The Future of TV

 

“You’ve gotta move forward … as soon as you can figure out what that means.”                             Don Draper in Mad Men, Season 2, Six Month Leave

Abstract: TV is a very important medium in our life and the TV industry has been always changing and adopting new ways and technologies. This time, the change is big and will take the “TV product” that TV stations and media companies are offering to a different level. This might be alarming for some people, but we believe it will lead to more control and better experiences for consumers. It also can be great news for the prepared brands.

Like Everything Else, TV Is Changing

New trends and technologies are changing the way we live, interact and consume everything including TV programs, news and content. If the television set has given its name to a whole industry of content producers, media houses and broadcasters with all the companies and jobs that revolve around them; the same TV set is not going to remain our main tool for news, movies and entertainment watching.

Moreover, consumers’ relationship with TV watching is also changing. Technology innovations are actually going in the right direction, as we see it at least, and giving consumers more and more control over their content consumption as well as their relationship with their preferred programs and stations. The more technology will develop, the faster the current TV model will evolve to give place to a more personalized TV experience.

Things are bound to change; either by throwing all these elements in the “market pot” and wait for a new balance to come out; or by actively contributing to creating the future of the TV business with one clear objective in mind: to offer customers a better experience – Money and success usually should follow. 

 

TV Media Business

This curve jumping change is also going to change the nature of the TV ad business. The products and the tools of the TV media sales will not be the same.

·         The “holy grid” of TV stations is eventually going to disappear.

·         Linear TV model for All where the stations and the network control the delivery is going to shift into a more personal and flexible TV experience that is more controlled by the viewer.

 

·         The new TV experience will go outside the current home viewing setting thanks to the growing coverage of Wi-Fi and mobile internet.

 

·         Telecom companies will be in a position to provide the backbone and delivery networks for TV services and will be able to claim a bigger cut of the market.

 

·         Global brands like Google and Apple might come up with complete ecosystems for their TV experience that can bypass many players in the current chain.

 

·         Channels will be replaced by applications (that will offer a new experience and on multiple viewing devices including smart TVs)

 

·         Waiting for TV programs, and having to watch advertisements will become something of the past if not from the past already in some other markets.

In addition to TV stations, the TV related media business would have to reinvent itself. It also can take the lead in change in order to maintain the competitive edge of the brands they represent.

TV stations that are funded by governments do not follow the same market dynamics and do not have the same concerns; but eventually will embrace the same technology and the same consumption mode.

With the disappearance of the linear model, TV advertising and the whole model of TV monetization will need to be reinvented to link the new TV experience with a fair economic model that is good for both the TV industry and for the consumer who is used to Free TV in many markets. The way we see the future model is a combination of a lot of free general content combined with very affordable paid premium content whether through subscriptions or advertising.

Consumers will be able to customize their viewing experience, using their online profiles across different devices and platforms which will offer marketers with new possibilities for accurate consumer segmentation and profiling.

 

Create Content and Adapt Content

The change is not going only to affect the TV consumption mode and TV advertising but will also need a new strategy for Content.

Viewing time, place, mode, and device will all have their influence on content consumption and the type and format of this content.

Besides political and business News that has to be Immediate, Accurate and Insightful, but will fade very fast; other types of content will have a longer shelf-life, and even they can have many lives through reruns, re-diffusion, dubbing and adaptation to different markets and different audiences around the globe.

Here we are still talking about the same old formats of movies, series and entertainment programs in initially designed to be consumed via a TV set facing people on a couch with relatively an uncompromised attention.

However, this is not going to be the only consumption mode. Therefore, content has to be adapted and new content created for different devices, occasions, timing and places.

The new TV consumption devices are highly reliant on broadband and Wi-Fi and have smaller screens, and follow a different consumption mode especially for smartphones that are by nature used “on-the-go” “when people do not have the kind of time and attention compared to traditional viewing scenarios.

Factors like these will command new content or new formats of the same content.

 

The Drive of Change

Change is not something we fear and try our best to deal with it when it comes. Change is the real market driver that will keep pushing brands and businesses to constantly improve and deliver better products and services to consumers.

Even more, change is more likely to happen when we are not satisfied with the status quo, or the current state of things or technology. Change is necessary for each and every category to keep improving, offering better products and better services.

For brands with clear purpose and real consumer focus, the drive for change is the desire to offer a better consumer experience with every new product and service. This is what differentiate between brands that are driven only by the economic side of things and those that are keeping an eye on a mission beyond business that can varies in terms of the articulated “mission statement” but at the end it will contribute to same objective.

What Could Be exactly the Future of TV if left to reactive corporate decisions? – It will be difficult to predict.

However, what “Should Be” the future of TV for innovative and inspiring brands? – We can give you some hints about it:

·         The Future of TV is more enjoyable, more personal and more rewarding.

·         The Future of TV is more flexible and can happen anywhere anytime.

·         The Future of TV is going to be free or very affordable for some premium services.

·         The Future of TV is going to be more diversified with programs adapted to small screens, big screens, long viewership, short viewership, high attention, low attention, etc.)

·         The Future of TV is going to need a new format for advertising or monetization in general.

 Now, what choices do we have? – Wait or Innovate.

 

Wait or Innovate

If “the best way to predict the future is to invent it”, the best way to deal with the changing TV scene is to be part of this change and innovate instead of being forced to adapt to innovations.

Let us offer consumers new and more enjoyable experiences instead of keeping them imprisoned in an old system.

The only two alternatives available for all the players in the industry are Wait or Innovate.

Wait until others try the new models then follow with some learning or, Innovate, lead the way and be the first to come up with new offerings and better experiences for consumers.

We usually expect the market leaders to innovate invent and come up with new ideas and systems. But the good news is that you do not necessarily have to be the market leader or the biggest player in the category to reinvent the category.

Nokia, was not the inventor of mobile phones when it managed to ride on a booming category to the top of the world. Falling from the top was very hard; but that is a different discussion.

Apple was not even a mobile phone brand when it entered the market with innovative and enchanting products that changed the mobile phone category forever.

Red Bull was not the market leader in beverages, when it created a completely new market and changed the category forever.

Tesla was not the market leader in automotive when it has managed to change many old perceptions about the electrical car through innovation and “visionary common sense”. Now the market leaders are catching up while they had all the time and resources to be first.

The same applies for TV. Globally the best innovations are not coming from the biggest networks. On a regional level, the next TV market leader position is still up for grabs.

 

Jean-Claude Saade (jc.saade@manifestoconsulting.com)

manifesto is a consulting firm that deals with brand strategy, innovation and communication.

 

 

End of the Advertising World

 

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a butterfly - Richard Bach

 

 

Now that civilization and humanity are about to perish, what did you leave behind?

 

May be we should not be leaving anything at all as the knowledge and the methods of this era will not be of any value in a different time and a different context. By the time Humanity finds another planet or the few survivors manage to build a new civilization they will definitely invent new ways.

