Terminator

Recently, I’ve been pondering this whole business of ‘the line’ in advertising.
A lot of below-the-line agencies insist that there is no line any longer and they claim to be as able to create brand communications as well as any above-the-line bunch.
It’s a pride thing. It grates to be considered below the salt. Beneath contempt. The underlings of advertising.

It’s also a money thing. There is still a lot of budget sloshing around in advertising and direct marketing agencies would like to get their hands on some of it, especially now the Bellweather Report suggests that as the credit crunch extends out into the world beyond banking and real estate, investment in DM is dropping.
It occurs to me that there most definitely is still a line. But it’s not horizontal. It’s vertical.

What this means is that the line does not separate brand advertising from acquisition and retention strategies, as it used to, it connects them.

The point being, depending on the nature of the task, the line slides. It moves from the strictly rational sort of offer-based message, which has traditionally been the preserve of direct marketing agencies, across to the more engaging sort of video-based content which ad agencies specialise in making.

If you buy the vertical line theory, then agencies are either left-of-line or right of it.
Two of the most interesting beside-the-line agencies in the world are BBDO, New York, which is doing remarkable work across all channels – but building brands. And 20:20 London, which is doing equally remarkable work across all channels but left-of-line, creating, analysing and re-using the data it captures.

This campaign for the TV series ‘Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ drives visitors from media-rich banners to http://www.terminate-a-mate.com. Key in a friend’s mobile number and they get sent a video message warning them the terminator knows who they are and where they are.

This idea is based on a thorough understanding of the core target audience and how digital cleverness like this turns them on.

Results – lots of buzz, lots of videos uploaded to Youtube, and Virgin’s best-ever audience for a TV show.
And big respect to 20:20, a top beside-the-line agency.