Just Because All Marketers Are Liars, That Doesn’t Mean They Always Lie

“To no one’s surprise,” writes Michael Bush for AdAge, “the first topic of discussion at Advertising Week’s CNBC CEO Summit was the meltdown of the financial markets last week.”

The panel of advertising agency CEOs, Andrew Robertson (BBDO), Nick Brien (Mediabrands), Sarah Fay (Aegis Media North America) and Irwin Gotlieb (GroupM) covered a lot of ground but never got far from the debris of the investment banks’ collapse the week of 15 September 2008.

BBDO’s Mr. Robertson sees what he believes is a fundamental shift in how consumers process information from marketers and their clients:

We have to stop thinking of media as bridges that we march messages over into people’s minds and start thinking about creating experiences that change behavior and providing access to those experiences in the most relevant places…That’s a different language and different way of thinking from the way the business was approached even three years ago.

“We used to think about messages that created a case for a particular behavior,” Mr. Robertson said.

“It’s not about that now. It’s about creating experiences that, by participating in them, change consumer behavior. I’m only interested in behavior. Everything else is just a proxy for it. Unless behavior changes, it’s all been a waste of time and money. That’s an important lens through which to look at everything, because there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on, none of which is going to change behavior. And our clients can’t make any money unless behavior changes.

No news here beyond declaring the shift practitioners like Seth Godin have trumpeted for years on end. When BBDO gets it, is it real?

More interesting by far are comments at the summit from GroupM CEO, Irwin Gotlieb:

“I’m not sure how consumers will react to this,” Mr. Gotlieb said of the Wall Street rout. “At the moment I don’t think the consumer can comprehend what has just happened. The best-case scenario is that the consumer doesn’t comprehend what went on and goes on merrily about their way.”

The best-case scenario for Mr. Gotlieb is that consumers fail to comprehend what happened to a trillion dollars and just keep doing what they (we) have been doing. If my head explodes, you may have my iPod.

If consumers somehow get a clue about the goings-on that led to and proceed from the collapse of our economic Oz, Mr. Gotlieb is counting on their (our) short attention span to smooth things over — and, one assumes, to manufacture fungible assets from yellow brick pavers. “There is quite a bit of elasticity in consumer confidence, and it does tend to bounce back, whether the situation is understandable or not,” he said.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

“Rightly or wrongly, the consumer trusts their peers more than they trust some of the most recognized publications,” Mr. Gotlieb continued. “And because of that the communications today are not just about talking at the consumer. It’s about managing their perception and trying to get them to participate in the discussion in a way that is favorable to your client. The challenge is none of us can do all of these things.” Thank God for small favors.

I’m ripping this passage in Jeremiah from its context in a way that would be despicable if I claimed it had anything to do with the situation at hand. It does not. It merely sounds as if it could:

“From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit.  14 They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.  15 Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them,” says the LORD.

This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’  17 I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But you said, ‘We will not listen.’  18 Therefore hear, O nations; observe, O witnesses, what will happen to them.  19 Hear, O earth: I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law. — Jeremiah 6:13-19

God grant that we who spend our days in the marketplace may learn — or remember — how to blush at the greediness that drove our economy to the brink.

God grant that we may stand at this crossroads and look;
and ask for the ancient paths,
and ask where the good way is,
and walk in it,
and find rest for our souls.