Alan Brown is one of the founders of DNA-Seattle.  Just starting its second decade of business, North-Westerners will know them by their recent campaign for PEMCO Insurance.  The spots are as good as anything I’ve seen nationally in their category (or out of category, for that matter).  The campaign is smart, uniquely relevant and successful, judging by the commitment CMO, Rod Brooks has made to the work.

DNA-Seattle’s focus, according to Alan is to “help our clients achieve meaningful results in the short-term while building their long-term brand asset.”  They’re the 6th largest agency in Seattle (by billings) and employ a staff of 40 to produce work for clients ranging from BECU, University of Washington, American Express Publishing, Avon Foundation, MultiCare and, of course, PEMCO Insurance.

I’m proud to profile them in this series!

1.  What was the aha moment when you realized “our company needs to be doing things differently than we have been”?
The industry has been changing fast over the past 8-10 years.  Technology, media choices and the shift of power to consumers through social media are driving a lot of it today.  But a big moment for me was last year when my mom (who is 75 and lives in Ohio) friended me on Facebook.  The “aha” was seismic.

2.  What books are on your nightstand or great blogs on your Google reader?
I’m a political and news junkie – so I read Andrew Sullivan’s blog, the Huffington Post, FiveThirtyEight and TalkingPointsMemo.  I also check out agency news at Agency Spy.

3.  Give me an example of marketing you think is brilliant and why.
The work that Crispin is doing for Burger King has been pretty phenomenal.  Their latest promotion (Sponge Bob Square Pants) is getting quite the buzz (not all of it good) – but they’ve really found a way to make BK relevant and talk-worthy – from Subservient Chicken to the BK King – they’re using creativity, social media, promotions, event and non-traditional media in interesting ways that are really having an impact on their business.  Right now, BK has committed to increasing their media spending to get a 20-25% lift in their brand impressions.  I don’t know of anyone else who’s doing that!

4.  We’ve all read that the pitch / RFP process is broken.  Many agencies aren’t even interested in competing in pitches.  Do you see an alternative to this process?
Well, first let me say that we’re still interesting in pitching business, and do respond to RFPs that are a good fit for our agency.  However, the point is right on.  RFPs are expensive, and in many cases create an environment that isn’t best suited to finding the right agency/client match.  We try to avoid them by building our reputation with prospective clients and hopefully by getting invited to meet (or even handle a project) without a review.

5.  What does the agency of the future look like?

Right now, we’re seeing a thinning of the herd.  Larger agencies are being gutted as a result of the economy and their clients cutting back.  But I also think that it’s time for agencies to re-think what they’re doing and what their value proposition is.  I think the successful agency of the future will be smaller, more nimble, creative and versatile.  They’ll work in traditional and new media almost seamlessly – guided by a keen ear from the marketplace.

6.  What do marketers need that agencies are not giving them?
An outside perspective, insight and leadership.

7.  Who do you admire and why?
It might sound trite, but I can’t think of anyone I admire more than Barack Obama.  His campaign spoke to me on a level that none other ever has.  I believe in his message of hope, and find great inspiration in his leadership.  I also admire how his campaign utilized social media and a grassroots movement to beat all odds.  He has also reached my 5 year old, bi-racial son – he looks up to President Obama as a role model – and I hope that he has experiences and opportunities that are different because of the path President Obama has blazed.

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Tomorrow is the first post in my new blog series Ad Industry Innovators.

The idea is borrowed (with permission) from Aaron Strout at Powered and his series called Experts in our Industry.

I’d have coffee with a different agency leader once a week if I could but that’s not practical, so this is the next best thing.

I don’t want to be the smartest one in the room; and if I am, it’s not a room I want to stay in very long!  It’s what I love about helping clients find the best agency for their project.  I stay current on emerging technologies for marketing (as much as anyone can) and get to work with some of the sharpest minds in marketing on the client and agency side.

In the coming weeks I’ll introduce you agency people who are leading the industry in this new era of marketing.  No one knows for sure where we’re headed but they all agree that things are changing, and fast.

I’m honored to kick things off with the folks at Traction in San Francisco, CA.

Next is my buddy Tim Hayden from Game Plan Experience with offices in Austin, TX and New York, NY.

We’ve got Chris Clarke from the global agency, Nitro Group and even some Seattle stand-outs like DNA-Seattle and Boom Boom. 

We go global again with Alain Thys from Futurelab and lots more but I don’t want to give away all the surprises!

So put us in your Google Reader.  Subscribe. Tell your friends.  ”Wake the kids and phone the neighbors.”  It should be fun!

