Power Profile: Influx Insights
Meet Ed Cotton. He’s an ad guy. He drives a MINI. He’s worked at McCann Erickson (Europe), Lowe Howard-Spink and Woollams Gaskin Moira O’Malley (WGMO). He was founding partner of Europe’s first Gen X agency Magic Hat. In the mid-90s, Ed crossed the Atlantic Ocean and joined McCann Erickson (North America-Seattle). In 1999, he jumped on board at BSSP as director of account planning. His client experience includes Black and Decker, Unilever, Del Monte, Levi’s, Rolling Rock, Bacardi Martini, Spice Girls, MTV, MINI Cooper, Priceline, PowerAde, Washington Mutual, Lucas Arts, etc.
Ed and his BSSP colleagues blog about culture and brands at Influx Insights, currently sitting at No. 38 on the Power 150 global ranking of top marketing blogs (June 10, 2007). According to Ed, Influx Insights is just one manifestation of the type of thinking that goes on at BSSP. As you’ll read from Ed’s Power Profile, he believes the ad world doesn’t have the greatest image and suffers from clients who don’t understand all that happens behind the scenes – “everyone believes they can write an ad.” Ed shares his opinions on ad strategy, the newspaper industry, US vs. UK advertising, the Spice Girls, agencies, blogging and alternative media – he applauds PR for leading the social media revolution. Enjoy.
Ed Cotton, how would you describe your blog to your mom?
Influx Insights is all about the intersections between brands and culture
What blog post (of your own) are you most proud of and why?
“One Year On, Where’s Red At?”
Because we have such short memories people needed to remind themselves about RED and RED needed to remind people about itself. This post became a catalyst for a lot of stories.
What blog post do you most regret publishing and why?
“One year On, Where’s Red At?”
It caused some people to get confrontational with RED, which was sort of unfair because basically it’s a good idea.
What two blogs do you read most often?
PSFK
Kottke
What two podcasts do you listen to most often?
Business Week cover stories
BBC From Our Own Correspondent
How many hours a week do you spend blogging?
About 10.
What non-blog websites and publications do you read?
Wired, Fast Company, Ad Age, Adweek, Forbes, Fortune
What is your full-time job?
Director of Strategy at BSSP (a communications agency)
What cool/interesting clients have you worked for?
Unilever, MTV, Levi’s, Bacardi, Sun, MINI Cooper, Priceline, Greyhound, Diageo, Converse, Lucas Arts…
Worked with many famous people? George Lucas? William Shatner? Scary Spice? Any good stories?
Years back, when I was working in London, we did a number of projects with Simon Fulller who created the Spice Girls and went on to develop American Idol. I remember Simon explaining the concept of the Spice Girls to me and then playing the first demo they recorded for him. I told him it would never work.
As director of strategy, are you witnessing any evolution of strategy or tactics? Are BSSP clients moving away from traditional advertising and spending more online? Are BSSP clients exploring more non-traditional channels? Like what?
We take a broad view of strategy. Our strategy department contains a mix of talented individuals who bring unique skills to the process; we have strategists who are responsible for developing and managing overall brand strategy, data analysts who look at the quantitative side of the world and sometimes support the strategists. We also have a head of cultural trends who helps inform the strategy team, the agency and our clients about leading edge cultural trends.
We believe strategy is about inspiring thinking and delivering accountability.
Clients are spending more online for a couple of reasons; we can drive results faster and with video and rich media now being more widely available, we can create compelling brand experiences without the media cost of television. Recently, we’ve worked with the likes of YouTube, but we are also encouraging traditional media to take more risks. One example was getting Rolling Stone to do a cover for the launch of the new MINI.
How is BSSP counseling clients differently in today’s alternative media landscape?
We apply the same rigorous discipline we always have. We don’t believe traditional media is dead, but we know there are viable alternatives that need consideration, so they included in our evaluation and planning process.
Traditional media is not dead, but how do you think newspapers will change over the next 15 years?
There will be a huge shake out. The newspapers who have something of their own to say and a unique point of view will survive, all others will die. Newspapers will not be on paper. We will all have foldable electronic paper that access the internet and download our news for us. The laptop will be a wafer thin piece of electronic paper.
What recent advertising or marcom campaigns – that are not your own – do you most admire and why?