However, One Idea might be worth sharing and I will now put it in the ArabAd time capsule for the posterity:

Connection needs 2 things: Common Ground and a Convenient Channel and we have to be better in Both to beat the competition – “Common Grounds” are very human and very slow to change; while Channels are changing at a very high speed following technology, innovations, and lifestyle. This is the lesson that was relevant for Don Draper, it is valid today and will be valid after the end of the world as we know it. Advertising people, go find a bright insight.

What is your footprint to be remembered by? What has been your legacy during the last 25 years of working in the communication field in the Arab region?

ArabAd is celebrating its 25th anniversary and it is still going stronger and younger while the years are making their marks on the rest of us.

“Legacy” is a big word and better left for the big egos of the industry to talk about.

Over the past 25 years we have done our jobs to best of our knowledge and above all we followed our passion to this business. We loved what we do, we have done it in the best way possible and with every idea and every presentation we thought that we were changing the world.

Good years and not so good years but overall we have reinvented ourselves and the industry several times in those 25 years. And yet we still need to invent marketing communication every day till the end of days.

Let the future generations’ judge the past 25 years of Advertising in the region. What I am going to do before the end of the world we know is to remember few things from this period that passed so quickly that I cannot believe it’s already 25 years:

• We remember advertising before desktop publishing with typesetting and bromide machines.

• We remember advertising before satellite TV and now with hundreds of stations.

• We remember the days where “copy strategy” was all the strategy needed.

• We remember big names in advertising today carrying artworks and running to their clients.

• We remember advertising before the internet and advertising after the internet.

• We remember big pitches and presentations being finalized and rehearsed at 3 am in the morning.

• We also remember fake pitches and tons of wasted hours and ideas.

• We remember flights before dawn and black suites in 45 degrees Celsius.

• We remember winning new business and adrenaline reaching the sky.

• We remember times when there was no strategic planning and how those 25 years changed planning to what it is now.

• We remember all the real geniuses who built advertising in the region and we also remember the crooks and thieves who tarnished the industry reputation.

• We remember when advertising in the region was a Lebanese club – and how it is not anymore.

• We remember the empty heads and the empty suits.

• We remember the golden age of the MBUs followed by the invasion of Branding agencies.

• We remember the crisis of 1998 and 2008 and the ones that will follow.

• We remember the buzz about Digital, like it is now about Social Media Marketing and the next trend that will affect how brands will be talking to customers yet the core of brand communication remains the same.

We remember all that and more. We look at a life spent in Advertising with no regret and no remorse. Let the world end Now.

Do we have to leave any of this in the ArabAd time capsule? – If this is really the end of the world, let me finish my presentation…


Jean-Claude Saade

Dictators, Idols & Brands

The recent events in Tunisia then Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Iran, Oman and Libya are writing history in the Middle East region. Popular uprisings that are bringing down long-standing regimes and changing countries in a unique form of awakening are worth observing and drawing key lessons that are not only relevant only for dictators and public idols but also for brands.

Uprising of the Masses
30 years as president of a tight-grip regime, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt was pushed out of power after a couple of weeks of street protests. Few days before the start of the events in Egypt, another long-standing autocratic regime was removed from power in Tunisia. Interestingly, these events and popular movements seem very contagious and generating a typical Domino Effect that started somewhere in Tunisia and we don’t know where and when it is going to end. Already popular unrests and manifestations are coming to the surface in several countries in the Middle East and the Gulf region and trying to replicate what was achieved in Tunisia and Egypt, sometimes with the same battle cry.

The believers in global conspiracies are accusing their “usual suspects” and they are happy elaborating on their prophecies and analysis. Although, we should not rule out the influence of well planed manipulation from outside the borders, the phenomenon itself seems more complex than what could be the acts of secret service agents pushing buttons in a dark room somewhere.

We have seen this phenomenon before in different countries and for different reasons and we still do not pretend to know all the secrets of its science. We can just observe and note down “what it is” and “what it is not”.

It Is:
• Massive and powerful.
• A change factor.
• Unstoppable once it has reached its tipping point – and till a key symbolic objective is achieved.
• Rallying different groups of people with different ideas and convictions.
• Self organizing and generates its own unique strategy and unifying objective.
• Somehow seems rational, but it is mostly driven by emotions.

It Is Not:
• Controllable.
• Totally peaceful.
• Self-aware.
• Sure of the outcome.

The recent revolutions were not just about poverty and corruption as these did not happen overnight and will not be solved the second day the regime is changed. These popular uprisings are the results of a Public Opinion pushed by an accumulation of favorable conditions, convenient timing and a spark of a triggering event that will put the streets on fire.

The Public Opinion is about opinions, not about facts. It is a subjective judgment about which people are divided and gathered. Therefore, it plays an important role in the formation and dissolution of the groups that will make the revolution.

The media plays a very important role in forming the Public Opinion and fueling revolutions. Some organizations and countries are possibly using their own media to push the events in a certain direction. Social networks are also playing an increasingly important role in the information and organization side of these popular movements. Public generated information (Videos, Twits, etc.) create a direct access for the people in the street to the forefront of the news.

A mass movement will still need an overarching idea that covers all the personal and individual reasons that push people to risk death in the streets for a cause. This rallying idea that is able to touch the life and imagination of the whole country will be fueled by the dissipating fear and the growing confidence that the regime could be brought down till the events lead to the point of no return. After that it is just a matter of time.

Geography is also part of the “signs” used by the revolution”. The Egyptian uprising did not cover all the cities and regions in the country; it has occupied a symbolic landmark, “Tahreer square”, and that was enough to claim its victory over the regime.

We have witnessed the power of revolutions in the political and national scenes; however, it is rare to witness similar popular uprisings against or in favor of a certain business, company or brand but this does not exclude brands from becoming subjects of public hypes.

In many ways these presidents and their regimes could be considered as brands. They are brands that have committed the capital sin of loosing touch with the public and its interest and therefore staging their own dramatical end.

Revolutions & Tornados
To take a “popular uprising” to the level of a Revolution, a complex system of build-ups and triggers will play their respective roles. Once this system gain in momentum and self-organization we can start talking about a revolution. Any time before reaching that particular level, the movement can fade and die without any significant effects.

From this perspective, a revolution has a lot in common with tornados. The perfect tornado would need a rigorous alignment of favorable conditions (temperature, materials, wind speed, humidity, geography, etc.); similarly a popular uprising needs the coalition of a number of favorable factors to reach the needed momentum and structure.

Another aspect of the analogy between tornados and revolutions is once their formed they gain substantially in power and self-organization and will have definite impact on their environment. However, the results of both tornados and revolutions are far from being fully predictable and controllable.
This time we can almost touch the “Tipping Point” and the “Domino Effect”
The popular movements of the beginning of 2011 in the Arab world are very similar in their dynamics to what happened in the Eastern block in 1989 and the following years. However, these events are providing a whole generation with its first-hand experience with certain public phenomenon that so far we have only knew through books and documentaries.

