hen the head of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide declares himself cautiously optimistic about advertising spend for 2013, then, given the
economic issues in many areas of the world, the obvious question is – why? The answer is his global perspective; Young, 57, has been CEO of O&M Worldwide since January 2009 based in New York, but he has been with the WPP-owned firm since 1983 having run its European O&M Direct business and been chairman of O&M Asia/Pacific. These jobs – and the air miles he continues to log in his current role - inform his view that while some regions - like Southern Europe - have huge economic problems, others like portions of Africa or countries like Russia, Columbia and China are showing healthy ad spend. “I am cautious but not pessimistic about advertising in 2013 and that outlook really reinforces the paradigm that has been set since 2008,” says Young, whose firm works with brand giants Coca-Cola, IBM and Amer- ican Express. “There is now a huge premium on effectiveness in advertising and by that I do not mean cheap.”
The ad business is changing profoundly because of digital platforms, smart data and social networks, all changes that are altering how agencies do what they do. “We’ve moved beyond the horrible dichotomy that TV is dead and digital is better. Not only does digital enhance TV but now there is a new kind of creativity,” he says. “Creativity can no longer be packaged into neat little 30-second TV ads, 10-second radio spots or beautiful billboard campaigns. We have to focus on how to curate content so it is easy to access and how to make the consumer aware of content so they will go to it. I call it persuasive creativity or liquid creativity.” Allied to the changes around digital and social networks is the emphasis on data, the new oil for the industry. Of course, data has always oiled the ad game, but now there’s an excess of it, so it’s more about using the
numbers most effectively. Young says the industry needs to move to a new level of data-usage, more than just about how you divide spend between media. He wants to move beyond simple advertising to embrace activation strategies, social media, PR and public affairs tools as well as unpaid-for media.
He underlines that Facebook may be “embedded into everything we do” but that social media is not an advertising medium per se; “Social media trades on existing impres- sions, on existing media and images and if it is done right it enhances and modifies them.” While TV advertising will remain a central plank to gaining awareness for a brand, advertisers will move beyond simple channel planning to discipline strategies, something that Young admits it has been difficult for ad agencies and creative agencies to figure out. “There’ll be a bigger portion of total spend going into content creation for clients as well as better use of ‘smart data’ to read results in real- time,” he says. At IBC, O&M announced a partnership with IBM where IBM’s technology will help build Ogilvy’s e-commerce business to exceed $100m over the next few years. Young believes the convergence of technology and creativity in places like Brazil also offers interesting insight into how the business is developing. Two and half years ago O&M set up a digital production lab in Pernambuco in Northeast Brazil in a collabora- tion with the local government and university, that has shone a light on new ways of working with digital and social media. Whereas traditionally creative people came up with ideas and the technologists made them happen, O&M has found that this ‘artificial barrier’ between the creatives and the techies doesn’t hold in Pernambuco where their 65-person lab has an average age of 24. These young people grew up with mobile phones and social media. “Now more often than not the technical guys come up with the ideas and the creative people hone them,” says Young. “This is exciting and part of our effort to put technology at the heart of our organisation.”
Creativity can no longer be packaged in neat little