Posted by Soraya Eltomey, Corporate Communications Associate, Draftfcb
Draftfcb today announced the launch of its Institute of Decision Making. What’s this all about exactly? Well it has to do with understanding the instinctual triggers that influence consumer decisions and applying that expertise to attract new business and build better brand value for clients.
To find out more about what’s to come from this global group and its academic partners at Stanford and Berkeley, check out the video below from the Institute’s director, Draftfcb San Francisco Director of Strategic Planning Matthew Willcox.
Please click here to continue reading and view video: DRAFTFCBlog
Showing posts with label DRAFTFCBlog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DRAFTFCBlog. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
DRAFTFCBlog: (video): Consumers Accessing Video Content Anytime, Anywhere: The Power of “The Three Screens”
There is no denying it. The video content available via television, the web and mobile devices engages, informs and entertains consumers alike. But what does this all mean for advertisers?
To best answer this question, I sat down with Draftfcb New York VP, Group Media Director Bhavana Smith...To view video please click here: DRAFTFCBlog
To best answer this question, I sat down with Draftfcb New York VP, Group Media Director Bhavana Smith...To view video please click here: DRAFTFCBlog
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
DRAFTFCBlog: The Digital Ad Bubble?
Posted by Andrew Eifler, Media Supervisor, Draftfcb New York
I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately about the financial bubble/bust of 2008. Most authors I’ve read agree that one of the major forces that led to the meltdown was the creation and sale of exotic financial instruments that were very hard, or in some cases, impossible to value. Similarly, reflecting back on the technology bubble of 1998, one of the driving forces for the crash was people buying and selling stock in companies that had little or no cash flow. Citing both these cases, I think it’s safe to say that there are two telltale signs that indicate an industry is headed for some challenging times:
1. Everyone foresees unlimited growth potential
2. People are buying and selling things (assets/products) without knowing how much they are worth
Now, it’s not my intention to be the person on the street corner heralding the end of the world with a cardboard sign, but I do think it’s important to take a step back every once in a while and see where things are headed. For me – the area of interest is digital advertising.
Advertising, as a category, is tricky – it’s hard to value. Unlike financial instruments, the value of any ad (TV, print, or digital) can vary depending on who buys it and which product is being advertised. There is no underlying “asset” (as there would be with a financial security), but rather, what you pay for is the opportunity for people to see your message with the hope that it will affect their behavior. With a financial security, the discounted value of all future cash flows is the same no matter who owns it, but the intrinsic value of each advertisement can be different for every advertiser.
Additionally, as technology evolves, we now find ourselves in an increasingly fragmented advertising landscape. Advertising opportunities are no longer limited to TV, Print, Radio, and Online Banner Ads, but there are now digital advertising opportunities everywhere. Everyday publishers are thinking up new and untested forms of digital advertising, which they then try to sell to advertisers. Some of the more recent examples are iPhone ads, iPad ads, and social media ads. How could these new advertising products possibly be appraised and accurately priced in alignment with their long term value? It’s nearly impossible! But still, even without knowing how much they are worth, advertisers are buying these new digital ad products and encouraging publishers to continue creating increasingly exotic advertising opportunities.
Looking at the digital ad industry, one could argue that both of the signs are now true – 1) Everyone foresees unlimited growth potential (and publishers are investing heavily to pursue new advertising technology) and 2) people are buying and selling “new media” advertising products with no way of knowing how much they are worth.
I’m not saying that we’re on the precipice of disaster, but I do think it’s important to keep these things in mind – because another thing that all bubbles have in common is that just before the crash, no one sees it coming...DRAFTFCBlog
I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately about the financial bubble/bust of 2008. Most authors I’ve read agree that one of the major forces that led to the meltdown was the creation and sale of exotic financial instruments that were very hard, or in some cases, impossible to value. Similarly, reflecting back on the technology bubble of 1998, one of the driving forces for the crash was people buying and selling stock in companies that had little or no cash flow. Citing both these cases, I think it’s safe to say that there are two telltale signs that indicate an industry is headed for some challenging times:
1. Everyone foresees unlimited growth potential
2. People are buying and selling things (assets/products) without knowing how much they are worth
Now, it’s not my intention to be the person on the street corner heralding the end of the world with a cardboard sign, but I do think it’s important to take a step back every once in a while and see where things are headed. For me – the area of interest is digital advertising.
