Jaffe Juice

6 jobs that won't exist in 2016

Fast Company did a little snarky (see MSM can be snarky as well) piece called 6 jobs that won't exist in 2016.

1. Gatekeepers
2. Bloggers
3. Advertising Creatives
4. Auto Mechanics
5. US High Tech Jobs
6. Indian Call Center Operators

Marketing.fm, a new marketing blog weighs in with some commentary.

According to the article's rationale behind point 3, "Talented amateurs making ads for fun and posting them online seem to be better at your job than you are. Bonus: No more "whither the 30-second spot" whining.

I would blog my response, but I've got 10 years to figure out what the hell I'm going to do next :)

Lunch and Learn

Just had lunch in Westport and noticed a guy doing likewise, whilst perusing the latest edition of the Wall Street Journal.

The difference of course...he was using a wi-fi connection and was reading the WSJ online.

It's what I call "interconsumptability" i.e. interoperability of media consumption and it's probably the hardest thing for mainstream editors and publishers to get their hands around.

In the eyes of the consumer, all content is created and distributed equally.

Taken with my Sprint Ambassador phone :)

Spread the New Marketing Word...it's Contagious!

I'll be in Singapore in a few weeks (April 2-5) for Engage 2006. It's a 2 day conference, facilitated by Contagious Magazine and hosted by Leo Burnett and Arc Worldwide.

I'll be giving 2 presentations - essentially opening and closing the conference on the 4th and 5th of April respectively - on the rise of new marketing (for a new consumer) and the 10 approaches that are transforming the marketing communications game as we know it.

If you're a local, I do hope you'll be able to attend. There is an early bird offer which may still be in effect. Also, if you're a reader of Jaffe Juice, listener of Across the Sound and/or a fan of "Life after the 30-second spot", drop me an e-mail and let's get together. I'm going to try and set up an informal gathering one of the days/nights for what I hope will be a stimulating meeting of the minds.

Become an Across the Sound sponsor...co-host an episode

In this week's Across the Sound, I launched an idea for prospective Across the Sound sponsors: when you sponsor Across the Sound, you get to co-host (at least) one episode of the show.

It's the kind of content integration that goes way beyond the traditional 30-second (audio) spot, live read or one-dimensional signage.

Of course, editorial quality and integrity will be key. Whilst it is a priority to prove the business model and validity of podcasting as a viable revenue generator, it pales into insignificance compared to the satisfaction and approval of my regular listeners. For this reason, I will exercise extreme care and consideration when selecting viable candidates. In fact, getting a CMO or CEO type in the hot seat willl bring a level of seniority and perspective which I believe will be embraced.

Let's see if anyone bites...

Vegas meets the Blogosphere

In this week's ATS, Steve and I talk about blogging as a hiring strategy - both in terms of recruitment and selection, as well as (and increasingly so) from the perspective of the prospective talent.

We've seen Steve Rubel move to Edelman, Jeremy Pepper move to Weber Shandwick, Martina Zavagno from Adverblog, AdJab's Tom Biro and MWW Group and so on and so forth.

It's a sublime hiring strategy and one which has been completely overlooked by the mainstream/traditional ad agencies.

Who's next?

I'm going to collect the 6 independent blogging/podcasting all-stars and Vegas style, create some bookmaker type odds to determine who gets snapped up first. Not sure legally how to swing this, but think I'd like to be able to donate the proceeds to charity (advice is welcome)

I'll get the ball rolling by tipping Steve Hall's name into the hat.

Update: Here's a PR Week article, which validates the trend

ATS #23 - The New Marketing Podcast with guest co-host Steve Rubel

This week I welcome back the man who co-started it all, my friend Steve Rubel.

You can find the link to the MP3 file here and the full shownotes are below. Of course you can also subscribe directly to Across the Sound by clicking on this iTunes link.

CaveCast #1

Download cavecast_a_spontaneous_mashup_of_accident_hash_across_the_sound_and_the_m_show.mp3

Whatever happens in Boston...is in this podcast! It's a mashup of ginormous proportions: 1 x part Hash, 1 x Juice and 1 x Alphabet Soup.

Accident Hash's C.C. Chapman, The M Show's John Wall and myself meet up at the Boston Ad Club's Symposium (actually in a bar afterwards) and chat about everything from Podcasting to Grand Theft Auto to the death of Radio to the Village People.