I like Goodby’s new “Get the Glass” campaign for Milk. It’s interesting because it’s hybrid communication; it combines animation with gaming and online to create a new type of experience. It might be a little ahead of its time, but I am certain we are going to see more innovation around “advertising” as an experience that moves way beyond the banner and a 30 second spot.
I also like Wieden’s Run London campaign for Nike. The idea is to split London into two halves, North and South and get them to race each other. I like it because it gives running a “tribal” value and gives people the excuse to get off their behinds and get some exercise.
Why is blogging important to BSSP?
The ad world doesn’t have the best image profile in the world; outsiders and some clients regard it with disdain, they don’t understand the effort and work that goes into it. Like art, everyone believes they’re an artist and if you are in advertising, everyone believes they can write an ad. The blog is just one manifestation of the type of thinking that goes on at our place and it serves as an example for our employees, for our clients and those prospects who are thinking of working with us.
Mainly, blogging is a discipline. It’s a way to ensure that we stay in touch with a fast paced world and can bring some of that contextual thinking to our clients.
Blogging has also allowed us to build relationships with dozens of interesting people that we could never have done without having a blog.
Do you think social media is bringing PR and advertising closer together? It seems like both ad and PR agencies are adding social media specialties to their offerings, so it appears to be bridging the agency gaps. Your thoughts?
I happen to think that PR is at the leading edge of understanding the social media revolution. They understood it first and are were the first to find ways of working with it; they are experimenting, they are failing, but above all they are learning about the possibilities. I think advertising is a little behind the curve in this respect.
It seems like everybody and their mom has a marketing communications agency these days. The small and middle-sized agency appears to be making a move. In your opinion, how has the marketing agency landscape changed?
The costs of entry into the world of marketing communications are extremely low; a laptop, an internet connection and Photoshop and you are basically up and running. I think we are in a period of growth that’s benefiting all agencies, for a time I think we all thought the large holding companies were clueless and didn’t get the transformation that was taking place. We’ve been proven wrong on this, the holding companies not only get it, they are also getting better at executing. However, they will always lack nimbleness when compared to the small and medium sized shops. I think clients are looking to mix things up; they still want the power and resources that big shops give them, but they aren’t afraid to bring in smaller and medium shops when the right occasion arises.
What do you see as the biggest differences and similarities between US and UK marketing communications?
In the past, US ads nearly always had voiceovers that run all the way through the spot, the best British advertising doesn’t.
US advertising has had to work harder to clearly explain itself and keep people’s attention.
It’s a big country with lots of things going on and there’s a need to cut through and strive for clarity.
In the UK, it’s smaller and advertising has always been a little bit of a game played between the advertiser and the audience.
Most of the best British advertising never resolves itself until the very end, it’s almost as if it’s asking the audience to guess what will happen or guess who the spot is for.
US audiences don’t have the patience for that.
Have you launched anything viral? Results?
We did the Hammer and Coop campaign for MINI earlier in the year, it did pretty well.
What cell phone do you use? Who is your service provider? How would you rate them?
Nokia E62
Cingular
Fine
What kind of computer/set-up do you run at home?
Apple MacBook
What is your next big technology purchase going to be?
A new digital camera – the next Nikon digital launch.
Favorite food to eat (or beverage to drink) while you blog?
Tea
What one thing would you change about your blog if you had the time?
A whole list of things, but probably would radically change the design, so it doesn’t look like a blog- make it more like an interactive magazine.
What other hobbies do you have?
Working, movies, running, watching soccer, watching Formula 1, photography
Tell us something interesting about yourself that your readers don’t already know.
I once worked in a “rubber” factory in Australia.
What is the greatest threat facing the marketing industry?
The marketing industry has reached a turning point in its lifecycle. There’s a lot of change taking place that requires new approaches. The greatest threat is thinking that nothing has changed.
Have you posted any videos on YouTube, Google, etc.?
Not yet, that’s about to happen.
What was your first job in high school, college or earlier?
Worked in a record store.
What kind of car do you drive?
MINI CooperS
Has blogging made you gain weight? How much?
Not sure if it’s blogging, but I have probably gained about 10lbs since I started, not that you can tell.
Tell us about your 15 seconds of fame.
Written by in the NYT and profiled in an industry magazine, that’s about it.
What is your most embarrassing email/cell phone/blogging (pick one) moment?
I’ve been known to send out a few emails to the wrong people
How has the Power 150 helped you/your blog?
Given me a yardstick to measure myself against
Driven some new readers to the site
What would you do with $3 million dollars?
Buy a big boat.