For the first time, we can almost put a date and a time tag on the Tipping Point of the Tunisian revolution, the Egyptian revolution and possibly on the ones that are brewing right now.

Another interesting phenomenon is the Domino Effect that can trigger and accelerate popular movements in several countries. This effect has happened in 1989 with the consecutive fall of communist regimes and definitely has accelerated the movement, the process and results. In this perspective, the Domino Effect is a contagion of the revolution across borders.

This time The Domino Effect was so obvious and powerful. The Egyptian revolution could not have happened without the Tunisian events, and Egypt is opening the doors and the minds for a whole series of popular protests in Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, and possibly other countries to join the list.

Mass Movements & the Utmost Evil
When revolutions are going through the incubation phase, lots of very rational ideas and analysis feed the brewing process, however, when the spark happens and people are in the street, it is irrationality and emotions that almost take over.

When the masses goes against a dictator or a company they don’t go with SWOT analysis and Pros & Cons sheets in their hands but stones and Molotov cocktails. At that point the subject of discontent looses all its credibility and public sympathy and transform to the symbol of “Utmost Evil”. Consequently, the revolution will not accept less than a very symbolic public execution of that symbol.

The opposite can also be true. When people “love” and support a certain political figure, a huge amount of irrationality feeds the process. He or she will suddenly become for followers the great savior with a spotless record and best plan for the followers and the country. This is just another revolution in the making. All the overthrown dictators were one day cheered and claimed as the saviors and the sole leaders of their countries. Loved idols and hated dictators are the two faces of the same coin with time difference.

The masses create their own idols and then “execute” them in the streets to sooth their frustration and disappointment, mostly disappointment from their own lives and their own choices.

Street Hypes & Crowd Psychology
If we look at the business world, massive uprisings are less dramatic but do exist. Brands can face public uprisings in some situations, but usually the public would be limited to the employees or the customers of a certain brand.

Luckily, when it comes to brands, public movements can happen against or in favor of the brand. The public hype that surrounded the launch of Sony PlayStation, the Harry Potter series, the iPhone and the iPad could be classified under the positive mass movement in favor of these brands sales and reputation. Such crowd movements are worth billions in marketing terms. They can create a “Contagion Effect” in favor of the brand market performance and image.

Public hypes and contagion can disturb the equilibrium of a whole category. For instance, the launch of Apple’s iPhone by a company with very limited mobile phone experience has created a typical public hype around the product that has been translated in a phenomenal success for the iPhone and total change in the mobile phone category that was closely shared between brands like Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG and SonyEricsson.

The Contagion Effect is very influential aspect of popular uprisings against autocracies and businesses. It can catapult brands to the top of their markets or to oblivion in other circumstances. Tenacious public uprisings can remove a long-standing dictator or create the phenomenal business success of the iPhone.

The revolution, once triggered, gains momentum on the street where the emotional contagion of certain ideas and frustrations bond the participants together forming a more homogeneous group. The members of this group will embrace the ideas and frustrations of each other to form a unified voice leading to group movement. People in the streets will “synchronize” with each other as the group is sending powerful messages through verbal and non-verbal communication. Therefore, protestors in the street will mimic the same movements and the same slogans which will ad to the power of the group and the momentum of the revolution.

Similar hypes or group contagion will happen at a smaller scale in a department store on the first day of seasonal sale; shoppers will be influenced by other buyers’ behavior and start collecting items in an impulsive shopping contest.

People touched by the hype of the street will do anything to get rid of their president and his regime even if they need to keep protesting for months in the streets. They are also ready to spend the night outside Apple stores to be among the first owners of the iPhone or the iPad.

These phenomena could be very powerful tools for both business and politics if they are understood and used to build brands and businesses as well as political systems.

The Masses and Brands
Can we imagine the huge benefits if a brand manage to become a symbol attracting and rallying the masses?

Can brands create or trigger a mass movement in their favor and in the favor of their businesses and companies?

For a brand to be able to trigger a mass movement in its favor it has to become a “Public Icon” and a key player in people’s life and wellbeing. It has to earn a unique reputation as a provider of innovating solutions that can improve people’s life and lifestyle.
Such a position is very difficult to build and therefore, very few brands benefit from this unique “Icon Status”. However, it is an extremely rewarding position to be in for the business and the company that owns the brand.

A brand like Apple is not the first brand in computers or the leading brand in mobile phones but it is an “Iconic Brand” that has high levels of appeal and trust among customers and the general public. With its status, Apple can plan and trigger one of these rare popular movements in favor of its products.

Negative public movements can also arise against brands, and if they reach their own tipping point, they can overthrow the brand from its position in the market and in the mind.

When Toyota was facing its technical problems and image crisis in 2010, thousands of law suits and complaints were filed against the company in several markets. Some of these cases were very serious and include accusations that Toyota vehicles have caused death to many people following accidents related to unintended acceleration. These mini-uprisings against Toyota have caused sure damage and losses to Toyota but they did not build enough momentum to kill the brand. Despite some mistakes in handling the crisis, Toyota has survived with limited damage and it has continued to be a leading world brand.

Other brands could not survive their own crisis and were executed publicly – almost in the street – even if the movements that lead to their fall were not all massive public movements. Lehman Brothers, AIG, Bernard Madoff, Enron, and many others have fall down to be bought out by competitors like some “corporate scrap” or executed by the masses like any hated dictator.

President Obama was brought to the White House by what it looked like an American style popular uprising that was the answer to the Bush administration abuses both on the political and the economic levels.

“Yes We Can” change the president or symbol of an administration or a regime but what is expected from these revolutions is a real and sustainable change for the better of the people’s life beyond just a “re-branding” exercise.

Final Thoughts
These revolutions are marking the history and will leave people with many scores to settle stories to tell and lessons to be taken even by businesses and brands. Obviously what brands need to learn form all this is how to become the subject of admiration and love by the masses and to avoid at any price being overthrown or executed like hated dictators.

The path for this kind of fate is never guaranteed but certain elements were proven to provide much bigger chances to success:
1. A clear Brand Vision.
2. An inspiring Mission.
3. A tangible Promise that is fulfilled every time and time after time.
4. A close Relationship with consumers that always maintained and rekindled by innovative products and genuine customer care.
5. Continuous reinvention of the brand and the company to keep pace with the evolving times.

Dealing with the masses is very exciting but also very risky and dangerous. It is like having an elephant as a pet. You can have a long interesting relationship with it but one day you could be crushed in a second and for the very impulsive reasons.

Good politicians and smart brands will know how to deal with their constituencies for all the thrill and benefits of being admired and followed by the masses; more importantly the smartest ones should know how to take the honorable exit before things goes totally out of control.