Advertising, as a category, is tricky – it’s hard to value. Unlike financial instruments, the value of any ad (TV, print, or digital) can vary depending on who buys it and which product is being advertised. There is no underlying “asset” (as there would be with a financial security), but rather, what you pay for is the opportunity for people to see your message with the hope that it will affect their behavior. With a financial security, the discounted value of all future cash flows is the same no matter who owns it, but the intrinsic value of each advertisement can be different for every advertiser.
Additionally, as technology evolves, we now find ourselves in an increasingly fragmented advertising landscape. Advertising opportunities are no longer limited to TV, Print, Radio, and Online Banner Ads, but there are now digital advertising opportunities everywhere. Everyday publishers are thinking up new and untested forms of digital advertising, which they then try to sell to advertisers. Some of the more recent examples are iPhone ads, iPad ads, and social media ads. How could these new advertising products possibly be appraised and accurately priced in alignment with their long term value? It’s nearly impossible! But still, even without knowing how much they are worth, advertisers are buying these new digital ad products and encouraging publishers to continue creating increasingly exotic advertising opportunities.
Looking at the digital ad industry, one could argue that both of the signs are now true – 1) Everyone foresees unlimited growth potential (and publishers are investing heavily to pursue new advertising technology) and 2) people are buying and selling “new media” advertising products with no way of knowing how much they are worth.
I’m not saying that we’re on the precipice of disaster, but I do think it’s important to keep these things in mind – because another thing that all bubbles have in common is that just before the crash, no one sees it coming...DRAFTFCBlog
Monday, June 21, 2010
DRAFTFCBlog: Day 2 of Cannes Seminars
Posted by Patricia Marinho, SVP, Account Management, Giovanni + Draftfcb São Paulo
Have to say that yesterday was much better. There were some disappointments, but since we can always learn something new, there were some good lessons from the Go Viral seminar and specially from JWT, who made the best presentation here so far.
Go Viral's chairman Jimmy..... comes to Cannes every year to give a lecture on the state of digital. Since last year he focused on the importante of video as a tool to promote engagement online. He gave a lot of impressive numbers, like 120 million US citizens watched an average of 182 online videos last february. Because of that, several companies like Nokia are starting to look at online video as an strategic tool. For them uploading a video whenever you have a new campaign is not enough anymore. They know that they have to create their own narratives, relating to what matters to the brand. Therefore they now have an editorial team, with weekly meetings, to discuss what is going on and decide what type of new video has to be produced to ignite owned, earned and paid media. We should better get used to cases like de 16 videos produced for the N8 foosball - 2010 case.
Talking about JWT, they came with the notion that "time is the new currency" and that's why we have to make ideias people want to spend time with. That, for them, means creating stories that captivates the consumer. No news, right? The thing is they followed this brief introduction presenting a series of very creative cases that proved their point. Each one of them had something special. The ones the audience likes the most were My First Book Project and Heineken's Beer Gloss campaign. Everything was very consistent and inspiring...DRAFTFCBlog
Have to say that yesterday was much better. There were some disappointments, but since we can always learn something new, there were some good lessons from the Go Viral seminar and specially from JWT, who made the best presentation here so far.
Go Viral's chairman Jimmy..... comes to Cannes every year to give a lecture on the state of digital. Since last year he focused on the importante of video as a tool to promote engagement online. He gave a lot of impressive numbers, like 120 million US citizens watched an average of 182 online videos last february. Because of that, several companies like Nokia are starting to look at online video as an strategic tool. For them uploading a video whenever you have a new campaign is not enough anymore. They know that they have to create their own narratives, relating to what matters to the brand. Therefore they now have an editorial team, with weekly meetings, to discuss what is going on and decide what type of new video has to be produced to ignite owned, earned and paid media. We should better get used to cases like de 16 videos produced for the N8 foosball - 2010 case.
Talking about JWT, they came with the notion that "time is the new currency" and that's why we have to make ideias people want to spend time with. That, for them, means creating stories that captivates the consumer. No news, right? The thing is they followed this brief introduction presenting a series of very creative cases that proved their point. Each one of them had something special. The ones the audience likes the most were My First Book Project and Heineken's Beer Gloss campaign. Everything was very consistent and inspiring...DRAFTFCBlog
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
DRAFTFCBlog: The Next 30 Days
Posted by John Dixon, Group Chief Executive, Draftfcb South Africa
I can’t believe it, but it’s here!
