FOCUS: 2000 Previews - New optimism will help to beat the blues

<p>The first days of the new century bring with them a new optimism </p><p>for the economies of Asia-Pacific and for the agency business as </p><p>well. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The trials of the past two years are, hopefully, now behind us and we </p><p>can get on with doing what we do well: building strong brands for the </p><p>new millennium. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The brand-building process has, however, changed forever. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Brands which did not exist four or even two years ago are now at the </p><p>forefront of the new breed of potential advertisers for our </p><p>business. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Amazon.com now has a market capitalisation which is twice the size of </p><p>Disney Corporation. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>At the same time, the retail and communication environments have changed </p><p>almost beyond comprehension. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>So what is the way forward, how best can the advertising business cope </p><p>with the new advertisers and the new challenges that are thrown its </p><p>way? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Clearly agencies cannot resort to their traditional way of dealing with </p><p>such issues which is to hunker down and pretend it will go away. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It won't and agencies have to be fast and smart enough to adapt and </p><p>change or run the risk of their business being stolen by business </p><p>consultants/website designers and a whole host of other businesses which </p><p>were once seen as peripheral, but which have now become mainstream </p><p>players in the communications business. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With the fragmentation of media as well, the need for agencies to play </p><p>an even more pro-active upstream role in a client's business is greater </p><p>than before. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Thus, in my view, the need to invest in strategic planning is greater </p><p>than ever. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Of course, creative is crucially important, but the ability to devise a </p><p>well-thought-out strategic direction, that works in the increasingly </p><p>diverse media environment, is going to be a highly-prized agency </p><p>asset. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It's the most-effective way for an agency to add value to the </p><p>communication process at a very early stage and undoubtedly contributes </p><p>hugely to better creative work. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This is the reason why TBWA is investing heavily in the planning </p><p>structure in Asia-Pacific and why we are going to such trouble to </p><p>identify and train good local planners, even in countries that have </p><p>never embraced the discipline, such as Japan or South Korea. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>At the same time, there has to be fundamental change in the way that the </p><p>creative department see their function. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It is no longer good enough to think only in terms of a 30 or 60-second </p><p>commercial and expect the job to be done. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The implementation process might take many forms, and it has to become </p><p>just as exciting to win awards for a website design as it is to win for </p><p>a TV commercial. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Whether we like it or not, that's our future and we ignore it at our </p><p>peril. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>