The state of advertising

People used to imagine marketing agencies like those depicted in the American hit series Mad Men. Creative directors, assistants, secretaries, designers, couriers, account managers... many people with a single goal – to create the best possible strategy and message that would stimulate a large number of people to react in some way. Simply said, the aim is to reach as many people as possible, engage them and achieve the reaction of users/consumers at the point of sale or service. After all the procedures, contacts with clients, approval of creative solutions, the following step would be the realization and distribution of the message(s) via various communication channels (radio, television, billboards, print). Of course, services offered by such agencies had a certain price and were available to clients with deeper pockets.

Things have not changed from the viewpoint of agencies which are active in the field of the so-called traditional media and communication channels, for a simple reason: client's trust and the sense that a large organization stands behind the client. Considerations about the invested money and the Return On Investment (ROI) gained in importance.

The tipping point

In the 21st century, technology and society – most of all the appearance of Google and introduction of new business models – have resulted in turbulences in the field of marketing and advertising. Advertising and creation of campaigns became available to anyone with a credit card and a small company.

High-quality marketing and advertising are not available only to deep-pocketed clients anymore. All the nice things that a small advertiser needs are now available to him: control of expenses, payment for needed services only, management of quality. A change has occurred. Business owners can understand the groups they are trying to reach, since social networks and the Internet have significantly improved communication and search.

Of course, agencies working for clients exist in the field of digital marketing as well. Their role is to take the next step in the digital media. When small or large companies realize that their requirements go beyond the in-house capabilities, they can turn to specialists who know how to reconcile the specific characteristics of the chosen media and client's wishes (which are always clearly defined).

All these factors make it easier to define the tasks performed by digital agencies. It is only necessary to specify the time and money to be invested.

The specifics of large numbers

In the old days, preparations and monitoring used to include focus groups, but now their role is being fulfilled by test campaigns which can last from an hour to a day and serve to test hypotheses related to clients and the market. These activities used to require time, preparations and analyses.

Large numbers (at the moment, there are almost 4 million internet users in Serbia) allow a highly successful segmentation and targeting of users. Advertising systems like Google AdWords, Etarget, HTTPool and others offer clients and agencies clear and precise information that is necessary to prepare and implement campaigns.

What is next?

Simply put, digitalization of the media and the Internet have resulted in democratization of the media. Everyone can be an advertiser and everyone can make a campaign and achieve sale. Small businesses have already noticed this and have focused their sales through this channel.

Google's principle of absolute transparency and measurement of performance without retaining anything has led to tectonic shifts in marketing that have already been noticed by traditional agencies. Adaptation is possible and it only remains to establish cost and time.

Perhaps this so-called 'engineering' approach to business has removed creativity and passion from marketing, but it has achieved much more in demystifying it and making it more accessible to everyone.

We have entered the age of small companies and teams that offer a unique creativity to each client and project they are working on. Such qualities are hard to preserve in large corporate structures.

Ivan Recevic

About the authors

MC Newsletter,
September 9, 2011