NewsLine Column: Media And Marketing Brands Need More Monkey Magic

You don’t have to be big to stand out, but you do have to make the right sort of noise, according to Brett Horton, director of specialist media and marketing communications at optiglo communications

A knitted monkey, Christine Walker and ‘brand behaviour’ are all brilliant brand communication devices. They are what people remember and what drives home the brand’s values.

Be it a cuddly toy, a famous figurehead, unique proposition, even a good old jingle, a brand communication device is a tried and tested memory hook in consumer marketing. But – apart from the late ITV Digital, Walker Media and Naked Communications – have media and marketing companies cottoned on to the value of memorable devices?

Mediacom are not only leading the field in terms of new business but, according to Ocean Consulting research, they are also in front on perceived agency performance. Yet they have neither a celebrity nor a monkey nor a pin-pointable business quirk. They do have a slogan though and it reads: ‘Mediacom, closer to clients’. This may not mean much to you or I, but for advertisers it is pushed more than just a repetitive PowerPoint comment: it is a business goal and fully incorporated into their logo.

Relative newcomer Naked bags a spot up there with the big boys for PR output. Of those not in the top 10, Walker Media comes out best on industry admiration. So long as Trevor is the Adstar, TBWA will stay front-of-mind on the creative side. We all know that Soul aches for media centricity and, although a tale from the past, The Pod oozes Rocket.

Chris Tarrant still rock ‘n’ rolls for the Capital Radio brand, a multicoloured chameleon winks for Jazz FM, Yahoo! still Yahooos! and Connie continues to entice for AOL.

Those without a well-known communication device have done less well. Zenith, MediaVest and Starcom all fell short of the average bat. So too did MindShare, Initiative, Universal McCann and PHD. In Ocean’s top 10 media agencies table, all grabbed less than 10% of the vote for all-round professionalism. Once renowned for inviting everyone into the advertising process, let’s not forget HHCL, whose unique proposition became eroded and, most would argue, suffered as a result.

WPP out-gun UK agencies on a wide range of scores but, despite seeing his face nearly everyday, Sir Martin Sorrel’s group brand only managed to notch up four percent of the vote for communication and PR output. WPP was pipped by Naked.

Size still matters, but it matters less now then ever before. What matters now are brand benefits, not attributes, and how these are communicated. To elevate above the crowd, a media or marketing brand must find a way to deliver unique, memorable and meaningful messages about its brand benefits.

So, rather than rely on over-tried and largely un-tested mass mug shot PR, most media and marketing brands ought to look beyond their sultry CEO for ways to make their brand stand out and mean something more valuable.

It’s unlikely a monkey would do it for WPP, but in an industry where image is everything being the Norm really isn’t an option.

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