Jean-Claude Saade

Lean Advertising

Economic crisis, time, and some illuminated minds have brought considerable change to the advertising practices and to the way companies are positioned and services are offered to clients. However, some of the old time methods are still getting in the way of adopting Lean Advertising.


The Obsolete Discussion
The problem with some advertising people is their inability to let go some of the obsolete practices that made their fame and fortunes. In the absence of any regulations or reforms that favor accelerated change, we are all adopting the “Moses Strategy” – waiting in the Sinai desert for the time factor to do its job while the “One-Stop-Shop” and the “Full Service Advertising Agency” continue to be part of our daily business even if their structural fit with future markets is questionable.

The world is changing, business is changing and consumers are gaining more influence over the whole process while the marketing communication industry is still reacting to various types of situations instead of leading the change.

If we cannot change the old-time-methods in the near future, at least we want to open new discussions and offer new alternatives to the lengthy and costly advertising processes that are applied. To situate the discussion in the right perspective, we will briefly visit the consumer and the market.

The New Consumer
Advertising was created to Connect a Brand with a Consumer via sending messages from the brand to the so called target audience informing them and inviting them to buy new products and services that will, supposedly, improve their lives. Now that the most important party in this equation is changing, the whole process has to be reviewed.

The New Consumer is much more proactive, more informed and more aware of his rights. The New Consumer is more active, more mobile, and much busier to remember and interact with advertising messages especially the ones conveyed through traditional channels only.

In many cases the New Consumer is the one initiating the communication process and not the brand; whether it is to collect information about a product or to complain about a less than satisfactory service. Consumers are now more in control of the communication process.

Brands and businesses will have to adapt in order to better communicate with this New Consumer.

Lessons from Other Industries
Companies that have gone lean in different industries and service sectors have clearly benefited from lower costs and increased quality. International companies from different industries have finally realized the benefits of Lean approaches in cutting costs, improving quality, and becoming more responsive to customers. Eliminating unnecessary procedures and wastage leading to maximizing end-user value from products and services is an expected behavior from any brand and company that claims putting the client’s interests as its first priority.

From the Toyota Production System (TPS), to retail, banking and industrial institutions applying the Lean philosophy, we have seen this approach leading to increased customer satisfaction and brand value. However, adopting Lean approaches is a not magical remedy for all marketing sins; Lean companies can still make mistakes and even big ones towards both their customers and their brand values. (As I pointed in my previous article about Toyota’s recent recall problems, Fall from Grace).

Becoming a lean enterprise has fundamentally changed how people in these businesses are expected to think and operate, and companies are expected to get more done with fewer resources than they had before.

In a Lean culture, it is not acceptable at all to take all the risks and make all the wastages and make the client pay for it at the end of the day. The same principle can be applied to advertising.

All We Need Is Ideas
For years Advertising agencies kept saying that they all are in the “Idea Business” and this is just what we need for Lean Advertising to deal with the New Consumer.

With the New Consumers, we need to connect and not only to communicate. Otherwise, we will soon loose them to another brand and another activity that will capture their attention and involvement.

Communication and connection are happening through a large number of channels, mediums and apertures that are beyond the control of just one party.

A brand that is offering a life-improving product or service will soon realize that its message has been adopted by consumers and opinion leaders and it is spreading far beyond its initial plans. In the opposite scenario, a company that has a poor service or a bad product will very soon realize that the damage done to its relationship with consumer is worst than what could be repaired by 10 Public Relation agencies.

At the center of this complex process is an “Idea”. A positive idea in most cases, and a life-altering one in few exceptional scenarios.

Ideas are the working materials for Lean Advertising.

The Doctor & the Hospital
The difference between traditional advertising and lean communication services could be illustrated by the “doctor and patient” analogy.

With traditional agencies, every time the patient visits the doctor he/she ends up hospitalized and all kinds of tests and procedures are recommended and done, sometimes without his/her consent. Ironically, the doctor is, in most cases, a co-owner of the hospital or a close collaborator.

With a Lean agency, healing the patient is the top priority. We can end up at the hospital if we need an operation; but in most cases a combination of traditional and alternative medicine will give the best results.

Moreover, the choice of doctor to advise and help us with our health problem should be based on factors like knowledge, innovation, compassion, experience and a very encouraging track record in treating similar cases. The choice of the doctor should never be related to its capabilities in manufacturing medical devices, medications and medical equipments. Still, those are a very important part of the treatment/solution but a doctor that is too much involved with the process and its economics will not be impartial or totally focused on your problem.

Lean Advertising
Why should clients pay for agencies bad decisions in hiring, firing and complex organizational structures and processes? This is without mentioning the wasted time and effort in taking the initiative in developing campaigns that are not based on a Big Idea that can help the client at strategic or tactical levels.
When we talk about Lean Advertising, it is not only the applied processes but also about the role of the advertising agency in the business chain.

The Lean Agency uses only one currency: Ideas – Ideas that can build brands and businesses; Ideas that can reach consumers, touch their lives and connect with them, Ideas that can make life better. Lean agencies will have to focus on their role as providers of marketing and brand solutions through innovative ideas. The Lean Agency is a marketing and communication advisor that provides Solutions; the execution of these solutions could take a hundred face and form.

Lean Advertising is a more advantageous option for the brand owners as they will be paying only for the best advice and solutions that can benefit their business, their brand and their relationship with customers.

When it comes to execution, the Lean marketing and communication consultancy will assist the client in selecting and commissioning the best-in-breed providers of the different types of marketing and communication services without becoming part of the execution to avoid any kind of conflict of interest.

Lean Advertising focuses on Ideas and Solutions and advises the client in selecting the best execution from branding to production, traditional media to digital and new media, from mass advertising to brand activation and one-on-one experience.

In the Lean advertising model the focus should be on identifying and developing ideas-based-solutions for the particular case of the client. At the same time these ideas are shared with the client for alignment and improvement without wasting time and resources on the ones that do not pass the marketing test or the client buy-in.

This approach can make costs lower. It's economical because potential directions surface early in the process, and blind alleys are quickly spotted. The process actually includes a series of brainstorming and idea generation sessions in which clients become active participants. It also saves cost and client budgets by adapting a problem-solving approach and not a menu-based communication where the agency suggest a long list of products and channels motivated by how much commission and mark-up it can make on each and every element of the advertising campaign (TV, press, outdoor, online, offline, ambient and so on).

Brainstorming and idea-generation sessions encourage clients to buy into a marketing communications and advertising direction, which eliminates wheel spinning and multiple directions. Market research is also used to narrow the focus and increase the chances for ideas to connect with consumers. Understanding the client special case, identifying problem areas and selecting the best ideas to deal with the situation before any types of internal or external production will save considerable amount of time and money.

Adopting a Lean culture not only affect the way agencies approach a certain client project, but also the way they are structured and the kind of people they look for. The Lean Agency is heavy at the ideas and creative level but light on the execution front. Agencies will be forced to have a “Lean” and efficient teams.

