To Nick Brien, worldwide CEO of Universal McCann, the notion of new media is almost irrelevant.
“When clients say, ‘Talk to me about new media,’ I say, ‘No, I am not going to talk to you about new media, I am going to talk to you about new marketing,’” he said.
Mr. Brien said the marketing model has fundamentally changed with emerging media, and if marketers don’t progress, they will jeopardize their brands.
“If you are not the leader, you are going to lose your market-share opportunity to a new competitor who is not encumbered by legacy mentalities or legacy business models or legacy agency relationships,” Mr. Brien said in his keynote address Nov. 6 at the interactive marketing conference Ad:Tech in New York.
In this new marketing model—where media enhances personality—brands have to become experiences and destinations, and consumer insight has to be smarter, Mr. Brien said.
“A brand is ultimately a promise. … It is something that is not ownable by a corporation anymore,” Mr. Brien said.
—Megan McIlroY, Advertising Age