This just in from Bullet PR, M&C Saatchi (otherwise known as McSaatchi.com) moves to a digital-led approach “to compliment the traditional approach”.  It’s kinda already been done, eg by Sugar, but good on ‘em for joining the party.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

M&C Saatchi Goes Digital and

Brings in the Big Guns

29 October 2009 Auckland - World renowned advertising agency M&C Saatchi has hired Darryn Melrose as CEO, Dave King as Executive Creative Director and Tony Burt as Planning Director to lead a consolidation of marketing channels at the agency, adding a genuine digital element to its traditional advertising, government and retail offerings.

Recognising that the media landscape is moving fast and that integrated campaigns with specialist digital expertise is what is needed for all brands, M&C Saatchi Worldwide Chairman Tom Dery knew the agency needed experienced digital leadership:

“The way the digital landscape is transforming globally means these are exciting times for advertising. New Zealand is leading the way in digital, and now M&C Saatchi has a world class digital team to add to its offering. Ten to fifteen years ago digital agencies were kept separate. Now digital is integrating with big ad agencies, like what is happening at M&C Saatchi New Zealand. This move, a first for New Zealand, shows a major agency leading with digital to compliment the traditional approach.”

Melrose, King and Burt were headhunted from AIM Proximity, one of the world’s leading digital agencies and they bring a rich history in traditional above-the-line, digital and direct expertise. Mr Melrose was CEO at AIM Proximity and is one of New Zealand’s pre-eminent direct and digital marketing specialists; he is also the Chair of the pan-industry Digital Leadership Group. King is renowned as one of the most creative advertising and marketing brains in the business. He took M&C Saatchi Sydney to number two in the world in 2006 and AIM Proximity to number one in the world in 2009. Burt meanwhile has worked in digital strategy roles in London for Sapient Interactive and AKQA. Melrose says:

“There is a huge amount of potential that already exists at M&C Saatchi New Zealand, Dave, Tony and I are all experienced above-the-line practitioners, but we also bring great digital knowledge that is vital in today’s market. Clients are looking for a fresher approach, for strategies and solutions that solve business problems. We will give New Zealand an advertising option that has the scope, scale and ambition of any world class campaign.”

ENDS

About M&C Saatchi

M&C Saatchi New Zealand has offices in Auckland and Wellington, servicing clients in the retail, government, media and digital sectors. As part of the global agency network, M&C Saatchi New Zealand adheres to the principle of Brutal Simplicity to create strong, iconic brand identities.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Paul Matthews, Bullet PR
T: 09 306 4008
M: 021 403 181
E: paulm@bulletpr.co.nz

The Marketing Association asked me to lunch today. I took the opportunity to deliver a commentary about the effect of the recession on the domestic advertising market with some insights from offshore.

I’ve dropped some of the material online if you’re interested in having a quick read.  Below was my favourite image from the presentation.  It shows the revenue lift in online from January to June 2009 for the display advertising component of online advertising in NZ, versus the drop reported by the NZTBC for television advertising revenues over the same period.  Ouch.

The burning question for the big media outlets in New Zealand is whether the recessionary downturn will be cyclic and revenues within the media mix will bounces back to the good old days, or whether the shift of ad spend online is here to stay.  Clearly with some of the campaign results I’ve been seeing, online is converting well - for search, classified and display.

At Trade Me, I’ve seen television work well alongside display campaigns.  We’ve seen a big uptick in traffic to clients’ sites after Trade Me is added to a tellie schedule.

Anyway, the address for the preso notes is www.dontwasteagoodrecession.com.  It’s a work-in-progress that I’ll try to tidy up over the weekend.  I hope you enjoy it.  Please leave me a comment!

Thanks, MG

Advertising’s role is often to convince the target market that the company, product or service being promoted will meet their need, be their first choice, the one to buy. A key mantra of my agency career was: “advertising’s job is to get you onto the choice set.”

I’ve been thinking a bit lately about the role of online advertising as a sales channel, versus as an advertising medium.  With online now over 20% of local media consumption, the role of online advertising is much more about getting onto the choice set, and building a relationship with a consumer, than a simple action or acquisition, although it can be a highly measurable direct response tool also.

In an online world, marketers have been sold the idea of a medium that’s too sales-focused. None more so than through an ill-fated sales construct called Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA). The concept of CPA asks for much, much more than choice. The advertiser only pays the publisher if the consumer (viewer) undertakes an action or acquisition.

As the sophistication of consumers lifts, expecting a sale (eg for a laptop) off a single web banner is ludicrous.  Just getting on the choice set is a tough enough task to ask of your display advertisement! So what about trying to be someone’s second choice then, rather than their first choice? Is that an odd sounding goal?

Well, think of the number of people holding two credit cards? Or two mobile phones? Or an campaign to credit card holders positioning your debit card as their second payment option for EFTPOS & ‘card-not-present’ transactions. If they acquire, and love the debit experience, they’re highly likely to make that card their first choice. But asking for them to switch from debit to credit BEFORE acquiring the card might be a step too far this early in the adoption process.

A great example of the second choice strategy was Rabobank’s award winning positioning as ‘Your significant other bank’. Here’s a reminder of the campaign with some amusing behind the scenes takes.

Being second choice means you’re more likely to become a consumer’s first choice under the right set of circumstances. I’ve been an Audi driver for seven years but recently started considering Subaru as my replacement primary vehicle. I’m looking for a 4WD that can fit a dog in the back and get me offroad. Of course, Audi can cater to my needs but Subaru is getting a good look in. They might even get my business in a head over heart call.

Realistic marketers will know the value of being second choice. I reckon online has a powerful role in positioning brands within consumers’ choice sets. But knowing when it’s right to chase the second place position is critical, or you might just come last.

Got this from Nigel Hammersley via Twitter this morning.  Very clever … and stimulating.  Worthy of a quick view. Find his post at hammersley’s posterous.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers IAB Insight Report for the quarter to June 2009 has been out for a little while.  Sorry for not posting some graphs earlier.

The good news is that New Zealand online advertising is up 6.56% on Q1/09 (Calendar) with total spend calculated at $52.49M.
Spend for a rolling year is at $199.8M bringing online closer to radio and magazines.

Display advertising grew 5.75% in Q2.  As a comparison to published television advertising revenue, online display adspend grew 10.5% in the six months to June 2009. This compares with TV which declined 13.3% over the same period.

Whilst all media and creative spend has taken a bit of a hammering over the past year, online is emerging relatively unscathed from the current recessionary period,  and future quarters should show a structural change to the media landscape with newspapers and television continuing to be hit particularly hard.