Well, in the same tradition, we media companies are terrible at marketing and branding ourselves.
This is one of our biggest problems: an almost total lack of differentiation between our organisations, compounded by a largely disinterested client community who are not looking hard enough as a result.
When Paul Green started the original independent, MBS, the crop of start-ups were defined by the entrepreneurs who founded them and by a brash and alternative spirit. This in turn attracted clients who sought to break the system, save on commission costs and to take a greater interest in how their money was deployed.
Now the "independents" have virtually all been absorbed by the global networks, the same ones that own the establishment advertising agencies and most marketing services suppliers. The entrepreneurs have now been replaced by highly professional employees with bosses to impress.
The relentless quest for maximising market share and scale means that the priority is firmly set towards appealing to all clients and providing inter-network vehicles for clashing customers when a blockage occurs.
Consequently, everyone looks the same. Jack of all trades (masters of none?). Chameleons stuck in beige, with functional services to deliver a tick in every box for any tender document. We are so dull, dull, dull.
So I have some predictions for you.
1) Within the groups, the second and third media networks will start to be brave enough to say to some clients "We are not for you".
2) Products will be created that are genuinely unique, internally funded and copyrighted on a scale never seen before.
3) Employees will be prosecuted aggressively if they take anything away when they leave.
4) The leaders of the companies will place more emphasis on the personalities and talent within themselves, rather than on their bland functional capabilities.
5) The same as point 1) but worth saying again: as we mature we will be proud to say "No thank you" much more often. After all, if you behave like a doormat, others understandably will behave like muddy feet.
I'm confident that over the next five years, black and white will become the new beige.
- Jonathan Durden, president and co-founder of PHD, jonathan.durden@haynet.com.
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