AdVENTising Blog

Is Flash Dead?

flash-dead

Written by:  Board Member Carl EdholmThe short answer is no. Flash is not dead.
 
In fact, at this stage in the game it still makes the most sense to build apps and simple interactive websites using the usual web stack and to use Flash for very complex web/mobile apps, extremely interactive websites, and of course games. 
 
7 reasons Flash is Alive & Well:
  1. Web gl is not, and probably never will be, accepted by all browsers – and web standards are still adopted differently across these same browsers
  2. The Flash player is built into the IE 10 browser and will update along with the rest of Windows
  3. Flash Video is still better quality and easier to implement considering the continuing disagreements over WebM and H.264 formats
  4. All interactive banner campaigns are still done in flash
  5. Business applications are still being built in Flash as we speak
  6. Flash can publish to HTML 5
  7. Games
 
As the web is changing, so is Flash. It is becoming more focused and is adjusting to the current needs of a specific audience. Is Flash the tool for everything?  No. Of course not.
 
Is Flash a better choice in some cases to use. Yes. Of course it is.
 
Is Flash dead? Absolutely not.
AdVENTising Blog

Do you really need to send out RFPs?

Written by Member: Rick English

So you’re a small to mid-size advertiser and you need to hire a marketing communications firm––an ad agency. Easy. You send out a Request-for-Proposal to the dozens of agencies in the Buffalo/WNY phonebook(s). This assumes you still use a phonebook. Or you went to the Business First List. Stop! This is not New York, LA or Chicago. If you’re a good marketing manager, you should know by now who the shops are that can provide you with services clever enough to solve whatever problem you have. The most valuable product agencies have is their ability to sit and listen to what your challenges are, propose and discuss alternative paths and then creatively execute solutions. That doesn’t come out in responding to an RFP.

And whatever you do, don’t ask shops you’re considering to respond in an RFP how they would approach your project. Until senior agency staff members have had in-depth conversations with you about your situation, how could they possibly provide a meaningful response? Furthermore, 35 years of hard experience on both client and agency sides says most clients don’t really know what their problems are. A key skill good agencies bring to the table is their ability to define the client’s problem. It’s a skill most client-side people just don’t have.

Screw the RFP. Go talk to a few shops. If you don’t know any, ask around town who the good shops are. Talk to similar size companies about who they’ve had experience with. And accept that there are only three things you need to know about an advertising agency.

▪ Do you like the work they’ve done for their clients? If you personally like their work, you know that the agency can do work for you that you’ll be proud of.

▪ Do you respect the clients and brands they represent? If they are working for companies that you can recognize and respect, then they can do work for you. If you like the work but have never heard of any of their clients, keep looking.

▪ After having met them and discussed your issues and marketing communications in general, do you like them? Great work comes from great relationships and lots of collaboration. You’re going to spend a lot of time with your new agency. You better be able to get along with them.

Two other points. If an agency brags that they have never lost a client, don’t take that as a positive. It just means they haven’t been around very long.
Finally, don’t ask them how much they’re going to charge for everything. If they don’t know what the problems are, they can’t know what to do or how much to charge. A good shop will have smart people that you can trust. They’ll work with you to develop a budget strategy.
If you work for a company or institution that absolutely requires that RFPs go out, don’t let that stop you from sitting down and talking to some good shops prior to sending the RFPs. They won’t mind and you’ll learn a lot that will stay with you regardless of who you ultimately select.

AdVENTising Blog

AdVENTising – We Need a Brochure

AdVENTising – A new series of posts from guest bloggers. The thoughts expressed in this column are the sole opinions of our volunteer guest writers.


We Need a Brochure
Written by member Blair Boone, Ph.D.

Back in the day, clients would come to ad agencies and say, “We need a brochure.”

Some agencies gave their clients a brochure. The good ones asked, “What do you want to accomplish? We’ll tell you if you need a brochure.”

Then the account folks and creative types would develop a strategy and a campaign that might — or might not — include a brochure.

Today, clients come to agencies and say, “We need to be on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.”

You’d think the good ad agencies would say, “Tell us what you want to accomplish and we’ll develop a strategy that includes social media. Maybe we’ll recommend a blog instead of Pinterest.”

But no. Too often, they’re saying, “Oh, sure. Right after we design a nice brochure for you. And produce a TV spot or three.”

Now, I’m not talking about the bad old Web 1.0 days when agencies just took the client’s brochure and put it up on the website. Or slapped up last year’s :30 TV spot. That phenomenon was about agencies not understanding the interactive capability of the new medium of the Internet (yep, it was capitalized back then).

No, I’m talking about agencies today not getting that social media is about (a) content, and (b) engagement. That it’s a process, not a project, a process that relies on having people who can generate engaging content and manage continuous engagement. I’m talking about the mentality that still wants to sneak a brochure in there somewhere. Even though you can’t tweet a brochure. And no one has ever “Liked” a brochure on Facebook.

There’s nothing wrong with a brochure if your client needs one. But who does? Most business is conducted electronically in one form or another. Even restaurants can send a copy of their menu to your smartphone. Do they really need a brochure?

Part of the problem is the agency business model still hasn’t accommodated unpaid media and low-cost production. Under the old model, media commissions and markup on printing and broadcast production were where the money came from. That model’s been dead for a while, yet we still haven’t figured out how to make money selling engagement.

We’d damn well better. If clients have finally gotten over brochures, isn’t it time we did?


Blair Boone, Ph.D. has been writing advertising copy for a long time. Most of it has not appeared in brochures. He is president of OneWriter. You can find him at onewriter@aol.com and @blairboone on Twitter. ©Blair Boone 2012