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ad:tech Sydney’s marketing “love-in”

March 11th, 2009 by mhjones

I read someone on Twitter describe this week’s ad:tech Sydney conference as a “love-in for marketers and ad agencies.” (Read ad:tech twitterings here.) It’s an interesting description that betrays an obvious slant towards the “other camp” which I heard one ad agency exec describe with a hint of derision as “all these social media consultants.”logo_adtech_sydney

As an aside, we’ve also got the “tech” part of this whole “ad:tech” meme. But that’s been conveniently sidelined in the battle of marketing ideologies. Maybe we just take technology (ie. the one giant computer called the internet) for granted now, since it’s use-case scenarios that matter.

So all this got me thinking. What is it about the mindset of agency-types, and the mindset of social media consultant-types (I tend to fall into the latter), that causes mild friction at events like ad:tech?

If I can be permitted to grossly simplify, agencies are commissioned by clients to conduct campaigns. Defined periods of time in which various media tools are exercised to generate sales on behalf of said client. No shock there, since advertising still keeps most of the media industry running.

Then we’ve got social media consultants, whose stock in trade is the intellectual property and experience they sell to clients for the purpose of engaging target stakeholder communities in conversations about brand, ideas, ideologies, and so on. The marketing angle can be less clear, or stated positively, more broadly defined.

It’s the classic conundrum where the disciplines of marketing, advertising, communications, PR and good-old editorial collide and get mashed up. The answers are not simple or easily quantified — unless of course you’re an agency charged with delivering quantifiable results to justify a very large invoice. Quantified results are where you make, or lose money. And by the way, that’s what this whole internet thing has promised the marketing community since the mid-1990s and we’re still trying to figure it out!

Anyway, while listening to keynotes and panel discussions yesterday, I got the impression agency types are very clearly focussed on the profit motive (surprise!). They might not be getting it right all the time, but their drive to find measurable results is clear. And you know what, I don’t think that’s bad.

However it does raise a challenge for content-focussed social media consultants (communities are giant content machines, after all). They must come up with some clearly agreed metrics and models that communicate to c-level executives just why the social media revolution matters to the bottom line. I’m the first to admit this is not an easy problem to solve.

But let’s face the harsh recession reality: if more of the social media consultants out there want to make more (or any) money from client engagements then it’s time we developed more solid, industry-wide accepted answers when companies demand reasonable levels of quantitative measurement.

Am I right?

Tagged: Events, Marketing, Social media
Comments:

13 Responses to “ad:tech Sydney’s marketing “love-in””

  1. Stephen Collins Says:
    March 11th, 2009 at 12:03 pm

    Yes, you’re absolutely right.

    While I’m not a fan of defined standards around this stuff - I’m a soft value fan - the hard and soft measurements can be well defined and tied together. And it’s having well defined measurement criteria that work over equally defined time periods that will make us all worth the money we’re paid.

  2. tmsau Says:
    March 11th, 2009 at 12:16 pm

    I was going to blog on this but I might as well use your thoughts as a starting point for mine. What a mess! I have been immersing myself deeper and deeper in to the world of Social Media for the last six months. Last week I stuck my head up for a brief moment and reflected on where this is all going. To me, being at this point in timeline of SM is like being in the 1950’s and watching the birth of mass media led by TV. Nobody had any idea what the next 50 years would bring. A new medium was being born. We are witnessing the same scenario but to call it a medium would be to miss the point. After 50 years of being told what to buy, what to think and what to do, consumers (communities) have discovered a voice that allows them to discuss rather than just digest and die. This is problematic for the pre-eminent marketing of the day … advertising? It is also problematic for those that gave birth to SM. The evangelical quest they are on right now will surely be taken away from them by commercial realities of such a powerful force in consumer dynamics. It is not hard to see the challenges of the next couple of years as “the self proclaimed experts” make a sudden rush for the stage and our clients, beautiful but gullible, jump on the SM bandwagon with stunts and stuff ups and some successes until we sort out what it all means. For a died in the wool agency guy, it is probably sacrilege for me to say this … but I believe branding/consumer component of SM will ultimately end up inside most smart companies who will employ Community Managers and integrate within Marketing and Customer Care. The ad agencies desperate for a buck will occasionally be fed a crumb. But smart companies realise that thier community (customers) need nuturing not activating and SM is the best way to build a base of loyal customers. I know this doesn’t really address your question around measurement but maybe it does.

  3. mhjones Says:
    March 11th, 2009 at 12:24 pm

    Thanks Stephen (@trib). I think you were responsible for the “love-in” comment. Nice.

    “tmsau” - Your community manager comment is well said. We’re already seeing “SM manager” or equivalent titles cropping up around the place. Telstra’s Mike Hickinbotham (@m_hickinbotham) comes to mind.

