I started chatting with David Deal of Razorfish after reading their brilliant 2009 Digital Outlook Report, which has been quoted many times on this blog.  

To say Razorfish is tops in the agency world is an understatment.  I’ve always been impressed by the powerhouse that they are in the marketplace–the braintrust they bring to the industry.  They’ve helped reshape marketing conversations by leading public, transparent discussions on how digital touches all aspects of the marketing enterprise.  They demonstrate this position every day in their work and on twitter, employee blogs, Slideshare, Vimeo and YouTube–a public sharing of information that inspires everyone to reach higher.

Razorfish has raised the industry standard for what’s acceptable and what digital marketing can and should be.

I think you’ll like David’s point-of-view, and hey, you gotta love a guy who lists Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page among his inspirations.  

David says of Razorfish:

[We use] digital to help companies build their businesses.  Sometimes building a business means repositioning a brand for a new audience, like what we’ve done with Mattel for the Barbie brand and for Intel with its Core i7 microprocessor.  Sometimes building a business means strengthening a brand’s digital presence, as we’ve done through with CNN through the redesign of CNN.com.  Or we might help a company create a digital presence altogether, as we did with Postopia.  Razorfish combines thought leadership and full services globally.”

1.   What was the aha moment when you realized “our company needs to be doing things differently than we have been”?

The aha moment for me occurred in 2006, when a Razorfish colleague asked me to help her improve her employee blog.  I realized that Razorfish needed to inject Social Influence Marketing into our marketing and communications outreach.  I also understood that marketing at Razorfish needed to involve the diverse voices of our employees more effectively – including my own. Not long after that experience, I helped create the Razorfish employee blogging program, which was a team effort involving some passionate and dedicated employees like Shiv Singh, Lauren Nguyen, Amy Vickers, and Ray Velez.  I also became a more active participant in the social world by launching my own blog, Superhypeblog.com, among other activities.  We’ve come a long way in a short amount of time.  I like how Razorfish is using Twitter as a means to disseminate thought leadership and to be responsive to the marketplace.  But we have a lot of work to do. 

2.   What books are on your nightstand or great blogs on your Google reader? 

My nightstand includes Endgame, 1945 by David Stafford; The Man with the Golden Gun by Ian Fleming, Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers; Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller; and a Hardy Boys book that my daughter and I are reading together, The Secret Warning.  (By the way, I think marketers should frequently read books written for children. Seeing the world through the eyes of children is humbling, energizing, and eye opening.)  I regularly follow Razorfish blogs like FEED: The Digital Design Blog, and insights from the industry like Guy Kawasaki’s blog, Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang, and Andrew Frank’s Gartner blog.  I’m also a sucker for Perez Hilton.  Because I blog myself, I look across the blogosphere for diverse ideas, especially content that doesn’t conveniently fit my job description.  I also gain inspiration from music.  To that end, I think the Facebook wall posts by Mikal Gilmore are better than anything I’ve seen in the blogosphere.

3.   Give me an example of marketing you think is brilliant and why.

I think the Barbie 50^th Anniversary celebration is outstanding because Mattel is taking advantage of the interactive and social nature of digital.  Mattel’s business challenge is to reposition the Barbie brand to grown-up women while celebrating Barbie’s 50^th.  Instead of investing into TV, Mattel has created a digital lifestyle for Barbie that taps into our cultural affinity for Barbie and recasts her as a fashion icon.  For instance, a YouTube channel features Barbie’s show from the Mercedes-Benz fashion week, among other content.  Through the YouTube channel, a microsite, Twitter account, popular Facebook page, display advertising, paid search, and a blog written in Barbie’s own voice, Mattel has worked with Razorfish to connect with women across the entire digital world.  I also like this example because it shows how you can embrace Social Influence Marketing in a strategic way – it’s not just about creating a Facebook page but stitching together several touch points in context of a larger digital marketing effort.

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?

