Changes in the Industry

Five years ago, many people saw the Internet and technology as the future of selling. What we’ve learned is that the consumer has used it to be more informed and educated, to make more of a rational decision about the products or services he or she wants to buy. It allows advertisers to interact with end users in the privacy of their homes or offices and on their own timetables. It allows us to track quickly the dynamics of fast-changing markets and to react on our clients’ behalves. It allows us to track and measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns in real time.

The Internet will continue to grow and be important in some industries and with some products and brands. Technology will continue to evolve, and we’ll use those innovations that make us more productive and effective in what we do. However, using technology just for the sake of being leading edge is counterproductive as evidenced by the soaring bankruptcies, poor performance, and increasing client resistance to the overstated promise of the Internet and interactive agencies. Like strong creative, technology is a tool, not an end in itself.

Technology is an enabler throughout all stages of the advertising process, from creative development to the delivery of advertising to measurement and tracking. Technology has changed the speed and quality of the advertising we deliver. For example, we can now record—in our studios—voice or music talent from around the world to be used in our commercials. At Zimmerman & Partners, we house our own studios so we can do it better, faster, and more affordably for our clients. We can record a saxophone player in Los Angeles, voice talent in Detroit, and somebody else in Europe all at the same time with digital quality. It’s become part of the dynamic world we live in today. Technology allows us to react, to make changes in our work in a matter of minutes rather than days.

Broadband is a so-called disruptive technology from an advertising perspective, i.e., it will interrupt or dramatically change the way we do things. It is taking some time to gain wide acceptance and achieve critical mass but will become, among other things, the fourth pillar of the media world. It plays a role in advertising on demand. Other upcoming applications of technology include animation and robotics. Animation is not currently at a cost-effective stage and is not realistic enough to use extensively in commercials in place of human talent. Robotics will one day allow us to shoot TV commercials in places we could never go, or do things we can only imagine.

In the future, advertising will become even more persuasive and also optional. Consumers will be able to shut out irrelevant or incomprehensible messages. We’ll be given more opportunities to accept only messages we want to receive, whether broadcast or online. We will also be able to program the types of ads we want. If we like humorous ads, we’ll see only humorous ads. At some future point, the agency will need to target carefully and make sure messages are clear, relevant, and desirable to audiences, knowing that they will be able to pick and choose.

In the next five years, advertising will be faster, higher quality, and more targeted. True one-on-one marketing means a different message communicated to every consumer. We’ll move a bit closer to that over the next five years, which means advertising executives will have to stay on top of their game—and everyone else’s game—that much more.

Advertising is a fun, but challenging business. Today the consumer wants more and more; that need must be served, as every market sector becomes more competitive. There were four or so brands in the automotive sector in 1956. Today there are more than 30 brands and the same is true in other sectors. It is extremely difficult to be dominant: You have to be smart to be the best in a splintered market. Clients won’t stay for the wrong reasons. The brand is the lifeblood of any corporation. It is up to the adverting agency to grow, defend, and support its promise.

Jordan Zimmerman is Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the board of Zimmerman & Partners Advertising.

At age eight he started the only greeting card sales route in New Jersey and for the next three years went door-to-door selling “good wishes” and “holiday cheer.” He sold the venture at age 11, turning his first profit.

The next year, he built a newspaper delivery empire that employed other neighborhood kids and expanded operating efficiency and customer satisfaction. The experience taught him that building a successful business is a team sport; you just can’t do it alone.

While working with NIDA during his senior year of college, Zimmerman recognized the true power of words when a girl in a focus group on drug abuse responded with, “I just say no.” Consequently, he led the “Just Say No” marketing initiative during the Carter administration (one of the most recognizable anti-drug campaigns to date). He founded Zimmerman & Partners Advertising in 1984.

Today, his advertising agency is one of the largest and most successful in the United States. Coining the phrase “Brandtailing,” Zimmerman effectively merged the elements of branding and retailing to develop an advertising discipline that creates positive long-term brand identity, as well as short-term retail results.