    This trend will continue, and it should.

  4. Round-up from the Adtech conference | mUmBRELLA Says:
    March 11th, 2009 at 12:38 pm

    [...] Mark Jones discusses the friction between agency types and social media chamions here. [...]

  5. Kimota Says:
    March 11th, 2009 at 12:50 pm

    Hear, hear… and, dare I say…hear again.

    My whole issue with online marketing (to use a suitably unsuitable generic all-encompassing term) is that too much of it is still play masked as strategy with very little quantative value to a business owner.

    Having been to a few conferences like this now, I always wonder what the average business manager at the back of the room makes of it all - you know, the CEO who doesn’t have a huge internet presence, has no idea what facebook has to do with it all and has to report to a board of directors with solid results every quarter. With less time and resources to experiment or spend hours in Twitter, facebook, whatever, they attend these conferences to see clear numbers and case studies that provide a template for future activities for their business. Rarely, if ever, do I think they walk away with any kind of clear motivation to embark in social media,preferring to stick to tried and tested avenues like SEM because it comes with lots of figures, clear data and no unknowable variables like ‘relationship building’.

    I agree that relationship building is definitely the marketing of the future and the consumer is taking a lot more control, but too often we still seem to be merely playing with the tech, having fun creating Twitter memes and talking in vague, ideal-world guess work as to how this will all work.

    I’m with Stephen. the sooner we can pin down some defined measurement criteria that make sense to a business owner outside of our industry (ie; the non-converted), the sooner social media will grow up. We can’t keep saying ‘it’s all about brand exposure’ to cover up the fact sales haven’t moved a jot since the campaign launched.

  6. Ad:tech agenda dominated by branded competitions rather than conversations with brands | Just Another 24 Hours Says:
    March 11th, 2009 at 1:00 pm

    [...] This is a theme that Mark Jones picks up on here. [...]

  7. jyesmith Says:
    March 12th, 2009 at 7:23 am

    I mentioned this to Stephen. I’d be interesting in organising a round table around this — would you be keen, Mark? Was great to meet you again yesterday.

    Best,
    Jye

  8. talkingdigital Says:
    March 12th, 2009 at 10:19 am

    as an ad agency wanker i think you’re bang on.

    if more of the social media consultants out there want to make more (or any) money from client engagements then it’s time we developed more solid, industry-wide accepted answers when companies demand reasonable levels of quantitative measurement.

    any contempt the ad/media industry has for ’social media consultants’ generally revolves around a lack of rationale behind their statements.

    cheers, ben

  9. Kimota Says:
    March 12th, 2009 at 3:23 pm

    Ahem - contempt for social media consultants? Say it ain’t so!

    http://www.jonathancrossfield.com/blog/2009/02/how-to-become-a-smug-online-marketing-genius.html

  10. Mike Hickinbotham Says:
    March 12th, 2009 at 4:14 pm

    Hi Mark,

    Absolutely agree. If we don’t overcome this challenege then we will be stuck having the majority of social media work being campaign focused.

    While campaigns have their place, I think the real potential of customers and corporations reaping social media benefits will come from sustainable and long term engagement.

    Mike
    Telstra’s Social Media Senior Advisor

  11. Brainstorm » Blog Archive » Measuring up to Social Media Says:
    March 13th, 2009 at 6:40 pm

    [...] Jones of Filtered Media wrote a brilliant post following the event that illustrated the “battle between marketing ideologies” as the [...]

  12. Ben Barren - Confessions of a Mad Man » Saturday’s Red Riding The Pale King + Skins. Says:
    March 14th, 2009 at 11:10 am

    [...] Just as every1 has an angle on Damages, the Australian online industry has 2 angles says Mark Jones … : Digital Agency who sell display, sponsorship, websites, search engine optimisation or Social Media Consultant. The former supposedly I guess via search want performance marketing (in reality not so much unless pure SEO/M) while the latter talk ‘brand conversations’ - Altho they havent usually worked in brand management for a major or startup company. In yesteryear they would have worked in a traditional agency hehe. Anyway all these people were at Ad:Tech + Aimia awards and wrecking the fk up of twitter. Ooh look ma I can use a hashtag. How kewl is this backchannel not, whatevs. There really better be something after twitter. It’s gr8 the mainstreamisation, but there is goin to need to be some fracturing to keep group sizes a good fit. [...]

  13. Caitlin Says:
    March 16th, 2009 at 7:13 pm

    As an avid user of social media and technology, I have to admit it drives me crazy when people call themselves a ’social media expert’. It’s not very complicated - I don’t think these so-called experts know more than any other person using Twitter, StumbleUpon et al.

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