AdverNET '99 COVERAGE: Emergence of Interactive Agencies - Part 2

From: jon huntress <jon.huntress_at_tenagra.com>
Date: Mon 25 Oct 1999 15:01:18 -0500

Today we are bringing you the highly anticipated conclusion
to the article "The Emergence of the Interactive Agency."
In part two, you will find out what Gad Romann's perspective
on the situation is and you will see the results of the
audience Q&A session.

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This is a continuation of the first Administration and
Management Track panel discussion begun in part 1.

Gad Romann was the last to speak. His main message was that
the traditional agencies can meet almost all the needs of
their clients the way they are. He said his own agency has
not changed significantly as it has moved into the
interactive medium. The Romann Group is a creative and
branding agency and that hasn't changed. The one thing
that most interactive agencies don't know, he said, is how
individual customers react differently in the interactive
environment as opposed to the bricks and mortar environment.
His solution has been to form alliances with firms with
large knowledge bases of millions of people where hundreds
of different types of behaviors can be isolated. He sees
this ability to isolate people and buying patterns as the
main benefit of the net.

He advised regular agencies to go slow and not rush into any
of the new areas until they know what they are doing and
that the best course for the interactive agencies is to stay
small so they can maintain their speed, flexibility,
creativity and independence. There would be no shortage of
work for them to do.

Then there were questions from the audience. Most of the
questions were of a general nature which fitted the
presentations, and so I have just summarized their answers.
The first question was whether to create an interactive
group within your company. Kimberly Carrol answered the
question by saying that you need to decide if you want to
have an interactive component in your offices and if this is
core to your company's mission. She then gave an
interesting answer which showed what is going on behind the
scenes of this interactive push. She recommended going out
and finding an interactive company to partner with, and
said that the important thing here is to evaluate that
company to see if it will fit you and your clients needs.
In no circumstances, she went on, should you allow that
company to evaluate you or determine your worth, then told
of some interactive companies who would accept partnerships
only if they were given a stake in your company.

Gad Romann continued the answer by saying that if the
interactive activity interfered with your company, you don't
need it and you should farm it out. Gad considers
programming, and the execution of interactive programs to be
a commodity. This statement caused a heated discussion
during the next panel.

Kate Everett-Thorp answered the next question which
concerned the flow of interactive talent that is leaving
traditional agencies and what was the deficiency in the
agency structure that lets this kind of person go, or sends
the general message that these people aren_t needed. Kate
pointed to the market and said one of the problems is that
talented people see a lack of commitment to the interactive
needs of the client and also a hesitancy to spend money in
the new medium. This can be very depressing to ambitious
staff. Kate then ticked off several reasons why an
interactive agency is far more attractive to this kind of
person including a global presence and an understanding of
the medium that means the learning curve is much shorter for
all parties. There is also no shortage of offers for these
people and it is hard enough to keep them when you are doing
everything you can to get them to stay.

Kate said she is seeing a couple different models right now.
Some agencies are creating "interactive groups". One of the
problems that she has seen come out of this is that when
these "pockets of talent" are created there is so much
activity and action and so many new things to do with the
new unit, sometimes the client (Remember the client?) gets
lost. The client needs to always be the central part of the
process and all the parts old and new need to come together
for the client. Lot21 has constant training programs in
place to keep the focus on the client and everyone up to
speed.

Gad Roman said that in a few years there will not be a
difference between traditional and interactive agencies as
those who were essentially "born on the net" come into the
work force. Gad sees present day agencies developing into
this new market. It is equally possible, however, that
agencies who misread the direction and needs of the market
will not make the transition and go out of business, leaving
the field to those who took advantage early. Kimberly gave
an example of how this can happen. She said that in a four
month period, 75% of their client base said they wanted to
go online and asked for help. She described this as pretty
much becoming "interactive at gunpoint". They were being
asked to do everything from creating web sites to
developing complicated e-commerce platforms and said it was
nerve wracking because some of their clients wanted to
shift all of their traditional funds to online advertising
overnight. She said they had to change the focus of their
agency because this whole process was circular, with
nothing linear. The main thing her agency has been doing
is a process of educating everyone involved.

There weren't any pat conclusions to come out of this panel.
It was obvious that there are very different ideas on what
advertising agencies should be and do in the interactive
arena. It was also obvious that there are numerous
directions being taken. But one thing seemed to be a trend
to me, and that is that most of the new ideas and methods
will be coming from the West Coast from now on. Go west
young man, its happening again.

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Received on Mon Oct 25 1999 - 15:01:18 CDT