Putting on an Integrated Face

Integration has been a hot topic lately, and since I'm in the thick of it every day, I thought I'd weigh in. There have been numerous articles lately that have had both clients and agencies alike asking questions.

One of the recent articles that sparked debate and sent shock-waves through the agency world was written by Suzanne Vranica in March of this year. The article, "On Madison Avenue, a Digital Wake-up Call," was about Nike taking away interactive business away from Wieden + Kennedy because their digital experience wasn't up to snuff.

Since then, a number of agencies have been touting strategic hires they've made to increase their digital expertise. That's great, and I agree that these agencies should have hired "digital czars" a long time ago. It's a step in the right direction, but there's an ugly truth that lies beneath... even with these strategic hires, many advertising agencies are outsourcing their interactive work.

Gooby has been touted in numerous publications as being the best at integration. They've done some notable work, including a recent website launched for the California Milk Processor Board, "Get the Glass." It's an amazing website, one of the best in recent years. But guess what... another digital agency created the site.

That digital agency is North Kingdom, an amazing shop in Sweden. According to a recent Business Week article, Goodby acknowledges that it "collaborates" with a number of these digital agencies, which the article refers to as "production houses." The truth is, these shops are far from "production houses", they're creative agencies in their own right. We can see the primary dilemma in this excerpt from the article:

"We work in a way that is similar to the traditional broadcast paradigm," McGinness says. "We concept and design in-house and then work closely with the appropriate company to bring the work to life."

Given that these companies are so "creative" in themselves, do you still need creatives in the agency? Couldn't you just farm out briefs to the likes of Barbarian? "We control the brand DNA. The brand tonality and voice all needs to come from one place. That includes how we conceptually speak to our consumer," argues McGinness. "If we outsourced the way we speak to our consumers, then we would be irrelevant."

Doesn't Goodby realize that clients want an agency that can "bring the work to life" in-house? And aren't agencies such as Gooby selling themselves under that guise? I have a hard time believing that the perfect model of integration is creative ideas being farmed out to digital "production houses."

I feel fortunate to be working at an agency that's living integration every day. We didn't wait until 2007 to appoint a digital czar. Our interactive group was created by The Richards Group in 1995, and we've been "bringing the work to life" within our own walls for 12 years.

Update: Make sure to check out the comments on this post, as it's generated some great responses. Thanks to Hashem from Goodby for being one of the first!

Comments

[Todd W.]

"The article, "On Madison Avenue, a Digital Wake-up Call," was about Nike taking away interactive business away from Wieden + Kennedy because their digital experience wasn't up to snuff."

If you read carefully, Nike took TRADITIONAL assignments from W+K because their digital chops weren't there and digital wasn't core to its creative proposals.

From personal experience, clients will continue to get traditional thinking as long as the digital brains are hidden away in the "production house" and the traditional thinkers are still in the pilot house. Digital is not anything like "the traditional broadcast paradigm" as Goodby says, so continuing to operate in that way seems a tad bizarre. That he doesn't even recognize that as it slips out of his mouth is even more disappointing. And they're thought of as more forward thinking than most?!

After interviewing people from some of these supposedly progressive traditional shops, it's clear their digital capabilities are still tacked on afterthoughts playing second fiddle to the broadcast/print "Big Idea" teams made up of a art director and a copywriter. Without someone with an interactive bend in there, it's unlikely these shops will be successful making the painful transition to the new world.

[Hashem Bajwa]

A couple of thoughts to contribute to your post:

Would it be wise to bring broadcast directors in-house? No one says its wrong for an advertising agency to hire a great director for the right job that is external to the agency itself.

The approach GSP has taken is similar to that.

Michel Gondry is not mere a "product house" he's a creative person in his own right and he works with closely the ad agency to develop a piece of work.

GSP works with North Kingdom in a similar way.

Sure we could do all our product in house but we wouldn't be able to work with the best possible creative flash development talent out there.

So if you mean to say that a one size fits all approach to digital advertising is right, I would differ.

You also mentioned TRG created an interactive group.

So there's the ad agency...and then the interactive group.

At GSP the creative director on a project think through a project, an idea, a brand thought, and then executes it across the right mix of things, in the appropriate ways.

We try to not segment out interactive as a separate entity, tacked on, bolted on at the end.

This way ideas in digital and interactive are not the last part of a meeting as a throw away but deeply part of the creative idea.

Milk is an example where TV falls out of the interactive work, the idea is best anchored and experienced online.

Sometimes its the other way, sometimes it a combo, sometimes its different.

All of this is one approach that has worked for GSP and GSP's situation, its not to say its THE way, its just one way that worked for our circumstances. Each agency has to find what works for them and their clients best.

Thanks

[John]

Thanks for the great comments! I knew someone else would have something to say on the matter... I agree with Hashem that there isn't a one size fits all approach. Integration will look different for each agency, depending on their culture, the type of business they do, and ultimately, the project.