It seems to me a strange thing, mystifying
That a man like you can waste his time
On women of her kind
Yes I can understand that she amuses
But to let her stroke you, kiss your hair
Is hardly in your line
So said Judas to Jesus Christ in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s magnum opus Jesus Christ Superstar , referring to Mary Magdalene. If Judas was stunned by the importance that Jesus accorded to Mary, so am I when many of the leading brands in the country choose to appoint agencies with little or no talent to handle their communication.
In large part, this is due to marketers looking for instant gratification, choosing to pay more attention to tactical campaigns rather than to building their brands. It’s like prioritising one-night stands over a marriage.
When you set out to look for a one-night stand, you look around for the most attractive woman (or man) you can spend a few hours with, as opposed to the far deeper qualities and the width and depth of qualities that you would look for in a partner when you have marriage in mind.
And the problems in the advertising context begin when you convert the one-night stand partner into a partner in a longer relationship.
There are many agencies fully capable of coming up with a single brilliant campaign, but lack the width, depth and infrastructure required in sustained competent ideas which, together, build a well-defined picture of what the brand stands for in the consumer’s imagination.
This is not to suggest, even for a moment, that brand-building is the domain of large agencies. There are many small and medium agencies that do compelling work for large brands, even award-winning and effective work. These agencies have adequate width and depth to handle a few accounts, but fall short when they add more accounts to the kitty. They just do not have the talent pool. They have the qualities for a great one-night stand for all, but a longer-term relationship with just a few.
This article has been built on the premise that the marketer is responsible, looking for the long-term good of his brand. What if this premise is flawed? That the marketer is short-sighted, looking for the one-night stand rather than for a long-term partner?
There are reams of articles and no end to conversations on the growing inadequacies in advertising agencies, and all these conversations make the same error – they ignore the growing inadequacies in marketing companies.
Too many marketers are looking at the short-term, staring at the excel sheet of projections for the next quarter only, taking their eyes off the targets for the year ahead and not worrying about where the brand needs to be at the end of the year, at the end of three years, and so on.
Since he has no long-term focus in mind, he is wired to think of the immediate, the here and the now, and briefs agencies (and to evaluate them) on his short-term, tactical gains. He doesn’t worry about what the children from these one-night stands will look like.
Which is why we see no connect between campaign after campaign created by the same brand. It’s no wonder; they’re the progeny of different partners. The problem is compounded by the increasingly short durations that marketers seem to spend in their jobs.
Each new marketing head wants to (quickly) make a mark, and briefs the agency on a new (tactical) campaign that will get him attention, the brand be damned.
Seen this way, it’s no longer a strange thing, mystifying, “That a man like you can waste his time/ On women of her kind.”
(The write is Editor, Storyboard)
