I read a fascinating piece on Madison Avenue Journal today by Paul McEnany. Paul is a marketing strategist for Levenson and Hill in Dallas and also has his own blog, Hee-Haw Marketing. The piece he wrote for MAJ, entitled Consumer Generated Reviews and the ROI of Impact, makes the assertion that brand trust is harder to come by than in the past mostly due to the ease of individuals being able to reach out quickly and easily to obtain information about products and services or spread information themselves.

A new Deloitte study revealed what most of us probably already knew, consumer generated online reviews received insanely high trust scores. 99% of internet users find them either very or somewhat credible. Which begs the question, where the hell do we fit in? Strategy doesn’t mean much when the product has a fatal flaw, and no matter how deftly we build up a media buy, it falls flat if the product happens to, let’s say, poison children. But it’s even scarier in the un-extreme cases where brands mean less because they signify less. Lower priced items still have to beat the quality barrier to have a shot of making it past the reviews, so it starts to become much like the pharmaceutical problem of two identical products with different labels.

Between Useful and Inept
McEnany goes on to say that the future of agencies will see them be divided into to factions, some that, “focus on the need to capture imagination, to gain attention, to give permission for companies to be talked about”, and others who, “satisfy the need for business strategy, a direct response, ROI driven model that is all about immediate needs of the marketplace…”

In complete honesty, not being as deep involved in the industry as McEnany, I’m a little unsure of his references, but my crude assumption is that he means it’s Flash vs. Bang, Form vs. Function.

The difference in strategy with experience is that we’re not just creating ads for the sake of informing the publics, but we’re leading the loudest 10% into deeper relationships, while giving them permission to discuss these with the other 90%. This is what makes integration so vital. You don’t walk away from awareness and reach for a deep connection with a few, just like you don’t walk away from the few for the many. It’s the advertising equivalent of the balance of faithfulness and promiscuity.

It’s no longer just about just pushing out campaigns that inform or create buzz. Once the buzz has started and people go looking for more information, agencies and their clients need to be prepared with a plan of action to keep their interest, help them for opinions and provide useful and easily transferable information so they can run off and tell their circle of influence.

My wife and receive a few subscriptions to various interior design magazines, most recently Elle Decor. I read it partially by a sick need to torture myself with products I could never afford and for generating ideas I can use around our home. I also look for items to talk about over at ColorThemes.com, my mothers interior design blog. If I find something cool advertised within the pages that needs further investigation, I’m usually on the web immediately looking for more information. I don’t know how many times I’ve searched out sites looking for quality info only to be handed over to a pretty site with minimal amounts of quality information, if any at all. That company just lost out on an opportunity to not only help promote themselves, but to somehow control lead the conversation. Now I might still talk about them, but my comments will also be tagged with, “the website doesn’t really provide much info.”

All that aside, I believe McEnany’s main point is he believes agencies need to find ways to incorporate the Flash with the Bang. That since the rules of marketing are changing, balance between the two is essential so success.

While our strategies are becoming more involved, and expanded to include more methods, it’ll be even more important to have steady hands to guide the process, understanding not only what makes people tick, but what makes business tick and finding happy balances that bring both these goals into alignment. That’s the kind of integration we need in order to stay relevant.

I think McEnany makes a really great point and has keen insight into the subject. My argument is that most on Madison Avenue aren’t listening to this Jerry Maguire-esque manifesto. But what do I know? You read the article and judge for yourself. Then go tell someone about it.

Paul - if you’re listening in and feel I’m missed the mark, please feel free to join the conversation and set me straight.

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