Lean Advertising virtually guarantees breakthrough in marketing communications and advertising in record time and at a lower cost than advertising developed in the usual way. Clients will get real solutions while saving on their budgets at the same time the agency will have produced work that everybody can be proud of.

Final Thoughts
To replace the current systems, agencies will have the option of adopting Lean Advertising models. Their future structure will focus more on genuine Idea generator and reduce drastically other functions. Execution is better outsourced, while dead-weight and ego-masseurs could be replaced by professional massage services somewhere away from both the agency premises and reputation.

For those who are still confused or hesitating, it is about time to make a clear choice between being the “doubtful Agent” or the “most trusted advisor”.

Fall From Grace

by: Jean-Claude Saade

Like people, brands make mistakes. But their mistakes are much bigger because they reach millions of people and might destroy the image of the brand leading to a phenomenal fall from grace. This is a paper about brands loosing status, respect, and prestige and how to avoid it.


Power & Vulnerability of Brand Image
This is not is not an analysis about the problems that one particular brand is currently facing. Much better reports could be found all over the media. This is a reminder for all of us about the real nature of brands and how demanding and challenging it is to manage them successfully over time. The bigger and more successful the brand gets, the more difficult and crucial it is to keep control over its activities, image and relationship with millions of customers on daily basis and around the globe.

More than a reminder it is a warning that brand’s problems are literally like earthquakes. A city that will take several 100 years to be built in all its details, monuments, landmarks and character can be erased by an earthquake that lasts only few seconds. The same can happen to brands. A global brand with a world wide awareness and presence that has taken 100 years of hard work and development in the making could be destroyed by one single mistake or a relatively small technical problem for instance.


The Toyota Recall
As if the global economic crisis and its disastrous impact of the car industry were not enough, Toyota is now having its own private global crisis. The brand that was consecrated the world’s biggest carmaker in 2008 after overtaking General Motors is probably facing the worst crisis in its history. This crisis is not only threatening Toyota’s brief reign as the world’s largest carmaker, but also its brand image and reputation for matchless quality and management. The entire brand aura is now seriously threatened.

Problems with “unintended acceleration” of its cars and the slow reaction from the company have triggered an escalating crisis and the recall of a more than 8 million vehicles worldwide. The firm’s reputation for quality, on which the business was built, is now questioned and its market capitalization has dropped substantially. Sales are plummeting, and the company’s handling of the crisis is subject to U.S. government’s investigations.

The recalls occurred within a six-month period, but in fact the cause was at least six months old in each case and five or more years in the case of the gas pedal design. This delivered a pounding to Toyota’s image as a maker of reliable, though somewhat dull cars. Even the Prius has been dragged into the mud. This car is the world’s best selling hybrid car and Japan’s most popular new car of all and Toyota’s flagship in the growing category of the future cars.

This kind of technical problems can happen to any car brand or any brand in any other category. What makes the Toyota case more newsworthy and more alarming for all other brands to take the necessary learning is that nobody is safe from this kind of events. Toyota, the company that invented “kaizen”, or “continuous improvement”, is now stumbling over quality issues. The company has long been regarded as the flagship of Japanese innovation, manufacturing quality, industrial strength and brand discipline. Particularly since its “lean” manufacturing techniques and culture became the envy of the business world. Senior executives from around the world were studying Toyota in order to learn and apply its business principles and methods in their own respective companies and industries.

The impact of this crisis on the Toyota business will be sour and difficult but not without an end. Losses will be absorbed and wounds leaked and within few months of good crisis management, the story is expected to start fading and the pressure easing. However, the impact on the Toyota brand will be more critical. This crisis will definitely leave a lasting doubt deep in customers mind. The company will eventually get over this problem, but the scare will remain on Toyota’s face and will be one of the defining elements for its personality and future.


Brand Legitimacy
Brands, like people, governments, and NGO, draw their legitimacy and right to enter people’s life from one single idea, value, concept or fight. This single concept gives the brand or any other entity in contact with people and public opinion the reason-to-be, without which it will not be the same anymore, if still needed at all.

What is Nokia if it is not Connecting People – what is Volvo it is it not Safe, or at least safer than other cars – and what remains from Toyota when Quality and Reliability are questioned?

Toyota is a brand that has built its reputation, image and success on the concepts of Quality and Reliability. At the beginning, those concepts were particularly attractive to certain specific customer segments but with the continuous success and ascend of the brand it has managed to seduce and convince a much larger customer base around the globe.

With its model of success – widely known as the Toyota Way – the brand has managed to build on its Quality and Reliability as one dominant and appealing promise that convinced millions of customers to say “yes” to its cars.
Despite its limited credits with other automotive category drivers, like design, performance, character, driving pleasure and others, Toyota has managed to build a global successful giant corporation and a big brand. When it needed to address other customer segments that remained skeptical to its core promise, it has simply launched two other brands Lexus and Scion.

To be fair and realistic, Toyota choices as a brand were not bad at all; and 100 years of continuous growth and success is the best proof. In a world where the concepts of Quality and Reliability were becoming so scarce, Toyota’s persistence and delivery paid-off. In the fast-paced modern world where people in general are bombarded with dazzling offers and exciting promises to later find themselves facing the depressing realities of deception, Toyota’s Quality and Reliability were a great relief to its customers. A phenomenal business case that needs to be further studied and explained.

People lacking quality and reliability in their relationships, in their lives, in what they eat and what they wear and drive found a relieving solution in this Japanese brand that is “affordable, never breaks, never stops and if it does it is very easy to fix” – Isn’t that amazing as a proposition. The brand that has convinced the more conservative segments at the beginning, managed to charm more and more customers who found themselves trading their own concepts of dream car for the Toyota experience.

With the crisis that the brand is now facing and the mechanical problems that some Toyota models are suspected to have, the whole image and “Legitimacy” of the brand is shaking. It does not matter much whether your Toyota has this particular mechanical problem or not, it is the concept of Quality and Reliability in our primitive minds that is shaking and could already be looking for another brand to hold its banner.

The danger for Toyota is that its loyal (and mostly satisfied) customers have long believed that the firm was “different” from other brands and thus hold it to a higher standard. The moment that Toyota is seen as just another big carmaker, a vital part of the mystique that has surrounded the brand will be lost and its Legitimacy threatened.

Are we exaggerating a little here, could be. But in the world of perceptions and personal brand preferences the whole picture is based on subjective convictions and opinions. The dominant majority of us are not car experts, and our choices are highly influenced by our perception. Moreover, and no matter what, always our brand of anything is the best till we dump it for another, isn’t it?


Not Alone In Hell
For Toyota, this small mechanical problem will be causing a much bigger image damage that eventually time will alleviate. But Toyota is not the first or the last car make to face this kind of problems. At the very same time that all the specialized media is closely following Toyota’s latest measures and reactions to the problem, Honda is talking about recalls related to airbag inflation problems and VW in Brazil is recalling some of its models.

