The division of roles between advertisers, media and agencies
ROLE ALLOCATION Media become agencies, media become advertisers The value chain of communication and media has been fragmented. The digital world has turned everything upside down.
By Gabriel Dabi-Schwebel and Iris Kombeny*
The distribution of roles, today questioned, was traditionally that: The media created a quality audience and created, assembled and disseminated the content. Their occupation was mainly editorial: a good content, with a captivating and binding content orientation. Their income came from direct sales (through single issues or subscriptions) on the one hand, and advertising on the other.
Advertising agencies sold clearly identified and regulated advertising space: commercials, pages or half pages, advertising banners. Their occupation was only commercial: sell more, with the highest return, but with usually large discrepancies between gross and net.
Advertisers bought advertising space to promote their products and services. Their occupation was to entice as many potential consumers as possible to drive sales. The agencies were the intermediaries between the advertisers and the advertising agencies, taking care of the conception, the development and the diffusion of the advertising campaigns. Their occupation, as for any intermediary, was to achieve the best commercial margin between the two, gaining money in the creation, as well as in the acquisition of advertising space.
Advertisers become media themselvesBut today advertisers are developing into their own medium. This is the most important development in recent years. Advertisers are back in control of their communications and are no longer dependent on agencies or the media. Brands now have an unlimited advertising space and social networks: this space should be occupied before they even care about other media. One should answer all the questions of the Internet users, create and promote an identity and a community, and let the values of the brand broaden and radiate. With this development, every link in the value chain will have to reorganize itself if possible.
Media are becoming agencies: they are selling more and more special promotions and sponsored content for and with the brands, such as appearances, special issues, etc. The advertising goes beyond the scope and blends in with the editorial content. So it's not advertising, but it's not editorial content either. A smart negotiation begins, between the "talk about sth. without talking too much"... So it's all a question of dosage, so as not to arouse the consumer's defensive reflexes, otherwise there's a chance he'll flee....
Advertising departments and media planning agencies are lost between auction platforms and editors doing their job and selling directly to the advertiser.
What will become of the agencies?If advertisers become media and media become agencies, what will become of the agencies? In my opinion, the agencies that will survive are the ones that will accompany the transformation of advertisers into media. So they will become co-editors for advertisers. You no longer speak of "campaign", temporary operation or "one shot", but of a program plan or of a publication calendar... The relationship with the clients and with all the stakeholders is no longer transient, but sustainable. We no longer talk about one-time orders, but about building relationships, just like the little prince who, with time and patience, tames the fox. It's about: having a good discipline, creating regular appointments, while maintaining quality. This is what the success of media has been based on, and what the success of a brand is based on today!
So the relationship between the advertiser and the agency should develop. The time relationship has changed, and the brand-agency partnership should be strengthened. Either the brand structures itself to do the agency's work internally, as Red Bull does with Media House, or the brand trusts its agency, co-editor or co-producer. But this trust must also be won in the long term, so that the editorial direction is installed and regular visitors are formed.
The traditional "briefing"-consultation-response process, which is particularly time-consuming and costly for all parties involved, should be revised. Indeed, this process is adapted only for "one-shot" campaigns, but cannot be identical for selecting an agency as co-editor or co-producer. Agencies should specialize by offering a distinct proposal, format or program. Not specialization by competency, which would only lead to parceled-out results - editorial or video, Facebook or Twitter, CRM or emailing, etc.- but systemic specialization. Agencies should set up comprehensive processes, perfectly mastered and tailored to the needs of clients.
The cards will be reshuffled and there will be no room for everyone. Yesterday's dominant positions are not tomorrow's. So every player should try his luck.
*Iris Kombeny is Country Manager for the Agency 1min30 and writes daily posts about digital marketing & more for the Agency blog. The web, communication and marketing agency accompanies companies in the establishment of an efficient inbound marketing strategy.