All the tabloid trash-talk about crime, about infrastructure and about the stadiums has proved to be just that. Trash. All the cynics who said we couldn’t do it have been proved wrong and today South Africa starts a month of unparalled significance. FIFA has more affiliate countries than the United Nations and as such is the ultimate Rainbow Federation. It therefore seems deeply appropriate that the Rainbow Nation play host to the Rainbow Federation.
As a football nut, it pains me to admit it, but what happens off the field is much more important than what happens on it! The next 30 days are a great opportunity to replenish your soul. All around the country, ordinary South Africans are reminding us that we are all children of the Rainbow Nation. Regardless of race, tribe, creed or sex we are Madiba’s people at our core and I think the outpourings of public joy over the last few days are a celebration of this fact specifically. I love living in a country where the separateness of ethnic origin and the sameness of national pride are celebrated with equal relish. As a company, this is something we carry in our DNA. We owe our very existence in this market to the fact that we are passionate about connecting with South Africans from all walks of life.
Over the next few weeks, make sure that you take the opportunity to swallow huge gulps of our unique home brew. If you are not going the stadiums, promise yourself that you will watch at least one game in a Fan Park. Take your kids. Take lots of photos. Write things down, for these are heady days indeed! When you watch Bafana Bafana over the next few games, savour both the diversity of our team as well as the power of youth. Ithumeleng Khune is 23 years old, just think about the responsibility he carries on our behalf!
When Bafana Bafana get knocked out (and we eventually will!) adopt another African side. Make an effort to talk to foreigners. Be sure to thank them for not believing the crap that was spoken about our country. These visitors the brave ones, the ones that are not deterred by myth and popular convention. They are the truly passionate ones. These visitors are our kind of people, lets treat them like honorary citizens.
Congratulations on being South African!...DRAFTFCBlog
I can’t believe it, but it’s here!
All the tabloid trash-talk about crime, about infrastructure and about the stadiums has proved to be just that. Trash. All the cynics who said we couldn’t do it have been proved wrong and today South Africa starts a month of unparalled significance. FIFA has more affiliate countries than the United Nations and as such is the ultimate Rainbow Federation. It therefore seems deeply appropriate that the Rainbow Nation play host to the Rainbow Federation.
As a football nut, it pains me to admit it, but what happens off the field is much more important than what happens on it! The next 30 days are a great opportunity to replenish your soul. All around the country, ordinary South Africans are reminding us that we are all children of the Rainbow Nation. Regardless of race, tribe, creed or sex we are Madiba’s people at our core and I think the outpourings of public joy over the last few days are a celebration of this fact specifically. I love living in a country where the separateness of ethnic origin and the sameness of national pride are celebrated with equal relish. As a company, this is something we carry in our DNA. We owe our very existence in this market to the fact that we are passionate about connecting with South Africans from all walks of life.
Over the next few weeks, make sure that you take the opportunity to swallow huge gulps of our unique home brew. If you are not going the stadiums, promise yourself that you will watch at least one game in a Fan Park. Take your kids. Take lots of photos. Write things down, for these are heady days indeed! When you watch Bafana Bafana over the next few games, savour both the diversity of our team as well as the power of youth. Ithumeleng Khune is 23 years old, just think about the responsibility he carries on our behalf!
When Bafana Bafana get knocked out (and we eventually will!) adopt another African side. Make an effort to talk to foreigners. Be sure to thank them for not believing the crap that was spoken about our country. These visitors the brave ones, the ones that are not deterred by myth and popular convention. They are the truly passionate ones. These visitors are our kind of people, lets treat them like honorary citizens.
Congratulations on being South African!...DRAFTFCBlog
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
DRAFTFCBlog: Upfront Week Reminds Us that TV is Still a Powerhouse
Having formerly worked on the media side of broadcast TV, I am always intrigued by upfront week and how the networks will convince you to buy time during their programming. Given that the web and social media have certainly changed the way in which consumers are entertained and informed, I turned to Draftfcb New York SVP/Group Media Director Ted Ellet for his thoughts on the evolution of TV viewership. Please view video here: DRAFTFCBlog
Saturday, May 22, 2010
DRAFTFCBlog: Finding Inspiration
Posted by Jamie Shuttleworth, EVP, Chief Strategic Officer, Draftfcb Chicago
This week at our Global Managers Meeting, we had the pleasure of hearing Bill Taylor, co-founder of Fast Company and author of Mavericks at Work, speak on innovation and what he said inspired us.