Audi faced a very similar problem in the U.S. and has taken more than 20 years to recover from reports of unintended-acceleration allegations that ultimately proved to be groundless. Ford image and business suffered from the Ford-Firestone rollover mess in 2000.

Crisis like these are not limited to the automotive sector, history offers many examples. An Austrian cheese brand produced by Prolactal has been taken off the shelves and production was stopped in January 2009 after six people died after eating the cheese that was contaminated with listeria bacteria. In 1982 Johnson & Johnson reacted swiftly after some Tylenol painkillers were found to have been mixed with cyanide. Every bottle of the brand was pulled from the shelves and the firm quickly came up with tamper-proof packaging. However, in this particular case, Johnson & Johnson was somehow perceived as the victim rather than the author of the crisis. Another famous example, from the early 1990’s is that of Perrier, whose fizzy mineral water was found to be contaminated with benzene. The company recalled all its bottles, but its explanation for what had gone wrong was not clear and convincing for everybody. Perrier sales and brand, which had once stood for purity, never fully recovered.


Too Big To Care
People are wildly speculating about why this is happening for Toyota. Quality had gone downhill, and reliability is questioned. Some people and experts are blaming the race for top global position, too-rapid growth, cost-cutting, and weaknesses in the philosophy of the Toyota Way.

All the above might have contributed to the problem. Or to be more precise, they would have created the favorable conditions for this problem to happen. No doubt that brands, businesses and senior executives are under tremendous pressure to deliver. They are dealing with a long list of crisis, fierce competition, difficult goals, and business objectives that makes their role extremely though. But this is not an excuse to make deadly mistakes. Nobody said that being a leading global brand or the CEO of such a corporation is an easy task but being there comes with a bigger responsibility to deliver or die.

Are companies and brands becoming Too Big To Care?

Like we have seen in a previous analysis titled “Brand Vanity” some global brands and institutions have failed because of their vanity-related business practices. We are not sure if something of this nature has contributed to the Toyota crisis, but what is surely happening and needs more study and attention from everybody is that some companies are definitely becoming too big to control their Brand Promises on daily basis.

This is a critical challenge for both brands and customers. When your brand and products reach billions of people, any mistake will have repercussions on millions of customers’ lives and will not leave the brand intact.


Brand Daily Rituals
The question is how Toyota, and any other brand that faces a similar situation, should respond to what has become a crisis in customer trust. What brands in general should do to avoid such a big damage to trust, image and financial value? It is a very though question and probably there is no magical solution that works every time and for every brand.

However, the best recommendation that we can give to brands and businesses is to always keep the highest levels of attention and control on their core brand promise and to never drop their guards when it comes to delivering on this promise in everything they do and say and on daily basis.

Nothing should get in the way of the honoring the brand promise. To deliver the brand promise “religiously” at every moment is what gives the brand its “legitimacy” and its place in the mind and in the lives of customers around the world.

Toyota brand has a long history of success and high customer satisfaction. For decades, the brand was continuously and steadily striving to completely satisfy customers and provide them safe and quality transportation means with zero defects. Within this big corporation a mistake was done and slipped through the system to reach the market and affected people in their lives and the brand in its future. Somebody designed a not so perfect mechanical piece, somebody approved it, another did not tested this element enough, and so one till this piece was assembled on millions of cars that are now recalled. On that particular day – or days – when this part was designed somebody lost focus or stopped too early in the “continuous improvement” process that Toyota preaches and applies. But because this was done within a top global corporation, this problem was magnified to affect millions of cars and people.

This is why delivering brand promise is a very serious business and should become a daily ritual – like a prayer – and the bigger the brand, the more important are the respect and application of this ritual.


Final Thoughts
It won't be clear for some time how badly the recalls have hurt the Toyota brand, but we can be sure that it will. The mythical reputation of the company and its methods is now being questioned. However, Toyota will stay an exceptional manufacturer of automobiles that have earned a strong reputation and millions of loyal owners of which the vast majority will stick with the brand.
Toyota is still a great company at its core, but it is probably fair to say that consumers will never again look at the world's largest automaker the same way. But this will be an opportunity for Toyota and other big brands to take some crucial lessons.

Again, like people, brands work very hard to succeed, then comes the frenzy pursuit of limitless growth and expansion which will loosen the control on the brand promise and culture that in turn will lead to problems and the eventual death of the brand.

Everybody will fall sometime or another, make your fall a soft one. Accept the unexpected when it happens and always be true to the Brand Promise.

Some learning points to remember from the dilemma of big brands:

1. Admit your mistakes and assume responsibility in due time – big size is no excuse.
2. Refocus on the Brand Culture as a daily ritual – Your brand is your long term asset.
3. Delivering your Brand Promise is your reason-to-be – Becoming number One is a plus.
4. Have the humility to build again – People make mistakes, brands too.

What is important is for all of us to take the necessary lessons, Toyota will survive and life will continue.

Brand Vanity

By: Jean-Claude Saade


“Vanity is my favorite sin” – says John Milton – the “Devil played by Al Pacino – in the Devil’s Advocate. To put this in a branding perspective, we need to examine the role of Brand Vanity in the current economic crisis. Taking the necessary learning and corrections will be necessary for the recovery. Is Vanity the worst sin a brand or a company can make? Is this related to the very high prices that many brands and businesses have already paid during the groundbreaking events of the past year? More importantly; how to recognize Brand Vanity and deal with it?


Under the Rubble
The shock magnitude was of disastrous scale and its wave did not stop at the borders of an economic sector, a country or a continent. It has reached the level of a full global crisis. The economic rubble has buried big corporate names with their factories, sky-scraper-head-offices, big bonuses, corporate private jets and divine attitudes. Also was buried in rubble the savings, jobs and economic security of millions of consumers, employees, families and retired people.

This is a large scale disaster that reached literally everybody on the globe in their daily lives, future and dignity. This is the kind of events where billions of people are paying for the cumulative decisions of a relatively small number of economic and corporate leaders. An “all-in-one-boat” situation, or better, an economic Titanic, where few people take the wrong and the bad decisions but everybody sinks in the dark cold ocean.

The results of the crisis touched every one of us in our lives, careers and plans, even with various levels of significance. Therefore, the recovery cannot be complete without a real understanding of the roots and causes of this crisis. From the dysfunction in the existing systems and regulations to questionable practices driven by greed, unfairness and mostly Vanity.

Let us look on few examples of the practices that lead us to the current economic crisis and we will start with greed. Over the years, mortgage lenders were happy to lend money to people who couldn’t really afford their mortgages. But they did it anyway even if they knew that it is only a matter of time till problems will happen. These lenders were able to charge higher interest rates and make more money on sub-prime loans and when the borrowers defaulted, they simply seized the house and put it back on the market to make even more money. Moreover, mortgage brokers packaged bad mortgages with other mortgages and were reselling them as investments. Many of these mortgage backed assets were ticking time bombs. And they just went off.

