the archaelogy of strategy

I had coffee with Caroline Marshall (Executive Editor of Campaign) this morning. She told me about a project they're doing and I said I thought they'd be people reading this who'd like to help. So this is what they're after:

"Stephen King, who worked for JWT and died in February 2006 was one of the leading thinkers in communications strategy.

We want to reprint his most important article, “What is a brand?”, with an introduction by a known and respected practitioner describing the relevance of the article today. Mike Hall might be the man for the job.

We want to find another nine (or so) famous articles (speeches, chapters of a book etc) that contain principles that are appropriate in today’s more complex media environment.

We want to cover advertising, marketing, media and research (at least).

We’ll create a supplement which we hope will be of interest to everyone in the business, not just in the UK but all over the world."

The questions they'd like us to think about are - what papers should be in there, and why?

(I was banging on to Caroline about how buzzy and interactive blogs are compared to print and how I'm always really excited by the quality of feedback in the planning blogosphere, so please don't let this be one of those posts with no comments and an eerie wind whistling through. thanks)

Comments

[Faris]

Jeremy Bullmore - Persil and Posh Spice - because it's brilliant and begins the consumers own brands conversation

Mark Earls - Advertising to the Herd - because communities are the thing

Steve Heyer: Madison and Vine Speech 2003 - because he's challenging the divisions between content and commerce

First chapter of Permission Marketing by Seth Godin - because interruption is dying and he explains why

Sam D'Amato: Learning from Monkeys from the last year's IPA Excellence Diploma - because it's a great synopsis of current thinking

Douglas Holt: What becomes an Icon most, HBR - brands still exist in the realm of myth

Something from Being Digital by Nicholas Negroponte - or maybe something from Convergence Culture by Jenkins

[JD]

I think another very interesting person to take a closer look at - especially regarding today's premises in our global media/communication landscape - is Howard Gossage - the Socrates of San Francisco.
Not only was he a revolutionary thinker in his days but also a VERY visionary man. He already antcipated almost 50 years ago what is more than ever valid and true today: "People don't read advertising. They read what interests them. And sometimes it's an ad."

Check out:
http://www.lacreativeclub.com/gossage.html

[Picklin paul]

A few thoughts.

Some Howard Gossage would be nice - "People read what interests them. Sometimes it's an ad." Getting people's attention is becoming harder and the answer is not going to be to shout louder.

More Jeremy Bullmore - An insight is like a refrigerator. A clear explanation of what an insight is and the importance of high-potency expression. Lots of people talk about insights without really defining what they are talking about - and few write as well as Bullmore.

The original Long Tail article from Wired. Clearly explains how the Internet is changing markets.

[Picklin paul]

Ah, great minds and all that. Howard should be a shoe-in then...

[miscmash]

'Humanistic advertising: a holistic cultural perspective' -
Judie Lannon and Peter Cooper, International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 2, No. 3, 1983

This paper was truly breakthrough in that everyone else was fixated with 'robot like' information processing back in the 1980s

Also asks 'what do people do with advertising?' (as opposed to 'what does advertising do to people?')

Might be hard to track down, although I have an authentic typewriter job should it make your competitive cut

[henry lambert]

Stanley Pollitt:
- How I started account planning in agencies
- Learning from research in the 1960s

I absolutely agree with the Gossage and Bullmore examples too

Testing to Destruction - I can't remember the author

[doug]

How about Marketing Myopia by Theodore Levitt? Still hugely relevant today

[gareth]

Definitely some gossage. Maybe some earls on the misuse of the brand concept. Testing to destruction-esp ch2 is still really powerful. Maybe even the chapter from convergence culture on transmedia planning

[David]

Lee Clow's interview with Herman Vaske in "Standing on the Shoulder's of Giants."

[Ben]

What about that Tyranny of The Big Idea thing you did that caused such a storm?

Or one (was there more than one?) of the Honda papers?

[richard]

Pollitt please.

Because in my book he invented planning not King (though I find his writing utterly inspirational) and has had a far greater effect on us lot given the stronger planning legacy of BMP compared to JWT.

As you know my favourite King quote is that "facts only make sense in the light of an idea"

[Will]

I like 'Retail Advertising: the third way' by Stephen Carter.

It's on Warc - www.warc.com/print/9748p.asp.

I'm also a fan of Gossage... go with that.

[Ciaran McCabe]

Gossage, almost any essay from Is There Any Hope For Advertising?
Bullmore's Persil and Posh Spice

A wonderful paper in the early seventies by Tom Dillon at BBDO, NY, on Necktie Products.