Little did we know that we would end up inspiring him a bit too.
At the meeting we distributed a workbook called Getting to What Matters that he ran across in his welcome pack. In this workbook we get into the potential power of the 6.5 Seconds That Matter as an operating system and how to get to a brief. It’s littered with inspiration, instruction and a few warnings and is intended to inspire all of us to move creativity and innovation upstream into our strategic work. It clearly struck a cord with him.
More important than the book, however, was how truly inspired he was by our company, our positioning and most of all, our very unique way of turning data into Empirical Inspiration. As you read his post, you will clearly feel the passion he has for what we are doing. It's a good read; I hope you enjoy it.
Special thanks to Karl Turnbull and Ross McLean for helping make the Getting to What Matters happen, and the countless others that inspired and supported it. Super special thanks to everyone involved with the creation of 6.5STM, too many to list and you know who you are.
Have a great weekend...DRAFTFCBlog
This week at our Global Managers Meeting, we had the pleasure of hearing Bill Taylor, co-founder of Fast Company and author of Mavericks at Work, speak on innovation and what he said inspired us.
Little did we know that we would end up inspiring him a bit too.
At the meeting we distributed a workbook called Getting to What Matters that he ran across in his welcome pack. In this workbook we get into the potential power of the 6.5 Seconds That Matter as an operating system and how to get to a brief. It’s littered with inspiration, instruction and a few warnings and is intended to inspire all of us to move creativity and innovation upstream into our strategic work. It clearly struck a cord with him.
More important than the book, however, was how truly inspired he was by our company, our positioning and most of all, our very unique way of turning data into Empirical Inspiration. As you read his post, you will clearly feel the passion he has for what we are doing. It's a good read; I hope you enjoy it.
Special thanks to Karl Turnbull and Ross McLean for helping make the Getting to What Matters happen, and the countless others that inspired and supported it. Super special thanks to everyone involved with the creation of 6.5STM, too many to list and you know who you are.
Have a great weekend...DRAFTFCBlog
Thursday, April 29, 2010
DRAFTFCBlog: The value of strategy
Body:
Posted by Michael Fassnacht, Global Chief Strategy Officer
I just started reading the book “The lords of strategy” by Walter Kiechel, who is the former Editorial Director of the Harvard Business Review. I have not yet finished the book but it’s a worthwhile read. Kiechel explains the origins of business strategy and the increasing importance of strategy in most corporations over the last 50 years. One can dislike the book’ strong focus on business consultants and their ever changing strategy memes (From “Just-in-time” to “Re-engineering”) but companies have significantly increased their strategic intelligence over the last years. And yes, business consultancies like BCG or McKinsey were critical to enable this positive change.
The more surprising is that it seems that most advertising agencies don’t pursue consistently a strategy of their own. It seems a lot of agencies live in a strategic vacuum that manifests itself in three different organizational life forms with different levels of strategic blindness:
* Service clients and make them happy. These agencies don’t see the need for their own strategic plan. Their belief is the satisfaction of their clients is sufficient for long term survival
* Satisfy the visionary ego of the key agency leader. These agencies don’t have a strategic outline beyond the eye sight of the charismatic company leader. A well researched and defined company plan with a three to five year horizon would assume that the leader does not intuitively understand and accordingly change the company’s structure for long-term success. Surely, he or she does not, but no one dares to tell him or her.
* Deliver profit to the agency’s holding company. While the ultimate goal of any business organization is to deliver profit for its shareholder and benefits for its stakeholder, a lot of people confuse the result of making profit with a strategically defined plan and purpose. Generating long-term profit is the outcome of a well design strategy, not a strategy by itself.
Not surprisingly I believe that agencies that ignore the importance of strategic intelligence and the benefits of a well designed strategic plan will have only a short window of success. The need for strategic planning for any agency should answer at minimum the following questions:
* How is your serviced market changing over the next three to five years? What are the key implications for your current business model and competitive positioning?
* How would you describe the current and the desired state of your organization?
* What are the key strategic bets that your company will focus on to get you to your desired organizational capabilities and offerings?
* How are you going to measure your progress against the strategic plan?
Business strategy is a much less complex field than most marketers believe. It just requires a good understanding of the key market trends, the analytical and intuitive understanding of the core and essence of the own organization, and the courage to put down a stake for the future. And it can be as insightful, creative, and entertaining as creating a 30 seconds TV spot or a iPad application.
