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Photo: Connecticut Movie Filming
As usual, I am asking your well-connected, knowledgeable brains for help.
Basically I want to know what traditional agencies [advertising/media] offer under the social marketing banner?
Do they have specialist/standalone branded entities or are they ‘integrated’ into their already existing digital capabilities – packaged up so they look relevant, new and exciting?
The ones we know of at the moment are …
radarDDB
TBWA Riot
VCCP Search
Publicis Modem
Carat Engage
Plus some potentially shakier examples …
Digital Marketing Group Graphico
Pluck
YouGov Tracker
Emerging Media Lab-Interpublic
But do you know anymore and do you know what the truth is behind them [including the ones above]
As usual, any help will be gratefully received and totally confidential. The other positive [for you] is that this information is not – for once – being used for evil – it’s for part of a document we’re writing. A document for a nice person, not someone who revels in mischief.
Thanks folks, really appreciate it.
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PS: I’m the ‘elderly’ you’ll be helping in this post.
To prove it, here’s a picture of a scarf I’m wearing because I’m so damn cold.
Yes, I know wearing shoes may help but who could turn down a scarf when it’s [1] a Nottingham Forest ‘Super Reds Magic’ one and [2] it’s so old, it still has the ‘name tag’ my Mum stitched into it when I first wore it at infant school, back in 1979!!!
Yep, I’m that old, that sad, that unfashionable and seemingly that tight … ha!
Seriously, any help [with the social marketing question, not my fashion sense] however small – would be brilliant.
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Y&R have a company called Brand Buzz. It’s basically an empty shell so they can go after any business the main company might not qualify for because of price or conflict. At the moment they are claiming they are social media experts because their global CEO is net obsessed but they’re not and actually have underqualified staff in their proper digital division.
Comment by Intheknow January 29, 2009 @ 9:15 amIn my book, social marketing is commication that is working towards some form of common good for society, this stuff you are referring to is junk mail in my life that is trying to bypass my overloaded filter system. Unless it’s amusing or insightful…. but then it probably wasn’t done by an ad agency.
Comment by Emma January 29, 2009 @ 9:19 amHi Emma … I appreciate what you’re saying but sadly, the marketing industry – as usual – has attempted to hijack the terminology and give it a more commercial meaning.
Whether they are successful on a mass scale is questionable [though I think the answer is an overwhelming ‘no’ for the reasons you’ve highlighted] but then like the recession, we never seem to learn from our past mistakes do we? 🙂
Thanks ‘In The Know’, I know of Brand Buzz but wasn’t aware they were now claiming social marketing expertise [if that is not an oxymoron]
Very helpful. Any more? And do you – or anyone else – know more info on the companies/divisions I highlighted in the post?
Comment by Rob January 29, 2009 @ 9:27 amTwo i can think of off the top of the dome are…
Clemenger BLUE
http://www.bluedigitalservices.com/
Tribal DDB
http://www.tribalddb.com.au/office_selection/default.asp
They’re set up as independent companies working out of the same building.
Comment by Age January 29, 2009 @ 11:24 amThanks Age … do you know if their ‘independent’ status is anything more than just a different sign on their cubicle?
If there’s any more you can think of, I’d really appreciate it.
Comment by Rob January 29, 2009 @ 12:17 pmHmmmm, not sure about their “status”.I know they appear to run as separate companies – different websites, logos, office areas, clients etc. I know when I was freelance writing for Tribal they acted completely separate from the trad business as much as i could tell.
Some others…
MRM is part of McCann WorldGroup and I know they run a completely independent business but get called in when need be.
Also Whybin TBWA have Tequila as a separate digital arm.
Comment by Age January 29, 2009 @ 2:09 pmMedia Arts has a social network division. Not sure if its US only but it’s definitely different from Tequilla out here.
Naked have incorporated social marketing knowledge in their core offering but I would expect a new division dedicated to this soon.
Will ask around.
Comment by Bazza January 29, 2009 @ 3:44 pmJWT India has a special social unit I believe.
Comment by Rob Mortimer January 29, 2009 @ 5:39 pmS&S have S&S S – its a gesture I guess, not sure how big a one though. below is a cut and paste
enjoy – I did.
“Saatchi & Saatchi S
Green. It’s become the latest buzzword. And it has launched retail and industry leaders toward the unfamiliar world of sustainability.
But at Saatchi & Saatchi S, we don’t actually do Green. Instead, we do Blue.
Blue influences not just the environmental dynamics of our world but also the social, cultural, and economic aspects too. We understand that if a billion of us around the planet took small steps to change the way we live and the things we buy, amazing things could happen”
and on it goes… its got its own site, all I know.
Comment by Mr McG January 29, 2009 @ 6:26 pmI suppose the fact they don’t say ‘lovemarks’ is something to be grateful for.
Blue. What a lot of [hype] rot.
Comment by Rob January 29, 2009 @ 6:35 pmLooks like S&S read the 2007 JWT Trendbank work on Blue is the New Green.
Comment by Rob Mortimer January 29, 2009 @ 6:57 pmIt can only be a trend if many people start doing it – not a bunch of ad agencies desperately trying to look cool and trendy when in reality, they look more sad and desperate.
As they say, the truth of the pudding is in the eating … shouting out recipies isn’t enough.
This all smacks of the agency embarassment that went on with Second Life … all image and hype rather than genuine purpose and benefit.
Cynical? Errrrrm, yes.
Ta-ra …
Comment by Rob January 29, 2009 @ 7:07 pmgod i hate the term social media. unicorns, that’s all i have to say about it.
Comment by lauren January 29, 2009 @ 7:49 pmI can live with social media, using viral as a name for the online media channel is far worse.
Comment by Rob Mortimer January 29, 2009 @ 7:53 pmAll media should be social. Social media is a fucking stupid term.
Viral is annoying, but social media is a catch all used by people when they really mean ‘communication on the internet which isn’t a banner, a ‘viral’ or a microsite’.
And Rob – we have Lo/We (nice ;)) here: http://www.lo-we.com/
I have nothing to do with it…so can’t tell you much more than what the site says.
Comment by Will February 1, 2009 @ 12:12 amFew from India:
Webchutney.com, Phonetics.in, fleaglobal.com, Relevantnoise.com
New in New York:
bluelinerny.com,
Neilsen has nielsenbuzzmetrics.com.
Most of them operate as a seperate unit with own tools and metrics etc. Impressive list of clients.
Comment by I am not a media buyer February 2, 2009 @ 2:08 am