Mad Man "Mad" for Social Media Integration
Posted on Tue, Apr 20, 2010
I am here at Jeff Pulver's 140 Characters Conference, a two day action-packed gathering at the 92nd Street Y in Manahattan conference focused on all things Twitter. I just listened to Hank Wasiak, a true ad "mad man", having started at BBD&O in 1965. Hank has seen it all . . . and now sees an exciting future for the advertising business. I encourage you to watch the video of his talk here entitled Why Madison Avenue Should Love Social Media: The Thoughts of a Mad Man Turned Twitterholic [which should be up on the 140 Characters website in the next few days]. In the meantime, here are some of the highlights of Hank's talk.
Adding the Fifth P to the Classic Marketing Mix
Hank, who also teaches at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, brought a little professorial air to his talk [with a twist of George Carlin]. His marketing paradigm adds PEOPLE as a fifth P to the classic Four P's of Marketing - Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Sitting here at a Twitter conference, that fifth P seems so obvious. But why did it take the social web to make us all realize that?!
Wasiak's Six Ingredients of a New Madison Avenue Model (and an Exciting Future)
To be relevant in a 5 P marketing world, Hank argued that Madison Avenue has to change its business model. He offers six ingredients for making change happen:
- Recognize social media for the gift it is. It gets you back in touch with the customer, often in a one-on-one relationship
- Listen. Echoing his friend, Chris Brogan, he advises that agencies need to "grow bigger ears" and listen to the consumer.
- Start thinking like maestros. Agencies need to start thinking like maestros in every environment so that their work produces "music" that resonates.
- Adopt "collabetition". "Collabetition is Hank's own term. It combines collaboration with competition and acknowledges that there is no one best solution. Hank believes that making things work for clients and customers requires collaborating with like-minded competitors.
- Keep the eye on the prize. He advised that the advertising industry is a business of ideas. He also reminded us that research and metrics don't beget ideas. "Consumers will remember you for the impression you make and the number of impressions you generate." [I love that line.]
- Harvest fresh ideas daily. Technology allows agencies explore new directions. Hank cautioned that technology and technique have to be in the service of an idea. He quoted his pal Bill Bernback, "An idea can turn to dust or magic depending on the talent that rubs against it!"
Adding a Seventh Ingredient
I love Hank's list, but I would add a seventh one. Break down the silos inside the agency walls and created integrated media solutions. Many of the agency functions - television, radio, print, digital, public relations and now social media - are still isolated with integration the exception than the rule. Agency clients could be achieving so much more with integrated media solutions. Ironically, I am now listening to a Unilever executive talking about how they are retraining all their employees so they understand how to leverage social media tools along with traditional media. They understand that consumers are changing and that they must as well. Agencies have to start acting more like their clients . . . and we will begin to see the exciting future that Hank sees ahead.
What do you think? Do you think social media is the best thing to happen to social media? I look forward to your thoughts.