DRAFTFCBlog
Posted by Michael Fassnacht, Global Chief Strategy Officer
I just started reading the book “The lords of strategy” by Walter Kiechel, who is the former Editorial Director of the Harvard Business Review. I have not yet finished the book but it’s a worthwhile read. Kiechel explains the origins of business strategy and the increasing importance of strategy in most corporations over the last 50 years. One can dislike the book’ strong focus on business consultants and their ever changing strategy memes (From “Just-in-time” to “Re-engineering”) but companies have significantly increased their strategic intelligence over the last years. And yes, business consultancies like BCG or McKinsey were critical to enable this positive change.
The more surprising is that it seems that most advertising agencies don’t pursue consistently a strategy of their own. It seems a lot of agencies live in a strategic vacuum that manifests itself in three different organizational life forms with different levels of strategic blindness:
* Service clients and make them happy. These agencies don’t see the need for their own strategic plan. Their belief is the satisfaction of their clients is sufficient for long term survival
* Satisfy the visionary ego of the key agency leader. These agencies don’t have a strategic outline beyond the eye sight of the charismatic company leader. A well researched and defined company plan with a three to five year horizon would assume that the leader does not intuitively understand and accordingly change the company’s structure for long-term success. Surely, he or she does not, but no one dares to tell him or her.
* Deliver profit to the agency’s holding company. While the ultimate goal of any business organization is to deliver profit for its shareholder and benefits for its stakeholder, a lot of people confuse the result of making profit with a strategically defined plan and purpose. Generating long-term profit is the outcome of a well design strategy, not a strategy by itself.
Not surprisingly I believe that agencies that ignore the importance of strategic intelligence and the benefits of a well designed strategic plan will have only a short window of success. The need for strategic planning for any agency should answer at minimum the following questions:
* How is your serviced market changing over the next three to five years? What are the key implications for your current business model and competitive positioning?
* How would you describe the current and the desired state of your organization?
* What are the key strategic bets that your company will focus on to get you to your desired organizational capabilities and offerings?
* How are you going to measure your progress against the strategic plan?
Business strategy is a much less complex field than most marketers believe. It just requires a good understanding of the key market trends, the analytical and intuitive understanding of the core and essence of the own organization, and the courage to put down a stake for the future. And it can be as insightful, creative, and entertaining as creating a 30 seconds TV spot or a iPad application.
DRAFTFCBlog
Thursday, April 22, 2010
DRAFTFCBlog: Creativity: A Human and Psychological Process
Posted by Mariana Hernandez, VP, Planning and Research, Draftfcb Mexico City
Over the past months, I have dedicated some time to understand creativity as a human and psychological process, going beyond advertising. This task is a part of the final thesis of my master's degree in psychology. I have talked to many creative people to dive inside their systems, discover the tools they have and what kind of internal clues they use to trigger creative processes. It has been fascinating because creativity is a very complex process with many parts taking place under the surface of consciousness. Specially, the phase known as incubation. During this “mysterious” phase, all the ideas, stimulus, information, memories, learnings… are mixed together into a primitive/emotional part of the brain, while the rational part is busy doing something else, not related with the creative task (like solving Sudokus, for instance). This is the first article I wrote regarding this mater for Adlatina (the lead advertising online/offline advertising magazine in Latam region), where I have been collaborating as a writer for the past 6 years. Hope you like it.
To read the full article in Spanish please click here.
DRAFTFCBlog
Over the past months, I have dedicated some time to understand creativity as a human and psychological process, going beyond advertising. This task is a part of the final thesis of my master's degree in psychology. I have talked to many creative people to dive inside their systems, discover the tools they have and what kind of internal clues they use to trigger creative processes. It has been fascinating because creativity is a very complex process with many parts taking place under the surface of consciousness. Specially, the phase known as incubation. During this “mysterious” phase, all the ideas, stimulus, information, memories, learnings… are mixed together into a primitive/emotional part of the brain, while the rational part is busy doing something else, not related with the creative task (like solving Sudokus, for instance). This is the first article I wrote regarding this mater for Adlatina (the lead advertising online/offline advertising magazine in Latam region), where I have been collaborating as a writer for the past 6 years. Hope you like it.
To read the full article in Spanish please click here.
DRAFTFCBlog
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