose simplicity belied its ability to engage its target market. Vodafone wanted to communicate the benefits of the mobile Internet to sports loving young men in a way that they could relate to so it rolled out an old favourite and commissioned a series of 'Spot the Ball' print ads. But this was spot the ball with a difference; the consumer was asked to place 'X' not with a pencil but with their camera phone and then prompted to snap where the ball might be. When the photo was sent to a free short code, a WAP link bounced back to give consumers a rich mobile internet experience.

Campaigns like this are taking print into a new dimension. It's a fantastic demonstration of the versatility of mobile to bring a medium - that hasn't changed in 40 years - to life in a totally fresh and engaging way. And new advances will allow brands to literally bring 'ads to life' by asking consumers to view them exclusively through their camera phones.

This campaign is sowing the seeds of a revolution. Cameras in phones are going to be no less than 'remote controls' for consumers to switch on outdoor brand channels and the challenge for agencies in the future will not be which font they should use, but how their print creative will guarantee that consumers will 'switch on' their clients channel and not the competition’s.

Cynics might argue that introducing mobile into print distorts its purpose. After all, when space is available, print allows advertisers to communicate a comprehensive proposition and where space is limited it serves to top up the brand equity tank. But the documentary I enjoyed so much last week concluded with the reasons for the Fall of the Ad Man that we are all now very familiar with; fragmentation, noise, clutter and a cynical ad-fatigued audience. These problems apply equally well when describing the declining effectiveness of print. Mobile then may just be the rocket ship to put it - and our eponymous Ad Man - back into orbit.

Brand Protection – a corporate responsibility?

The recent decision by Steven Spielberg to step down as creative advisor to the 2008 Beijing Olympics has drawn the world’s attention to the political issues surrounding this year’s games, and how they impact corporate sponsors. So is it possible for a brand to ally its name with an event taking place in a country with a dubious human rights policy, or will the brand suffer from the association?

The world of online advertising isn’t exempt from the threat of brand misrepresentation. Last year controversy erupted when adverts for major brands including Vodafone and the Central Office of Information appeared on the BNP’s Facebook page. More recently, multiple ads sold through the Right Media Exchange were appearing on the homepage of MP3 download site Songs.pk instead of the customary header and footer banners. This led to Right Media evaluating their relationship with the advertising network in question, after dropping two networks last year due to concerns over business practice. 

For Vodafone and the COI, the issue is one of misrepresentation as obviously there was no calculated decision to appear on these pages. To be associated with a political party with such extreme policies as the BNP is to risk alienating swathes of potential and current customers – something which is obviously extremely damaging to any brand.  

To some, it is inadequate regulations that are to blame for incidents like this. At present, ad exchanges in the UK do not come under the jurisdiction of a ruling body. European exchange Adjug operates a terms and conditions system in an attempt to prevent sites they view as disreputable from using the exchange, and Right Media is able to check adverts for harmful properties, but neither method is infallible. What is required is a body that will promote best practice and ensure that all exchanges adhere to universally applicable rules, for example the facility to report abuse. The USA has the Media Rating Council (MRC) and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) which oversee ad exchanges. The Internet Advertising Sales House (IASH) in the UK currently operates a code of conduct for the ad industry but their policies do not yet extend to ad exchanges. 

In the absence of a ruling body it is the responsibility of ad buyers to remain conscious that the space in which their advertising appear is suitable for their brand. One solution would be to deal only with trusted high-level buyers and sellers, but this cuts out potentially lucrative areas of the market. The best way to avoid ad misplacement is to maintain close contact with exchanges and insist on full transparency at all stages of advert purchase and placement.  

Justin Drummond, Chief Executive - Media Corporation plc

 Justin Drummond founded Media Corp in February 2000, six years after his first marketing business was established. Justin saw Media Corp listed on the London Stock Exchange just a year after its formation via the reverse takeover of Chrome Technology plc in May 2001. Justin has overseen the rapid growth of Media Corp and was instrumental in the £14 Million institutional placing in March 2005 and the acquisitions of both Eyeconomy Limited, a leading digital agency, and Search Focus Limited, a specialist in sector specific search technology and marketing. 77 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4AY. Media Corporation plc is registered in England. Company Number: 04058698 
Listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, Media Corp is a leading internet media and advertising group focused on website publishing and online advertising.
 
The Group has two principal divisions:
 
Website Publishing - Media Corp has a diverse publishing division specialising in online media. Our impressive portfolio of websites includes a number of market leading sites including www.gambling.com, www.onthebox.com,  www.sport.co.uk, www.creditcardexpert.co.uk and www.flightcomparison.co.uk.
 
