Should brands give away 'control' of their image?
I watched Morgan Spurlock's TED talk ' it's amusing and loosely constructed around his 'Greatest Movie Ever Sold' film-making enterprise. In it, he explains how he approached dozens of agencies to get their brand clients to sponsor featured appearances in his movie.
His sales pitch was ragged, flippant informal and rarely specific enough for a serious product placement consideration by a brand. But of course the movie was all about the pitch ' not about the product placement.
Radical movie makers like Spurlock, Sacha Baron Cohen and Michael Moore use the rough footage from initial discussions for the ACTUAL MOVIE. Guess what? None of the suited agency folks figured this would happen. And it's cut to make them look foolish ' he's a good story-teller.
Well we don't want to wallow in the fact that our industry got made to look arrogant, indulgent and foolish.
What is an Ad Agency's most feared future scenario?
Skip forward to 16 minutes in'and Spurlock comes to the knotty truth that all agencies fear above everything else.
Getting cut out of the deal.
When the cosy relationship between brand and agency as the arbiters of taste and executors of customer messaging is cut away, there's nothing left for the agency. Without a client list you are not an advertising agency.
Agencies protect their clients, presenting what they think is appropriate for the Brand Manager to consider and add to the year activity plan. Of course, we do ' that's our job. But it's not the only way.
Only 17 Brands were prepared to relinquish control of their brand message and fund an unscripted movie that undermined the image of the whole advertising industry. Hear what Morgan Spurlock says about these brands
They cut out the middle man, cut out their agencies and said 'Maybe these agencies don't have my best interests in mind.'
I'm going to deal directly with the artist'.. How has that been for [the brands]? Since it premiered, it got over 900 million online media impressions in a 2 week period before it went on general release.
Not bad for a project where almost every ad agency we talked to advised its clients not to take part.
If you take chances, you take risks I believe that in those risks will come opportunity.
Lessons for New Business Development
Morgan Spurlock is not a one-off threat to the advertising industry. Sure he's pulled off this one trick. But his methods have been watched and will be copied.
- Take the meeting ' obviously the agencies he met were interested enough to hear the pitch
- Reserve some budget for last-minute promotions that come from left field ' could be a great opportunity
- Think broadly about the appeal to your audiences of an uncontrolled brand association ' might you find new customers?
- Learn how to spot opportunities for new business (and for your brand clients)
I'm not saying I wouldn't have turned down this opportunity for my brand clients, but taking risks may lead to some interesting dividends.
Read the list of the agencies who turned down the opportunity and the brands that bought direct.
I wonder whether there was any overlap?
Brands who did participate in Morgan Spurlock's movie
Agencies who did not participate in Morgan Spurlock's movie
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