On The Contrary: Bob Hoffman On The State Of The Agency World
From the watering down of creative, to the changing role of account management, to the rise of media, “Advertising isn’t as effective as it used to be,” says Bob “Ad Contrarian” Hoffman.
Bob Hoffman is an “Ad Contrarian,” which is also the name of his popular and influential blog, plus he’s a best-selling author, adviser, and sought-after speaker on advertising and marketing. Earlier in his career, he was CEO of two independent advertising agencies. So, needless to say, he knows his way around the block.
In this week’s “Marketing Today” podcast, Hoffman discussed his perspective on all things advertising, from the watering down of creative, to the changing role of account management, to the rise of media.
“Advertising isn’t as effective as it used to be, and … advertising isn’t as creative as it used to be,” he said. “And I have a very hard time believing that these two things are not related.”
Part of the problem, he said, is that advertising “has become corporate-tized, and they’re investing in everything but creativity. They’re investing in technology, data, and metrics, but they’re not investing in creativity. And I think creativity is the real business of advertising. … I think creativity has become a support service now in most large agencies, and not the focus of what they’re doing.”
Highlights from the podcast aloso include:
- Calendar keepers: The demise of the strategy function in account management. (7:38)
- Planning or strategy: No matter what you call it, without defined principles, is it really a discipline? (10:31)
- What’s “broken” in the creative department? (16:35)
- Are clients to blame for the watering down of creativity in advertising? (20:45)
- The ascendancy of media. (21:31)
- The (sorry) state of the agency model: Blow it up and start over? (27:31)