Credit is a great economic tool when used wisely. It can be used to start or expand a business, which can create jobs and positive economic growth. However, when it used in a bad way and at a large scale it has started a chain of problems that hit the local and global economies very hard.


We will leave the analysis and explanation of the purely economic reasons and cyclical market movements and trends to the experts in the field. However, and at the root of this crisis there was toxic assets and investments but also toxic attitudes and practices that fall in the realm of Brand Values, Brand Personality and Business Principles and need to be studied from a branding perspective.


Corporate Vanity
Economic and business reasons cannot alone explain all what we have seen in terms of questionable corporate behavior. Ignorance, dishonesty and malpractice need to be added to the long list of reasons. However, we are mostly interested in shedding some light on one dangerous factor that we assume it had an important contribution to the crisis: Vanity.

Brand Vanity takes many shapes and faces; and here are some examples that make us suspect its crucial role in the crisis:

A brand that is managed as if it is more important than the life and future of its customers.

A company that pursues its own interests at the expense of any social, economic or environmental considerations.

A CEO or a manager who will influence corporate policies and decision to suit his/her own personal interests and to feed personal arrogance and greed.

The list of examples can easily continue beyond the business and economic circles to any public role and organization…

Politicians who consider themselves more important than the people who elected them and the country that gave them the chance to occupy their public roles.

Media organizations and media “stars” who consider themselves more important than the events they cover and the people they are supposed to inform and entertain.

These are only some of the manifestations of Brand Vanity that can ruin companies, economies, and countries; and trigger a world-scale crisis like the one we have experiences over the past 18 months. A real disaster that will continue to cause massive losses in financial markets, jobs, opportunities, and dreams that will take years to recover.


Vanity & Brand Promise
Vanity: noun (pl. vanities) (1) excessive pride in or admiration of one’s own appearance, qualities, abilities, achievements, etc. (2) the quality of being worthless or futile. (3) Lack of real value; hollowness; worthlessness: the vanity of a selfish life. (4) Something worthless, trivial, or pointless. — Latin origin vanitas, from vanus “empty, without substance”.

One of the most accurate “Vanity Tests” for brands and companies is a comparison between their “Promises” to their real delivery and contributions over a certain period of time; especially through at least one economic downturn. Let us look at few examples from around the world.
Merrill Lynch: “"Merrill Lynch is bullish on America”; “At Merrill Lynch we’re bullish on the future”
– The gold standard of financial companies just vanished, and saved at the last minute when bought by another brand. How the interests of customers, shareholders and employees were served through this kind of attitude and behavior?

AIG’s official slogan was “The strength to be there” – and the new one could be “the shame to be here”.

Lehman Brothers: “Where vision gets built” – What kind of vision were you building? – A vision that couldn’t see the deep abyss that the company and all its stakeholders landed in?

Nakheel: “Where vision inspires humanity” – We would have expected the company that represented the vision of Dubai to survive the first economic shock and to have more attention to the human factor while talking about “inspiring humanity”. Should we ask the hundreds of laid off employees or the tens of thousands of disappointed customers how inspired they are in their relationship with the brand.

Big corporations taking unfounded business decisions that leads to economic disasters; CEOs will multi million price-tags leading their companies to cheer bankruptcy and still cashing astronomical bonuses and golden-hand-shakes. But if we check their corporate websites and brochures they are all flashing out very inspiring brand missions and promises.

Can we blame all this on just the behaviors and attitudes of few corporate leaders? – May be not; but when brands and companies ignore the basis business ethics and principles and forget why they exist and whom they serve we will be face-to-face with Brand Vanity. It is a dangerous phenomenon that works against the whole concept of brand building and it is very important to be aware of it first then to fight it.


The Right Focus Point: “It Is Not About You but about the Consumer”
Companies that have a genuine desire to build Great Brands have to realize that the focus should always be on the Consumer and not on them. Their own importance and value is a direct function of the positive role they can play in people’s life (through their products, services, CSR programs, community development, etc.)

In many companies and organizations the focus has clearly shifted to the interests and aspirations of the people behind the steering wheel before anything else. Yet all corporate communication will still be talking about sunny vision and mission statements. This is a clear indication that the brand is falling into the Vanity trap.

“It is not about you but about people and consumers”

We have to always remember and religiously apply this basic principle if we want to keep the Right Focus Point (RFP) for a brand, a company or any other organization that is offering products and services of any nature to the public.

The Right Focus Point of a company is its stakeholders, not its management.

The Right Focus Point of a school is the students and not the School management and teachers.

The Right Focus Point of a political party is the public who adhere to its principles and support its ideas and not the interests of the leaders and their close circles.

The Right Focus Point is not only a management technique but also a corporate attitude and culture that can transform a company and lead it to greatness when respected and applied religiously across the organization.

Having said that, we are not asking companies to forget about profit, growth or to put on the side their business objectives and turn into charitable organization. The only change we are recommending here is to keep the focus on Customers and everything else will follow. What differentiates between a healthy brand and another that is touched by the Vanity Virus is not the drive for success and money but the internal focus point of this brand and the value system that guides the organization.

The Right Focus Point (RFP) is again not some kind of mysterious Zen business practice; it is the very simple and basic internal compass that tells a company or any organization at every moment where the top priority should be and whose interest is to be served first and according to which standards. It is simply the Brand Definition translated into actions and management style.

A brand can easily keep The Right Focus Point when it has a clear definition (Vision, Values, Guiding Principles, etc.) and it is living these core definitions on a daily basis. Keeping the right focus and living the brand core definition will give the organization and the best immunity about Brand Vanity. However, the risk will still be there with every new business day, with every change in management and with any opportunity or threat that comes from the market.

In the early years of the 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt, then president of the United States, said:
Corporations are indispensable instruments of our modern civilization; but I believe that they should be so supervised and so regulated that they shall act for the interests of the community as a whole.

Yes we want corporations to work for the interests of the community with one difference with what Mr. Roosevelt has said; we want a self-regulation that is driven by the brand values and ethics before any kind of external regulations that might be necessary in certain cases.


Final Thoughts
Human mistakes and irresponsible pursue of self-interests that are despised on a personal level could be totally disastrous on a corporate and public levels where the results of these actions will reach millions of people. Therefore, going back to basic ethical paradigms will give us plenty of insights and answers for personal situations as well as for business, public and even to political decisions that can affect the fate and the future of large group of people.

The mistakes of few people have taken the world economy into the crisis, but going out of this crisis will need a collective effort from everybody: individuals, companies and governments.

Companies that will adopt responsible business approaches and live their Vision, Mission and Purpose internally and externally will keep themselves away from the trap of vanity and toxic corporate practices.