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Idris Mootte blogs at Innovation Playground.  I read his blog regularly because of his broad perspective and intelligent view on the world.  Well, that and he puts great pictures in his posts.  And simple minds…well, I forget the saying.

In a post this week called The Rise And Fall And The Coming Transformation Of Madison Avenue. What About The Future Of Advertising? Idris spins a cautionary tale about the current state of the marketing industry and it’s one worth listening to.

We’re in a time that I’ve repeatedly compared to the golden hour in emergency medicine.

Remember the mid 90s in advertising?  As the internet became a relevant marketing channel, clients asked, so what do we do about the web? and a lot of agencies stared at their feet.  They didn’t have a good answer that really served the client—for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was that digital media didn’t fit the traditional agency infrastructure.  As a result, marketing became more fragmented.  Nothing truly integrated, although it was widely promised in many a pitch. 

Digital agencies became adept at analytics and tracking ROI where traditional media just didn’t have the same capability for measurement.  Traditional agencies offered up web “solutions” put through their specific filters.  Web shops tried to work out branding in lieu of traditional agencies and the geeks just didn’t deliver.  So the client was left with competing (and contrasting) advisors each vying for their attention (and their wallets); while customers went off into their own corner and started talking about the brand.

To date, no one’s been able to bring these disparate groups back together; and we’re on a collision course that’s going to fundamentally change the way marketing is done. 

Here are some of Idris’ observations:

In just a few years, you can expect the whole advertising industry to be in full crisis mode, driven by continuous innovation.”

Forward-thinking marketers are embracing new models, which are being shaped by digital media.”

Twenty-first century marketing will instead be only about customer engagement and adaptively integrated marketing (not a new word but hardly delivered by agencies).”

Big marketers such as Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson and Unilever are expressing frustration with the way ad and marketing firms are structured.”

Many marketers say it is tough getting different agencies to understand the new world order, let alone [work] together.”

Next week there’s a new series on this blog profiling some agencies who’ve heard these warnings and are doing something about it.

I don’t have a name for it yet, but it was borrowed, with permission from Aaron Strout at Powered and his series called Experts in our Industry.  You can check it out at http://blog.stroutmeister.com/ to see what I ripped off.

And thanks, Aaron for your advice and input on kicking this off!

I hope this new series is useful to you as a reader.  I hope it starts a lot of discussions.  I hope you’ll invite your friends, clients and colleagues to subscribe.  And, most of all, I hope it brings a lot of recognition to some pretty smart people who deserve to be emulated.

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This post began as a comment on a post at Agency Spy.

But because I didn’t want to get on soapbox on their comments boards I posted it here.  This will explain the bulletpoints.  Read on people:

Small business has and will always be the backbone of US business.  Advertising is no different.  And as such there is still a ton of business out there to be had.  So the industry shrinks 10%. 15% 20%. That still leaves billions in advertising spending in this country.  Yes, even in this economy, good, creative marketing happens every day.  And pitches go to the ones who can demonstrate the smartest use and best value for their client’s dollars.

• Budgets are being cut: true
• Clients need to do more with less: true. By the way, they have no choice. Don’t you think they’d rather have $2 million for that campaign instead of $900K?
• If you wait around to be invited to a pitch by the large search firms you’re SOL: Mostly true – if you’re a small to midsized agency–you’re the first to go.

Advertising is changing (again).  Agencies need to change with it.  Smaller agencies are better positioned to be able to shift rapidly.  Adaptable, smaller agencies will see a disproportionate number of wins coming at them that before may have looked only at the large shops.

Historically agencies have done a really crappy job, operationally, of making meaningful changes that will position them to prosper when budgets constrict.  As agency people we don’t take our own advice!  If a client wouldn’t hear this–we’d declare them idiots and institutionally slow.

It also helps to have some perspective. 10 years ago when the dot com bubble burst, people were prognosticating doom and seeing whole revenue streams dry up.  What happened was new revenue streams began.  Even at a trickle it’s a great time to get on board with a client who you may have indentified in the past as not offering a big enough piece of pie to be worthy of your time.  Let the big guys kill each other over the multi million dollar accounts.  If a $25 million account is all you’re interested in, it may be a long time before you eat!

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Here’s a brilliant little post about the cost of the Denny’s promo to feed everyone in America a free breakfast on Tuesday.  Of course he neglected to mention the cost of the superbowl spot.  But it makes for an interesting post!  

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/02/02/math-says-dennys-free-breakfast-a-good-deal-for-the-company-to/

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