The demise of advertising has often been predicted. Back in the 90s when I was a grad trainee at BMP DDB, we were terrified of the advance of the management consultant, that PowerPoint toting, grey-suited assassin. As a result we were all sent on a mini-MBA course and told to understand our clients business a lot better. Very sensible advice. Advertising seemed to weather that particular storm. Why? Because the good ones are very good at what they do. And what exactly is that? I hear you ask. Well it may raise a titter somewhere in the audience but I would say that what ad agencies have always done and still do, is build brands. Surely PR does this too? Well of course but I think brand-building is still something PR is developing as a skill-set.
So what do ad agencies know about brands? They know it’s nothing to be coy about. It’s many years since ‘brands’ were just the province of soap powder, but many business leaders are still guilty of talking about reputation or proposition when really they should be talking about their brand. They could learn a thing or two from those soap power manufacturers. Brand onions, wheels, keys, and temples are easy to mock. But how much easier is it for a Marketing services professional to do their job when these things are clearly defined? Often Advertising agencies are deeply involved in creating these brand structures. They are fortunate to be in this position as it gives them an insight into and familiarity with the language, tone and personality of a brand that PR agencies often lack. We need to make a habit of asking for this information from our clients and must be able to demonstrate that we understand their uses and be able to bring them to life and build on them through our work. And if we have clients that aren’t well versed in this sort of thinking then we must demonstrate our strategic worth by helping them construct their own brand models.
Another subject close to ad agencies heart is that of the Target Audience. As a graduate trainee I was told, the planner’s role was to act as the ‘voice of the consumer’ in the strategic and creative development process. I loved the idea of being the voice of reason, of reality, in trendy, sophisticated ad land. Of course it wasn’t as simple as that. In order to understand the consumer one has to be genuinely interested in contemporary culture, to have some concept of what is going on in popular soap operas, to occasionally read tabloid newspapers. You also had to be able to make sense of data sources like TGI and Millward Brown and understand the ins and outs of the infamous Link test. But above all we never allowed the creative department to forget the existence of this unpredictable person called the consumer. In PR we are sometimes deflected by the importance journalists and bloggers and other opinion leaders. They are of course central to what we do in PR. But whose opinion are we trying to influence with their help? Exactly.
The best contribution planning can make to any brand or communications task is to present a well-defined problem. It focuses the account team (and client) on identifying the right solution for the issue in hand rather than simply the one you’d all prefer. You can get all creative and lateral in the sure knowledge that you know exactly what you’re trying to achieve. Whereas advertising agencies like to boil everything down to a beautiful sound bite or proposition in order to brief their numerous creative teams, PR really isn’t that reductive. It’s about focussing on the core story that you have to tell, one that may have multiple audiences, and even multiple messages. But it is the one that will address the main problem and blow it out of the water.
Finally, advertising agencies are generally pretty comfortable with measurement. The main thing to learn here is that measurement isn’t something that happens at the end of the process. It’s crucial that it is agreed upfront with the client exactly how success will be measured. In an ideal world if there is nothing suitable in place the client might decide to set up a bespoke measurement study to look at the contribution made by PR activity to agreed measures. However if the project’s objectives centre around changing brand perceptions it might make sense to look at existing data sources such as brand image measures from the clients own tracking study. The important thing is to agree in advance what success will look like.
Advertising is very good at certain things; particularly understanding how brands work and what outstanding creativity looks like. But PR shouldn’t feel too shabby in comparison. No specialism knows more about the power of storytelling than PR, more about how to engage with people in a way that will last and develop. It is for this reason that our industry is arguably at the forefront of exploiting the opportunities raised by the growth of social media. Advertising has lots to learn from us.
Read the other great articles from round the Weber Shandwick network at http://www.webershandwick.co.uk/newsletters/18.pdf
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