FOCUS: 2000 Previews - Richness and reward ahead if you look with fresh eyes

<p>The year 2000 will offer up the challenge of invention to meet the </p><p>seemingly conflicting requirements of speed and quality combined. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The millennium agency will have a strikingly different character: it </p><p>will be an agency that will help create brands that have a depth of </p><p>meaning to consumers as well as a dialogue with the brand's constituents </p><p>in a way that has not been achieved before. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It will also create that conversation through all points of contact with </p><p>not only the consumer, but also the channels of distribution, many of </p><p>which will set new challenges and rules of engagement. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The Internet offers a stunning opportunity to create a true and </p><p>meaningful dialogue with the consumer in a way that has not been </p><p>possible before. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Content will be the essential ingredient as it always is but often is </p><p>neglected in the excitement of dealing in a new form. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The new agencies entering the market are the Internet companies seeking </p><p>planners and creatives to complement their programmers and </p><p>designers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Ad agencies will have to ensure that they respond to this new </p><p>challenger. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Databases will become more valuable, especially in Asia. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The dot.coms are the ones with the robust data, updated daily from those </p><p>who enter the websites. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This information will increase in volume and depth, outlining as never </p><p>before the lifestyles and purchasing patterns of consumers around the </p><p>globe. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Eventually brands will be customised to individual tastes and needs. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This will put further emphasis on the brand as a vehicle for trust and </p><p>authenticity rather than form. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The millennium agency will trade on intellectual property, the creation </p><p>of ideas that build robust brand equities that can be trusted to deliver </p><p>a meaningful purpose in consumers' lives. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Now that is what I came into this business for; not to build awareness </p><p>but to build relevance and empathy between the brand and its customers </p><p>and consumers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The challenge in Asia will be to create brands that enable countries </p><p>like China and India to be global players rather than manufacturers of </p><p>low-price, low-quality goods. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Both have the talent and desire to break through onto the world </p><p>stage. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>They certainly will have the indigenous markets to use as a platform for </p><p>export growth. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With 3.8 billion people out of the world's six billion, maybe brands </p><p>created primarily for Asia will emerge. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It is stimulating to think that we are living through a period that </p><p>combines the creativity and inquisitiveness of the Renaissance with the </p><p>inventiveness and drive of the Industrial Revolution. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It is an exciting time, full of richness and reward for those willing to </p><p>see with fresh eyes the things that are currently staring us in the </p><p>face. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>