Online Advertising - Formed in 1996, Eyeconomy specialises in mass reach campaigns to over 30 Million unique consumers per month via its own proprietary ad-serving and tracking technology for clients including AOL, Dell and American Express.
 
www.eyeconomy.co.uk
 
www.mediacorpplc.com 

Let battle commence

As the relentless march of technological innovation narrows the gap between the online and offline worlds, what type of agency or model is best-placed to deliver truly integrated experiences for today's consumers?Battle? Well, yes, I believe it is. And as my grandad would love to tell you, the battle is rarely won on the battlefield (or pitch room in this case). And this is very true of the daily skirmishes taking place between the digital, integrated and ABL agencies. Talent is changing hands faster than you can say ‘user-generated-content’, and it's a real problem for agencies to, a) find talent and, b) retain it.

It would be impossible to predict who, from an agency model point of view, is going to win the day... but certain things are undeniable.

If ABL agencies are going to retain their profit margins, then they could start by trying to convince their creative departments that there really are more exciting things than TV. And that viral doesn't mean writing a TV ad for YouTube. I've interviewed enough of their teams over the last few years to know this is still a major problem. Some agencies are doing a better job than others in addressing this, but once they've changed this ingrained culture there's still an educational job to be done. The quality of their product is undeniable. But the product that today's consumer wants and responds to is very different to the product the agencies are familiar (and comfortable) with producing.

Digital agencies need a lot less education on today's consumers and how to converse with them. But they could certainly learn a thing or to from the other models when it comes to managing a piece of work from client brief through to final media placement. Ask Mr Wren, or Mr Sorrel who's contributing most to the bottom line, and I think their answer would be a fairly simply one: not digital agencies. Well, not yet anyway. The quality of digital’s work and passion for truly great ideas can be found in abundance in certain agencies (you know the names); the problem for them is more one of building and developing client relationships. Too many great ideas get wasted in front of middle management and, because of this, never see the light of day. Another major issue for digital agencies today is how to retain their home-grown talent – now in such high demand.

The problem for integrated agencies is less fundamental in terms of culture or education. It's more a problem of quality (or maybe perceived quality) in that they need to convince their clients that they're capable of delivering big ideas. The ones that have managed to do this have a potential advantage because they combine the best of both worlds. First, the rigour and old-school processes of the ABL agencies, which keeps them profitable and enables them to deliver work on time and on budget. And secondly, because they’ve been delivering cross-channel communications for years they are naturally placed to make the transition to a world of joined-up communications.

For clients, the job of selecting roster agencies has never been so vitally important – or so difficult and complicated. And for agencies, the successful integrated campaign of tomorrow is a long way from being solved. But I believe that some agencies are closer than others when it comes to producing work that connects all the dots in a way that really identifies with today’s consumers.

Which may well mean they’ll be the last men standing when the smoke has finally cleared.

The trouble with TV is that the screen is too big!

I have just taken delivery of a new 42inch HD TV, which sits proudly on my lounge wall. As a creative, I sat back on my sofa and eagerly awaited to see how good the commercials would look. I wasn't disappointed, they looked fantastic and I excitedly said to my kids "look at this". My son, gave a fleeting glance and then returned to his PSP screen completely engaged. My daughter didn't even look up from the mobile phone screen, as she 'Facebooked' on my flat rate tariff. This screen was just too big to engage them. Big meant sharing a view, big said 'we watch', big invited others to join in your watching uninvited. The PSP and mobile screens however screamed, me,me me! It was just you and the screen, in battle with 'Empire Earth' and 'checking out' what your mates have been up to for the past 15 minutes and no large screen with 6:1 surround sound was going to interrupt that. It then dawned on me that screen size is now in inverse proportion to engagement. The smaller the screen, the bigger the share of heart and mind.

So the point of this observation is that clients sometimes ask "but isn't the mobile phone screen just too small?" which begs the answer, "well the trouble with TV is that the screen is too big!" In creative advertising terms both screens are a canvas on which to deliver a succinct single-minded message. You can fill a wall at the Tate Modern with an installation or deliver the world's tiniest art such as Willard Wigan's micro sculptures, both stir people to react emotionally and intellectually. So too with advertising.

This is not a David and Goliath comparison, mobile phone penetration compares favourably with TV. The challenge now for mobile advertising is a creative one. Fortunately, mobile has always attracted creative minds. Look at SMS, a series of characters and numerals is all you have to paint with, but a global community of artists sprung up overnight who created some outstanding works of text art; radio stations drove listeners to vote via mobile for free by counting the number of rings; and from the screens of millions of teenagers' mobile phones rose a 'text language', the new global semantic, that allowed them to say so much for so little. Yes mobile has its limitations both economical and spatial, but mobile advertising challenges have been resolved in the past, and the new crop of creative talent now pouring into the media will resolve them in the future.

The ghetto blaster was once a cultural phenomenon. It helped to create a genre of music, it took music to the streets and street music to living rooms. Big speakers, big sneakers, big sound and a clear analogy with today's big screens. Then came along a miniscule device called the Sony Walkman and the landscape changed forever. In today's rapidly changing advertising landscape, who knows which direction mobile advertising will take us, but if I was an advertiser I would keep my eyes firmly fixed on the small screen.