The Wall Street Journal interviewed McCann head man Nick Brien in advance of Advertising Week. I like what he says about being open to change.
WSJ: What’s the biggest threat to the advertising marketing business today?
Mr. Brien: Ourselves. If we don’t continue to innovate our business models and become much more obsessed about training, developing and attracting talent, we will have an industry that is not equipped.
Our biggest competition is media companies like Meredith Corp., who are sharpening their marketing skills. Meredith beat us for some of the Chrysler business. [Meredith does direct marketing and social media tasks for Chrysler.] If you don’t recognize who your competition is, you will underestimate them.
It’ll be interesting to see just how far agencies are willing to go to remake themselves. To me, the obvious lesson from Meredith is that media and marketing are two sides of one coin, so if you’re in one, you’re also in the other.
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