According to Ad Age, IPG is looking to connect with consumers in new ways.
Former Ogilvy & Mather design guru Brian Collins is joining Interpublic Group of Cos., where he’ll run a stand-alone unit focused on making consumers’ experiences with products a more primary part of the marketing mix.
The New York-based firm, called Collins, so far has five employees on board and is looking to have a full complement of 15-20 staffers by the end of the year, primarily from new-media and design backgrounds.
“Design always comes last. I want to flip that equation on its head and place design, and people’s real experiences, at the start of everything,” Mr. Collins said. “Having design thinking sit at the center of a company rather than traditional advertising really is a better model for the future.”
Agreed.
In a Fast Company article from 2005, Bill Gray, president of Ogilvy & Mather New York, said, “Brian’s group deconstructs the visual presence of the brand and re-creates it. More often, you don’t know what will come out: street art, Web sites, a store, events.”
Inverted agency pyramids. The fall of TV’s from the kingpin position. A challenge to Madison Avenue smugness from all directions, including from within.
Good times.