In this week's paper copy of Dagens Media, five agency CEOs of Swedish agencies Storåkers, Ogilvy, DDB, Garbergs and Saatchi talk about advertising in recession.
Their perspectives are suprisingly reactionary and short-term, and seem to be based solely on the assumption that people will tighten their budgets and shift consumption patterns. Alhtough there might be an ounce of truth in this, it's also an extremely short-sighted perspective that misses one important point: the opportunity of building a strong brand in the long term (mentioned only by one person).
The perspectives are typical of the panicky, short-term and damage-control strategy that you read about in most media articles today – the bland "switch to online and sales focus strategy". But most people know that there's no such thing as one-size-fits-all-brands strategy.
In Recession roundup I posted some articles (especially The Economist one) that act as are good starters to the right thinking: that long-term consumer behavior is an absolute reality, not something you can discount just because the clients wants to hear otherwise.
Agency accountability is not only about assuring short-term effectivness, it's also about having a total perspective on their clients' customers, brand and competition in the longer term too.
Lastly, I'm not saying people are stupid monkeys. I'm just surprised that high-profile agency bosses are unable to present more insightful and innovative strategies that they have done.
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