June 14th, 2010 by Rory Partalis
Categories: Agency Updates, Events | Tags: event, john battelle, JWT, media, Search | 1 Comment »
This is a little belated, but we wanted to sincerely thank John Battelle for visiting the Atlanta office of JWT. He walked us through a fantastic presentation and we had a great question and answer session afterwords that delved into some really interesting topics.
July 17th, 2009 by Eric Hyman
Categories: Traditional Media | Tags: branding, marketing innovation, media, OOH, traditional media | No Comments »
I was driving home yesterday evening and spied a small plane cruising above Atlanta’s 285 (aka, The Perimeter) towing an old school advertising banner. I was surprised as that’s not really a common sight here these days. I usually only see these in beach towns promoting $2 Happy Hour Jägermeister Shots. I thought to myself, who in this day and age where “old school” media is more and more often called into question, was behind that suburban Atlanta banner.
And then it got closer. And it was none other than… drum roll please… “The Money I Could Have Been Saving With Geico!” I should have known it. There it was, up in the sky, watching me!
Nice placement for a brand like that, when it is being tossed on top of what must already be a $100M brand investment. Definitely gave me a good snicker; tried to take a pic but lost the angle before I could even grab my mobile.
Anyway, this old school “banner ad” suddenly reminded me of something a potential client mentioned recently. They pointed out a player in their space doing what they felt to be somewhat innovative. Unlike the majority in their biz who use mostly digital marketing, this other player has enjoyed success using airport outdoor and radio, among other things.
This is pretty amazing if you think about it. A generation of marketers forced by a recession to have digital ROI on the brain can now also view old school/traditional media as “innovative.”
Now I’m not poking fun in any way at anyone here. Merely making a point that today, creativity is essential no matter what you do. And that doesn’t simply mean the creativity of your strategy or execution, but in the way you invest your budget to get the most value when it comes to reaching your target. And equally important, how it helps differentiate your brand/offering from those that might otherwise seek to eat your lunch.
OK, to appease the entire world of digital doyennes out there, yes, it is still true that social and other forms of digital are more important to master than ever to give authenticity and currency to what you are saying. But as my potential and truly terrific clients observed, sometimes also doing something seemingly old on top of that can truly be the most innovative thing you can do of all. Because these days, everything old school can truly be new school again.
