It really amuses me when people in our business set out and start something new.

You can imagine it most of them ad agency/digital people sitting around a nice designed table, looking for a direction which will make them stand out.

Talented people with their own branding skill set and yet when starting new ventures for their own brand come up with positioning bull like:

We’re an advertising agency, but a hybrid between traditional advertising and digital. Fusing these disciplines together with our set of unique tools.

Does that mean it is a digital agency that wants to do tv ads?

This unique tool term is also very scary to me personally, as a brand planner I have come across all sorts of trade marked junk that uncovers insights on brands and concepts but I can’t remember any names right now because they are usually crap. Usually research agencies and  brand consultancies are the best at this shite.

One insight is that ‘advertising agency’ is a dirty word right now with clients and agencies not wanting to use the description. It is a real pity that every agency brand is now trying to re-position themselves so they are not left behind in client perceptions for new briefs. Of course nothing changes within these large companies except a few key hires in Social Media, if they are smart.

Personally I like the positioning of :

Don Draper runs virtual talent team.

Maybe that is just too basic? If I do not mention global brands then we can only work for local? If we have no glass fronted office space then we must be mickey mouse? If it is not part of WPP or any other network - clients like Unilever will never give us a brief?

I still think the word agency has legs - but it needs to be motivating and relevant. That is a basic branding idea I learned at Chiat/Day.

Think I will do some workshops for the networks as agency management teams seem incapable to grasp insights and leverage their own brands!