To support the efforts of self-regulation by brands and companies, governments can play a key role in creating progressive business regulations that encourage healthy practices and prevent malicious minds from taking companies and economies too far in the wrong ways without being detected. Media, business schools, social and civic organizations and NGOs can also contribute to the building a more responsible business environment and society at large.

Facing brand vanity will need a real change in business thinking and practices. However, we will possibly need a whole new generation of corporate leaders that are not corrupted by negative ideas and soulless business styles.

Bill Bernbach said that “The great mistakes are made when we feel we are beyond questioning”.

With solid brand values and responsible business models companies will have a great deal of immunity against vanity and other corporate misconducts. However, some healthy levels of control and “questioning” will be very useful in avoiding big crisis like the one we are dealing with at the moment.

UAE Advertising
In the Eye of the Storm

By Jean-Claude Saade


The impact of the economic crisis continues to affect our markets in many visible and invisible ways. Advertising agencies had their share of trouble so far but the world does not end in 2009. The road to recovery will pass by serious efforts of reinvention and adaptation to the new dynamics of a business that has always been in continuous change.


Recovery Road

While most countries and companies are still trying to deal with the deep impact of the world economic crisis, it is important to start doing some real thinking on how to put our economy back on the recovery road while trying not to miss possible “positive” results of the slowdown.

The crisis, however, has done a clear work of segregation between the winners and losers, the high impacted markets and the less affected, the companies which have assumed responsibilities and started taking the necessary measure and those who just wants to be saved with the money of others and at any price. This will provide a great deal of material for reflection, analysis and learning when reshaping the future.

On the brand level, the crisis has revealed a lot about the different types of brand cultures, values, attitudes, personalities and school of thoughts. Studying where the strengths and weaknesses are after the impact of the crisis can provide us with clues about the right way to follow and how the post-crisis world will look like.


Advertising and the Crisis

Advertising and communication services have taken a serious hit from the crisis and for all the economic and psychological reasons. Some Arab markets, like the UAE, were more visibly affected from the second half of 2008 till now. Some agencies were also affected more than others because of the nature of their client portfolios, policies and levels of preparations. In certain cases, problems were bound to happen even without a full scale global crisis.

The crisis is not over yet, and our markets are still open to more waves of repercussions. For instance, some shockwaves are currently affecting the media organizations in Lebanon. However, if we look at the activity slowdown in relative terms taking into consideration the size and dynamics of the different regional advertising markets, we can feel the impact of the crisis across the region.

The crisis might accelerate change in the advertising industry, however, the role of advertising in building and nurturing lasting relationships between companies and their customers will preserve its importance for now and for the future. So let us keep this key role in mind when reconsidering the situation and re-tooling for the post-crisis and beyond.

How advertising is supposed to sell products and services during these times when people don't want to buy? – What advertising agencies are supposed to do when clients are out of business or budgets have vanished for the known reasons?
Agencies had always to deal with a classic contradiction. When times are good and the market is flourishing, clients will put more money in advertising. But when the times of crisis arrive, clients tend to spend less or just stop spending. This has been the usual logic for decades and not just for now; a “logic” that simply goes in the reverse order as good marketing activities lead to good sales and not other way around.

The recession is shaking things up; and in some ways it will reward real strengths and expose weaknesses, create new opportunities and kill old habits, destroy old business models and accelerate the evolution of certain sectors including advertising.


Historic Crossroads

After a historic crisis like the one we are experiencing right now, we cannot initiate the recovery and create a better economic situation with the same old tools and the pre-crisis practices, attitudes and services that, in some cases, have contributed to the current situation.

The UAE has one of the most dynamic and important advertising sectors in the region and it was one of the most affected. Now it is of prime importance to think of ways to take this industry out of the crisis to a stronger position that will enable advertising to play its key role in the economic development of the UAE and the region.

In the global markets, an “Ethical Renewal” is now expected from corporation and businesses. Advertising agencies will not be an exception. Moreover, the crisis might be the right time for a movement of re-invention that comes from the inside rather than wait for new regulations and norms that will be imposed from the outside.

Creativity in all its manifestations will be the most sought after offering from the advertising industry in the future. At the same time, certain inherited practices from different times and different market situations will probably need to left outside the post-crisis advertising business.


Advertising Re-tooled

The thought times will eventually reward brands with solid foundations and clear added-value and expose the fake and empty ones. We have few ideas and suggestions that might be useful during the recovery phase especially for those who believe that change is necessary for evolution. Advertising agencies that have always encouraged their clients to change and try new ways and ideas have to start eating their own cooking.

Going into a “smart innovation mode” will eventually lead to a renewal of the industry with new Services, new Structures and a new Spirit.

Services
Advertising is part of real life, and it is on the forefront of social issues and trends. Therefore, Advertising services have to be most adapted to specific needs and to the current market situation. Messages have to reflect the realities around us and campaign cannot be created with total denial of the crisis and people’s real concerns. Advertising has to admit the problems we are facing and address people realities and mindset. Humor is always good, but pompous and silly advertising will be less appropriate.
Beyond the adaptation of the content, new advertising and marketing communication services and new creative approaches to mix these services will be most needed to help clients protect their brands and businesses and keep their positive image throughout these difficult times.

Structures
By nature of their role, advertising agencies are supposed to be the most agile and responsive structures. In the past few years certain agency networks have grown in size and structure to become even more complex and heavy than most of their clients.

The recovery phase will favor more creative agency models. It is important for agencies to keep a “manageable size” that is not too small to offer a perfect service and not too big to limit the human factor, creativity and fresh ideas.

Group structures, alliances and collective industry initiatives can provide even more support and credibility, bearing in mind that some of these most needed initiatives, like measurement, are still on hold since ever.

Spirit
A realistic understanding of the role of advertising in the business chain and consequently its real value and contribution is needed. Also, some degree of humility will be useful in going out of the crisis.

The real importance of advertising comes from the positive results that it can provide to clients’ brands and businesses and consequently to the economy and society in general. In the absence of these contributions, nobody really cares about advertising. Making sure that real value is delivered with every idea, every meeting with client and every campaign will build a lasting reputation for advertising.

It is important to have great services and a well known name in the world of advertising, but passion, enthusiasm, and a strong sense of purpose beyond the actual products and services will set the new breed of agencies apart.


Final Thoughts

Customers are eager to discover the real face of brands in the way they are acting and behaving during the crisis and not according to their communication slogans and campaigns. This time of crisis will present great opportunities for the solid brands and good companies that are pursuing the right strategies. They will be facing real problems and slowdown because of the general economic context but their relationship with their customers and their image will come out of the crisis intact and even much stronger.

Change has been the constant in advertising and it is going to happen with or without crisis. Advertising agencies that really believe in the power of ideas in transforming their business and the business of their clients will come out of the crisis not without some lasting scars but these will the proof of a re-invented industry that can bounce back with more maturity, better services and stronger will to continue building a better world that is much needed in these days.