Through a special arrangement, what follows is a summary of an article from Retail Paradox, RSR Research's weekly analysis on emerging issues facing retailers, presented here for discussion.
At the Association of National Advertisers annual "Masters of Marketing" conference, Pepsico exec Brad Jakeman gave a barn-burning speech, charging the ad industry is out of touch with the globalization, digitalization and democratization of its audience.
As reported by Advertising Age, here's a list of his points:
- He really, really hates "pre roll" advertising
- Measurement models are outdated
- The ad industry lacks diversity
- The phrase digital marketing should be dumped
Let's take a look at each.
Pre-roll advertising: Pre roll advertising is those annoying TV-like ads you are forced to watch when you go to YouTube to see a video you like…or the advertising that pops up when you're trying to make your move in "Words With Friends." Does anyone EVER listen to or watch those videos? You know the answer. As Mr. Jakeman described, it's a "model for polluting content."
Measurement models are outdated: In our benchmark report "Retail Marketing 2014: On The Digital Road" released last fall we found measurements were muddled or non-existent for digital marketing. Maybe it's time to take a holistic view of marketing, put all divisions under one roof, and take some time to determine new success metrics in a global, digital world.
The ad industry lacks diversity: Mr. Jakeman said, "I am sick and tired as a client of sitting in agency meetings with a whole bunch of white straight males talking to me about how we are going to sell our brands that are bought 85 percent by women. Innovation and disruption does not come from homogeneous groups of people." Boom! Here's one thing I know from living in Miami. The level of micro-marketing needed just to market to the group called "Hispanics" is completely absent in national advertising.
The phrase digital marketing should be dumped: The over-arching theme of our marketing benchmark was that measurements and understanding of digital marketing were confused at best, absent at worst. Perhaps that's because it's an artificial distinction. In fact, isn't TV a digital medium? Hasn't the news business gone digital?
It's time to take a fresh look at marketing. That message was loud and clear at the conference. The more I see of how marketing is working, the more presumptions and assumptions come clear. "Baby Boomers" are considered a homogeneous group who are very different from Millennials (the new Holy Grail). In fact, neither is true. I probably have more in common with some Millennials than I do with some of my Boomer brethren. I could list some of those presumptions and assumptions here, but I won't.
I hope retail marketers listen carefully to the message delivered at the ANA. It's time to change.