Seesaw Thinking and Unhealthy Obsessions in Media

For example Why on earth do we have to choose between a campaign39s media delivery and its creativity when discussing why it39s worked Why is it that we even discuss quotwhich works better media or creativequotamp160as if we39re in some ridiculous competitionIt39s really simple The greatest ad in the world is useless if nobody sees it The best media plan ever written won39t rescue a dreadful creative ideaBack in the dark ages quotmediaquotamp160was the poor relation All those jokes about the prelunchtime presentation slot the five minutes that followed the threehour discussion of which beach was going to be used for the shootThe media numbers were worthy and dull focussed far too much on the discounts to be achieved and far too little on who needed to see the ad and how many times for it to have the desired effectAnd now in the selfproclaimed quotage of media enlightenmentquotamp160we spend forever making sure we don39t quotwastequotamp160a penny of the budget reaching someone outside some crazy target even if we don39t quite know what quotwastequotamp160is or if it39s a good thing to be rid of itNever mind that those of us in the media geekhood can39t even decide how to define a quotviewerquot let alone an impression Or that the largest ad market in the world still deals in programamp160ratings as opposed to having anything to do with trading based on the number who see the adWe tie ourselves in knots with all the talk of reach ignoring the fact that very often we39re adding together apples and carrots Apples and oranges would be an advance amp160at least they39re both fruitsAnd good luck if you want to discuss the ad in any media forum Many media salespeople and media buyers have no idea what they39re placing Quite how they39re taking account of context without knowing the ins and outs of the creative is another mysteryThe industry has moved from an unhealthy obsession with creativity and a complete lack of interest in where and how the money was going to be spent to an unhealthy obsession with media numbers and a complete lack of interest in the quality of the adsBoth extremes are of course wrong and outofstep with advertisers39 stated needsIt39s why those agenciesamp160like MediaHub and VCCP thatamp160balance creativity with media planning and buying are winning I would say they39re going back to the futureIt39s also why it was such a pleasure to remember what Nick Manning and Colin Gottlieb were trying to do when they started Manning Gottlieb now part of Omnicom 30 years agoHere courtesy of Nick who clearly never throws anything away on Mediatel a week ago is how they set out their stall in 1990Rooting media thinking in the client needBeing consumercentric using Account Planning techniques as well as media researchWorking handinglove with creative partnersBeing innovative to achieve cutthroughMarrying innovation with the best available media pricingThis was countercyclical at the time Our business was based on ideas not just creative uses of media but buying media in different ways to make the creative work harderIf I were running an operation today I would ask Nick in to present pretty well what he presented to prospects 30 years I would then steal it with prideFrankly if you don39t understand the importance of balance and teamwork you39re in the wrong businessClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Seesaw Thinking and Unhealthy Obsessions in Media

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Brian Jacobs

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