The RFP process will always be demanding.  Making a decision to partner with an agency takes careful consideration.  I think the bigger issue is making sure clients and agencies ensure they are the best fit for each other beyond the RFP process.  Agencies should differentiate themselves more clearly, which makes it easier for buyers to choose among alternatives.  Agencies should also talk less about themselves and more about their clients’ business problems.  For their part, potential clients can increase their chances of finding the right agency partner by ensuring that the senior-most decision maker owns and leads the selection process.     

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

The agency of the future is a hybrid consultancy and agency.  The agency of the future should challenge its clients with fresh ideas that improve the client’s business.  The agency of the future should also build experiences, not generate one-way messages.  The agency of the future also helps clients become more responsive to their customers through creative forms of marketing like Social Influence Marketing (or employing social influencers and media to meet one’s marketing and business needs). 

6.   What do marketers need that agencies are not giving them?

Agencies need to do a better job providing their clients fresh insights into consumer behavior.  Focus groups need to give way to ethnographic research combined with measureable web-based analytics.   My Razorfish colleague Andrea Harrison recently introduced Social Influence Research, a new approach in which we study consumer purchasing decisions in context of their social relationships.  We’re all social beings, right?  So we need an approach to understand our clients’ customers in context of their social worlds.  With ideas like Social Influence Research, Razorfish seeks to address marketers’ unmet needs.   

7.   Who do you admire and why?

I admire George Harrison and C.S. Lewis because they expressed their spiritual journeys through their art.  I admire Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page because of their passion for innovation.  Their legacies transcend their guitar playing.  Jimi Hendrix was the movie equivalent of scriptwriter, actor, director, and producer.  He didn’t break rules; he made new ones.  And Jimmy Page figured out how to use the studio to create layers of sound that no one else has touched.  Whenever I’m collaborating with a group to try out new ideas, I draw upon them for inspiration.

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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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I’ve  been invited to co-author a book with John Winsor from Crispin, Porter& Bogusky, one of the best ad agencies in the world.  I’m thrilled.  What an opportunity.  I’d like to thank everyone at CP&B  for working with me and say what an honor it is to….

Oh, hi, John.  You’re wha?  Crowd…what? CROWD sourcing it.  

Oh.

Apparently, John Winsor from Crispin, Porter & Bogusky is crowdsourcing the next edition of hisbook Beyond the Brand, which he’s also renamed: Flipped: How Bottom-Up Co-creation is Replacing Top-Down Innovation .  Another bold step from a bold, innovative agency.  

 You can participate too.  

Watching the comments roll in and tracking the evolution is very interesting.   Can’t wait to see how this turns out.

And stay tuned to the Ad Industry Innovators series right here on the Hitch blog,      C, P & G is coming up soon!

All kidding aside, John, it’s still pretty cool.  And we don’t have to tell my Mom what crowdsourcing means do we?

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Nitro Group started in 2002, but I first heard about them in 2007 when Founder and CEO, Chris Clarke, spoke to the ARF about The Agency of the Future.  Afterward I was in search of whatever I could learn about this group of marketing innovators and a theme began to emerge for me. 

Although we’ve never stood in the same room together, I like Chris.  His vision for what advertising can (and should) offer its clients is simple, but innovative, although he’s the first to point out that his is a craft long ago perfected by the likes of David Ogilvy and Leo Burnett.  So is Nitro, a throwback or a curve jumping visionary? 

Nitro’s willingness to step outside the communications discipline for solutions is revolutionary.  Giving clients what they want is just good business.

They believe senior people should always have direct contact with clients.  They believe in variable compensation according to results,  a topic that’s been hotly debated lately, and their model appears to be working for a broad range of clients such as Unilever , Kraft, Coca-Cola, Nike , Volvo, American Express, L’Oréal and Diesel.

1.     What was the aha moment when you realized “our company needs to be doing things differently than we have been”?

It feels like a lifetime ago but I built and sold an agency network in the Asia Pacific that was focused on traditional advertising. I was out of the industry for 2 years and I looked back at the industry as an outsider and realized how slowly the industry was changing and adapting to the needs of their clients. When we set up Nitro it was on the basis that we were truly partners with our clients – we offer innovation, communication (being advertising and digital) and branded entertainment. We offer solutions to their business problems rather than just creative communications. Our clients, particularly Mars in the early days, were craving this kind of service and have never looked back.

