Branding is one of my favorite topics. Respected peer and pal Sam Meers is a big brand advocate with whom I love to chat. Sam owns an agency in Kansas City, and I'm an agency gal myself, so we share some commonalities when talking about the genesis of promise, positioning, and strategy.
I hope Sam reads this post, because I'm choosing a write-up from the 8/11/08 AdAge digital section to share tonight. The focus is how a historically digital-focused agency has expanded its service scope to now include branding. R/GA executive VP-Chief Creative Officer Nick Law is quoted as saying:
"...your first experience with the brand is after an Internet search...Consumers look at a Website, and that interface becomes part of the understanding of that brand."
R/GA is aspiring to compete with veteran branding agencies Interbrand and Landor. It seems to me that R/GA is suggesting they are uniquely positioned to challenge the two stalwart institutions because they view the digital Web as the point of origin for consumer awareness of a brand.
Allen Adamson, managing director of the NY office of Landor, offered some intriguing comments:
"At a gathering of branding firms, if you ask who is an expert, everyone's hand goes up, including the catering company...In the end, the client has to decide what mix of partners they need."
I'm not implying that Mr. Adamson was making a jab at R/GA's aspirations of a head-to-head title match. What I'm thinking, however, is that both gentlemen are holding two sides of the same coin.
- Increasingly, consumers are experiencing a brand through digital touchpoints. I believe this is because of the value placed on control and self-expression, and the interactive way the Web facilitates those values. Emotional connections are made hard and made fast when a referral from a trusted source, and to a lesser degree, a review, is offered. At the close of a day when evaluating their aggregated and filtered news, a consumer can find solace and comfort at the prospect of a new product that has come highly recommended by someone whose blog they enjoy.
- The art of branding, as a true north, has been nudged aside in our tactic-driven society. While tactics and their deft execution may be the channels with which brands connect their products/services with consumers, its quite likely the connection is only topical and will find itself unable to weather a storm. Brands inspire emotional transference. When marketers neglect the brand and the integrity of its promise, it gives cause for consumer distrust and skepticism. A petri dish for competition, yes?
So the question might remain, can R/GA authentically evolve into the branding realm, as an extension of their digital expertise, in the interest of carving out a stronghold with consumer point-of-entry (or exposure)?
On the surface, it sounds plausible enough. But I'm not convinced that the Web is the point of origin for consumer awareness. At least not in the context with which I believe Mr. Law purports.
I'll retain some reservations. After all, I've had no experience with R/GA, although I have with both Landor and Interbrand. Kathryn McGrail, interactive marketing leader for the Gore-Tex brand said it best to BtoB for their 2008 Interactive Marketing Guide:
"While many agencies like to bill themselves as full-service providers...we look instead for core competencies in particular disciplines...for agencies that can deliver excellence within them, rather than overextend themselves and disappoint. You have to manage more agency relationships this way, but the qualityl of the work delivered makes up for it."
Which, interestingly enough, dovetails nicely into Sam's 8/25/08 post about "We do that." versus "We can do that."
Notice the difference?
http://insightsandingenuity.com, Heather Rast's blog.