Enterprise Experience...

" Everything Starts with the Customer" Andrew Carter (2008)

A dismal Monday morning turned into an enlightening and insightful peek into the marketing world. Luckily, i was able to meet first hand with a panel of industry members by being part of the team who helped in running the 'What Next?' event (a question-time-esque affair). Mr. Allan Rich (Non- Executive Director of Cello) spoke first highlighting that the recession was a ''fantastic opportunity'' and that a ''well run business will come through a recession extremely well". His enthusiam about the future of the marketing world was a welcome change to the doom and gloom that has seemed to consume the UK in light of the credit crunch. Many of the other panel members shared in Allan Rich's positive outlook for the industry with Ivor Peters (Board Director of the BWP Group) adding: " there is no solution because there is no problem".




Jamie Matthews (Managing Director of Initials Marketing) talked about a change in "balance of power" as many clients are under pressure, (from time constraints and budgets), therefore making marketing campaigns much more shorter term. With a move towards digital marketing and in light of marketing campaigns needing to reach all areas in a shorter term (for greater impact) there is a need for marketing companies to integrate their disciplines. This broadens their communication channels.



On a cold and dark Tuesday evening in a full lecture theatre,Tom Vic (Group Business Director of JWT), re-iterates the need for companies to embrace the new technological era especially in terms of mobile technology. A point stressed by Tom Vic was that although marketing is evolving through digital and online marketing the older traditional channels are adapting to the new times. For example, everywhere you look in an underground station or train there are advertisements. These are still effect, but, in order to update them and embrace the new technology available D.E.P.s (digitial escalator panels) have been created which link within the bluetooth of your mobile phone to produce a fluid moving image advertisement as you progress up the escalator.


Tom Vic created 5 key points of how traditional agencies should respond:

1. Forget above the line and below the line as marketing concepts.

2. Bring back the dictionary definition of advertising.

3. Re-structure business around brands and it's communications needs.

4. Invest in re-training and re-orientating agency colleagues.

5. Learn from the youth, for example, agencies using younger staff to train the older.



From Vic's lecture it became evident that technology should be embraced by all agencies as it can be used to enhance and better their campaigns. It appears that an agency should go back to basics and adapt to the times then their should be a return to "full-service" agencies but in a new format. Vic addresses the credit crunch as an opportunity to make greater focus on cost-efficiency and return on investment a concept which should be adopted in better times as well.





So, it appears that the future is bright for the marketing industry and it will not suffer greatly in light of the current financial climate. If we can all take the infectious enthusiasm of Allan rich along with the modern mind of Jamie Matthews and the experience of Tom Vic the modern marketing world seems a very optimistics place.