Client Newsletters

Client Search News - February 3, 2003

This CLIENT SEARCH NEWS is for individuals registered @ agencyfinder.com. Forward to those in your company or others elsewhere involved in the advertising or public relations agency selection or review process.

CONTENTS: 

1. The Fall of Advertising
2. Procurement Departments and Ad Agencies 
3. Who Needs Consultants? 

Good Afternoon,

You should have been there! As one of 200 or so clients, agencies, consultants and staffers attending the January 23rd ANA Agency Relationship Forum at the New York Plaza, it was clear that every- one was, is and continues to be seriously concerned about the state of our industry. Concerned if advertising still works, if we'll ever be able to measure and justify what we do, if clients can find the right agency without third-party assistance, if procurement (purchasing) departments are intending to take control of agency relationships, or if advertising has gone "too far."

2003, with all it's global, national and regional issues, is still forcing us to draw upon every creative, clever, unconventional idea we can muster to get us out of this fix we're in.

Here's our latest news.

THE FALL OF ADVERTISING:

At that ANA event, 115 clients, 43 agencies, 10 consultants and 32 others sat and literally gasped at times as Al Ries (The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR) pranced back and forth on the stage and pontificated about the foibles of advertising and the power of public relations. We didn't hear him say advertising was dead, just ridiculous entertainment experiments like the Super Bowl upside-down rear-end beer-drinking clown. He used some powerful examples, in particular he spoke about Bud - the "King of Beers" (not the Queen of Beers), and about Clydesdales (not clowns). He talked about the powerful integration of first building buzz on the street, then combining that with integrated but meaningful advertising; the combination, not the demise.

There's been lots of fuss about Al's book (week after week in AdAge and ADWEEK), but unless I've