Dan Wieden's piece on W&K.

[Avinash Subramaniam]

Just do it. The most influential line in the history of Advertising.

[mikej]

I love the booklet from the 'Dangerous minds in sensible suits' that Gareth posted from HHCL in the mid nineties.

'Marketing at a point of change'

http://garethkay.typepad.com/brand_new/2006/11/professional_ra.html

[Stephan Fischer]

“Positioning” by Al Ries and Jack Trout.

It points out basic principles of communications.
Even in today’s media environment one thing remains true for me: “…the sender is wrong and the receiver is right.”

“Die Gewinnung des öffentlichen Vertrauens” (Winning the public confidence) by Hans Domizlaff.

The so-called “master of brands in the roaring twenties” described the difference between hard selling and brand development long before consumerisation set in. And his statements are still valid and valuable.

[tommorton]

Steve Heyer's 2003 speech to the AAAA pretty much sets up the shift from advertising to connections / branded content / engagement planning.

And Adam Morgan's original challenger brands article from Admap, which predates the publication of Eating The Big Fish.

I think John Grant published highlights of The New Marketing Manifesto in Admap as well. His first rule 'Get Up Close And Personal' is probably the first proper articulation of the engagement planning / collaboration theory of communication.

[Ben Mason]

I thought that Jim Carrol's speech at the Battle of Big Thinking where he re-examined the seduction model of communication within the modern world was very interesting and would appear to fit Campaign's brief.

[jon leach]

Add my votes to the two Adams.

Morgan - Eating the Big Fish

Lury - Marketing at Point of Change

There must (should?) be a seminal article on what is now called "corporate social responsibility" as it pertains to brands but I can't think of one. Elkington's book : the Triple Bottom Line has the idea in it....

[phil]

I love Gossage but, for goodness sake, that was 1968 and he hated telly.

John Grant's New Marketing Manifesto must be in there just for his 12 rules if nothing else. As far as I can remember that was the first time I saw anything about New Marketing in print.

[George Parker]

Even though I’m coming in a little late on this thread, I was pleased to see that so many people suggested dear old, dead Howard Gossage. Anyone who really cares about what this business is in danger of becoming should read “The Book of Gossage“ with a foreword by Jeff Goodby. It was out of print for many years and copies were going for hundreds of dollars on Amazon. But, it’s now been re-issued with an accompanying CD, and you can get it at www.adbuzz.com And no, I have no interest in the publisher. I just think everyone should have a copy. Mine is falling to bits I have read it so many times. Everything he said all those years ago is even more pertinent today. Phil, the previous poster who suggests that because his work took place prior to 1968, it therefore has no relevance to today would obviously put Bernbach, Krone, lois, Frederico and many other old geezers in the same box. As for Gossage hating TV, based on 90% of the crap I currently see on both sides of the pond, I can’t say I blame him. As an old geezer myself, I have to say that the current obsession with “today’s more complex media environment” is, to me, merely a smokescreen for the lack of originality in its content.
Oh, and Russell, many thanks for the kind comment on Gordon’s blog.
Cheers from Gossage land/ George

[Olly Wright]

Campaign magazine? Currently it is serving as little more than a reminder of how regressive the London advertising scene is at the moment in regards to the web. I've found more illuminating ideas as regards to the internet in writings by David Ogilvy from the 1960s than I have in any Campaign article.

It's embarassing, but understandable. After all, a magazine writes for its audience and if you don't tell your audience what they want to hear then they get upset.

Still, it comes in useful as a 'what not to do guide' for the time being. Subscription not cancelled yet.

[Olly Wright]

OK that last comment was unduly negative. In the spirit of offering constructive criticism rather than just dead-end criticism, here's where I think campaign should head (rather than digging in the past):

- Articles that vigorously analyse and criticise current business models, examine new ones, rather than support current thinking. More Andy Law, less John Hegarty. More margins, less centre.

- Cast a wider net when looking at agencies rather than focussing on the 'in-list' that the magazine runs

- More on media planning and media delivery. The web is changing these profoundly, and as these change the form and content of advertising will be forced to adapt to fit. Currently there is too much emphasis on the 'content' of advertising, and as Marshall Mcluhan tells us, looking at content is the worst place to furnish understanding about what is really going on.

- Profile best practice from the industries that advertising is converging with: digital web agencies, production companies, web metrics, and high volume .com's among others.

- Without client confidence, nothing changes. Campaign is read widely by clients. Speak to them in a way that builds their willingness to take risks and try new things. Help the industry innovate and evolve.

- Ethics. Since nearly every consumer cares about this, why is it never mentioned?