2.     What books are on your nightstand or great blogs on your Google reader?

Years ago it was Sun Tzu, The Art of War as I was learning business skills.  Then I ordered a copy of The Alchemist for everyone of my staff because I believe in the power of positive thought.  Now it is Ekart Tolle, The Power of Now. Just a beautiful and powerful book to live one’s life. But to be honest I spend most of my time reading Mr Men and My Little Pony to the kids.

3.     Give me an example of marketing you think is brilliant and why.

One of our offices in Australia came up with a fantastic campaign idea for our client Tourism Queensland. Our client had a very limited media budget and they needed to reach a global audience to attract tourists from all countries to the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. The idea was to promote through cheap classified advertising the Best Job in the World which was the caretaker job on the island. We seeded it through all international media and it got a amazing response because the idea was so powerful. We received global coverage, 34,000 1 minute video applications for the job, over 6,000 news stories and created over US$80Mill in media value for our client. It is these type of ideas that make me most proud when we produce a result like that for our client.
You can check it out at www.islandreefjob.com

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?

Yes I can. The traditional pitch process is focused on responding to a communication brief that has already defined the issue and the usually also the media solution. We operate a step before this stage. When talking to new clients we ask them for their biggest business issue, which usually is not a communication issue. We then focus on working collaboratively with them to solve the issue in a week. This is very different to the traditional pitch process.

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

The agency of the future is built around creating and maintaining interest groups and communities that clients will be able to gain access to. As media continues to fragment, agencies will have to diversify, they will have to be the primarily creative and strategic consultants but also be able to bring expertise in executing in all forums including digital communities.

6.     What do marketers need that agencies are not giving them?

A true partnership model, not just someone to give them creative solutions to their communication issues. Marketers are faced with so many issues on a daily basis and most of the time they are not communication issues. Applying creative thought and creative processes to business issues opens up a whole new area that will allow the agency to operate as a real partner with marketers.

7.     Who do you admire and why?

Ray Chambers. He was one of the most successful hedge fund owners in the world who one day decided that he and all of his team has prospered beyond anyone could have ever imagined. He switched off the lights in the world’s most successful investment bank and decided to apply his skills to charity. I have had the pleasure on working on creative challenges facing some of his charities including Millennium Promise and Malaria No more.  He is very inspiring.

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A Friday tweet inspired post:  

U.K. marketers @ ISBA: “Marketing innovation can help lead the world out of the economic crisis… http://tinyurl.com/d84slo

The subtext:  U.K. marketers look for hope amid the gloom.

Oh, what I would have given to be in the midst of my British brothers and sisters to bask in the uplifting positivity that was the ISBA.

“Scarcity fuels creativity. Already I’m seeing better stuff brought to us by our suppliers. There’s less money to spend so the better work is chasing that money.”  Not necessarliy good news for all those who have to fight over the smaller portions but the I liked the sentiment.  I give them an “A” for looking on the bright side; something we could all use more of.

“Iconic brands play a greater role in our lives at times like these. ‘People lose faith in governments but there isn’t a net loss of faith. They put it into other relationships and that includes brands. People remember if a brand finds a way to make them smile, entertain them or just do something interesting. When smiles are scarce, their value increases.”  I don’t think  the research I’ve read lately would completely bear this out, but I’m all for looking for and sharing examples of what’s right.  And frankly tired of the bitching about what’s wrong.  

Real work was done to galvanize marketers in attendance to maintain their budgets in uncertain times:  ”Marketing can lead us out of the recession. It doesn’t just create demand, it can change the mood.”

I for one, get a lot of good news from the “chitter” (my word for the chatter on Twitter).  If you want to know what people are really thinking–not what the media and the latest sliding of the Dow suggests that we should think, Twitter’s a new saving grace.  Ideas.  Innovation.  Sharing.  All proof that when the going gets tough….

I am also a new fan of the True North spots I’ve seen.  They’re making me filter through the Tivo a lot less.  Fantastic job, guys.  I’m buying nuts just to support the advertising budget!

What brands make you feel better in light of the doom a gloom that’s pervasive in every marketing channel??

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