The AdNews NGen blog: Big ideas come from...

Big ideas come from:

A) Creative agencies

B) Media agencies

500 words, cite specific examples.

It's hard to explain to people outside the industry what it is that I do. The "I work in a Media Agency" answer typically draws a blank stare, while the "I work in advertising" answer draws a series of follow-up questions at the end of which I eventually have to concede that I don't really work in advertising, at least not in the way most people think of it.

A media agency is not Mad Men, nor is it The Gruen Transfer. While the creative agencies spend their days doing 'obviously' creative tasks such as writing ad copy or charging clients $500 to resize a flash file, we media types spend a lot of our time hunched, troll-like over excel spreadsheets, pivot-tabling away like accountants because we are so very accountable. It's because of this unsexy perception that none of us will ever reach Todd Sampson-like mainstream fame, or even fame akin to the other main Gruen panelist, what's-his-face. We're the numbers nerds of the ad world.

Based on recent events however, a change may be in the air. I was lucky enough to be sent on assignment to Cannes this year for the Lions Festival and noticed a gaping difference between the media awards and the straight-up creative awards. The winning creative agencies told good stories; the winning media agencies however, started movements.

The Film Lions (TV ads) were of course the most fun. Watching the shortlist reel was one of the most entertaining hours I've ever spent (and isn't that just sad?). It was like Tropfest with taglines. But in the end though, what did the ads actually achieve? For most we'll never know. Scroll through the winners lists for Film, Print, Radio and Outdoor and with a few notable exceptions (yes, Old Spice), there's a curious silence around tangible metrics. Media Lions entrants however, needed to provide ROI evidence by way of a "Results and Effectiveness" section.

Let's compare Grand Prix winners: Film winner Nike's (Wieden+Kennedy) "Write the Future" ad and Tesco's (Cheil Worldwide) Virtual Store. Let me firstly state that I love the Nike ad – it's in the "so good you look for it on YouTube" category - but I didn't learn anything about Nike I didn't already know. The Virtual Store however was a game changer for Tesco. Created specifically for South Korea, it solved a significant consumer problem (finding time to get groceries) by setting up Virtual Display stores in train stations where commuters could "shop" with their smart phones. Their groceries were then personally delivered minutes after arriving home. Guess which supermarket immediately skyrocketed to number one in online sales.

Or how about Starcom Norway's "Kasizers Orchestra" campaign which picked up Gold? To promote a local band's upcoming album, they released the sheet music for one song as a 'teaser' and encouraged fans to compose and share their own version before the real one was released sending the local music community into a spin. Mainstream media coverage was extensive. The entire campaign budget was 800 euro (I think I just heard my publisher reps fainting). That's a BIG idea and undeniably a media one.

So that's my (biased) two cents. When Britain had an empire their army was considered to be a "projectile fired by their Navy". Perhaps that's the suitably brutal metaphor for how the two agency types should think of each other. A brand needs both for domination. Indignant creative-based vitriol is welcome in the comment section below. Anonymous screen names will be taken as a sign of weakness.

Jeremy Bost
Starcom