It's a tribute to new marketing and podcasting - the ability to feed and fuel an emerging opportunity by harnessing a chance meeting of the minds and transforming a spontaneous conversation into some very meaty content!

CaveCast (long story) notes:

Relationship Building 101: Eliminate the God Complex

Post number 2 in the TBSATI lovefest - this time a pretty interesting account of two contrasting agency-client approaches to the ensuing and enduring relationship.

The two examples tendered are TBWA\Chiat\Day and The Coca-Cola Company (gee, I wonder if Robert Morrison is Lee Clow?) and Wieden + Kennedy and P&G representing the bad and good respectively. Ironically it is W+K and TCCC who are working together today.

I'm not necessarily saying I agree or disagree with the specific agency-client classifications/categorizations in the matrix shown, but what I do think is happening in the marketplace today is in fact the top right hand quadrant i.e. client as God and agency as supplicant and that is the problem.

Any imbalance in the relationship is bad for business. When client or agency have the upper hand, the result is yes-man mediocrity or arrogant irrelevance syndromes respectively. At the same time the Clash of the Titans deathmatch in the top left quadrant is equally destructive and counterproductive.

So we're in agreement with the lower-right proposition of equal-collaboration-with-egos-checked-at-the-door. The only remaining challenge is how to get there. And this is a challenge that is really not that hard at all.

From my side, I have been interfacing with several senior marketing execs over the past few months and I can't tell you how happy I've been with the quality of conversation, respect and rapport. It couldn't be more different than when I was in the agency business myself. By treating my clients like equals; by not being afraid to disagree with them and challenge them; by being myself and by being true to myself, the result has been head and shoulders above my wildest expecations.

The Doppelganger Theory

I stumbled (thanks to Alex) upon a most terrific blog, The Blog Sits at the (intersection of anthropology and economics) and in particular a post titled, "Madison Avenue and the Doppelganger Strategy"

The post is written by TBSAT's author Grant McCracken (Grant - any time you want to come on Across the Sound, consider this an open invitation) and begins by asking whether he is the only one defending the validity/value of the 30-second spot, to which I was beginning to charge my 5-second 180 course correction batteries :), but then dives deep into the history of the ad business and cites a rather disturbing 50's trend whereby agencies would hire client service people who were almost clones or mirror images of the clients they interfaced with

In the 1950s, apparently, the agency had a favorite technique for managing the client.  It would go out and hire someone who was quite a lot like the client.  Actually, they sought a match so close, the effect was sometimes chilling.  The agency guy would just happen to like the same movies, the same sports teams, the same Vegas hangouts as the client.  He would kind of look like the client, talk like the client, and dress like the client.  In fact, in some cases, it was difficult to tell the difference between tweedle dum and tweedle dee, all the better to persuade Pontiac (or some other GM account) to sign those breath taking cheques and leave the agency alone.

The post's gist is thus one which questions the agency itself, as opposed to the tools at their disposal.

There is a darker possibility here.  It may be that the advertising world wasn't merely withholding clear and coherent ideas of what it was.  It may be that it never had these ideas in the first place or long ago ceased to believe in them.  Perhaps there was a creeping dread that there was no value here, that the whole thing was just a lark, a way to pry money out of clients, amusing one another, attending those endless award ceremonies, and dining often and richly on someone else's account.  Some may have believed secretly that the cupboard was always thus.

Read this really insightful post and get in on the conversation and also give Grant major credit for introducing and beautifully sustaining the metaphor of John Cleese and the dead (or stunned) parrot.

How cool is this?

Just spent an amazing few hours with The M Show's John Wall and Accident Hash's C.C. Chapman at the Boston Ad Club's Symposium (John crashed it by the way...)

It was the first time I'd met C.C. and it was amazing how both of us were so excited to meet the other.

My business partner, Gary Cohen, came up with a great idea....why not record some kind of impromptu podcast and fortunately for us, John came to the part fully loaded with mixer, microphones, earphones and even M Show microphone signage (or whatever the hell the industry calls it)

So we did it...and I think we'll all publish parts of the conversation on our respective podcasts.

The conversation was so cool and we discussed everything from the theme of this event, "The Changing Face of Marketing" to Grand Theft Auto. It was so appropriate given the theme that here were 3 diverse people, drawn together by their common passions for podcasting and connected through the RSS strands of audio.