Larry's LinkedIn Metrics

Here is my LinkedIn network report. Thank you to those who have joined the conversation! 

YOUR LINKEDIN NETWORK (2013July31):

993  Connections link you to 8,816,892+ professionals

38,440 New people in your Network since July 27

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Agency Change Accelerates as Brands Move to Other Media

Earlier this week, two giants of the advertising world (Publicis Groupe and Omnicom) merged to create the number two ($22.7 billion) player in the advertising game (Google leads, $50 billion). Analysts have not been kind to the advertising industry in general and have noted that a re-factoring of the industry was in progress. New models are expected to become widespread as brands turn away from 'Agency of Record' (AOR) contracts to focus on in-house or licensed digital media capabilities.

“Our industry is not limited to a handful of people. There are new people coming over the line to what was traditional advertising every single day.” (John Wren, Chief Executive of Omnicom, NYTimes)

“We see the lines have been blurred between the various functions and the various players" (Maurice Levy, Chief Executive of Publicis, NYTimes)

This merger seems to be focused on aggregating brand advertising dollars and budgets. However, the shift to preserve competitive advantage has actually been underway for sometime. Meredith Corporation's acquisition of TV/print channels and Nestle's acquisition of PetFinder are two other examples. Meredith is an example of another agency response - vertically integrating to exclusively touch millions of women across North America. Nestle is an example of acquiring the largest adoption channel in North America to preserve a point of market entry POME (the largest channel of adopted animals) for its Purina brand.

The PetLynx utility is exploring a fourth option. Like the Weather Company in its sector, Petlynx has gathered up the largest number of urban animal owners as well as the largest data base of urban animal information and purchasing habits in Canada. Like others using this model, PetLynx gathers these consumers with Service Portals. PetLynx licenses agencies and large brands to access these consumers on an opt-in basis. Since there are many brands and agencies in the Urban Animal Industry unable to acquire or manage their own digital channels PetLynx becomes a useful alternative.

David Kenny, a former Publicis executive who now runs the Weather Company, which includes The Weather Channel and weather.com, said that platforms like his are now working directly with companies to develop advertising campaigns, especially on mobile devices, essentially bypassing ad agencies. (quoted from NYTimes)

Which model will dominate the future? It seems they will all exist initially, but a bet on the PetLynx/Weather Company model long term should be safe. This model should always have the lowest cost of acquisition and the highest level of support from consumers because it is an opt-in service.

For consumers, the merger is another signal that the business of marketing is becoming more personalized, often based on information that consumers may not even be aware they are sharing, including Web habits, social media activity and credit card histories. (Quoted from NYTimes)

New York Times Article

Branducation:

1. In your opinion, which of the models identified is likely to be successful in your industry sector?
2. One model uses an 'opt-in' approach, one model consolidates advertising buys, one model owns consumer channels and another preserves a point of market entry. Briefly discuss the differences you see and advantages or disadvantages you would expect.

Are You Achieving a Win with Social Communication?

Branding isn't what you tell people. Branding is what people tell their friends about you.

Over the past few months, on behalf of InfoStream we have been interviewing members of the Urban Animal Industry to understand how Social Communication Programs are working. Perhaps not surprisingly, experiences haven't been uniformly positive and some have even abandoned or delayed further online involvement. Many of these conversations had similar expressions:

• Websites and interactive online ventures did not achieve the results expected
• Existing talent is already committed so asking them to take on 'social' is an imposition
• Re-posting content from other sites hasn't been effective in developing traffic
• Acquiring original content is expensive and hard to sustain
• Online conversations on media such as Facebook, when negative is hard to manage
• Supporting a real-time Twitter feed is exhausting
• Achieving presence in a noisy online environment is more difficult than expected

Last week a TEDxYYC presentation was published. Google expert, Chris Adamkowski talks candidly about 'Connecting in the Digital Age'. The video shows how online presence is more about 'Being invited In' than 'about cutting through the clutter' (rising above online noise). Watch this five minute video and see if it helps you understand how to 'invite someone in'. 

Branducation:

1. Is your organization connecting in the digital age?
2. What metrics did you create to measure performance?
3. In what ways have your expectations been met or not met?
4. Provide (in 200 words or less) a discussion of how you will achieve your branding goals online. 

On Rhythms, Patterns and Synchronicity

Last evening, Paul Kennedy, the host of CBC's regular program 'Ideas', repeated a broadcast that originally aired in April of this year. The program explores how synchronicity develops in nature. From Fireflies to a beating heart to groups of people naturally falling into step, there is evidence of synchronicity all around us. 

Can we understand these mechanisms and how they may relate to the development of consciousness in the human brain? Can understanding the importance of 'being in step' assist with social communications and the development of successful brand programs that serve the needs of clients?

Listen to 'The Heart of the Beat'

The first Branducation blog about synchronicity and the Firefly effect was July 2012. A follow up blog in August showed how Draft horses synchronize and step to the music.

Branducation:

1. Why is rhythm an important occurrence in nature?
2. How would rhythm influence the cost of a brand program?
3. How does being 'in step' with culture and nature add brand strength and loyalty?
4. Support your answer to question two with no more than 200 compelling words!

Trying to find a rhythm

Larry's LinkedIn Metrics

Here is the LinkedIn network report for my account this morning. Thank you to those who have joined the conversation! 

YOUR LINKEDIN NETWORK

768Connections link you to 8,371,751+ professionals

24,430New people in your Network since June 29