Maurice Performs Last Rites

Maurice Saatchi becomes the first advertising grand-fromage to explicity call the death of advertising in an article in today's FT, with a Q&A here (sub on both).  Having established that people's habits and brains have changed for good he suggests the solution to creating a brand in a world of distributed media is 'one-word-equity'.  It's a cute idea and sort of sounds good, but really just falls into all the old traps.  The idea of brands owning anything, particularly a word, is just plain over.  Saatchi says that, "only one brand will be able to own one word".  It's hard to see how that makes any sense other than on the Google Adsense programme.  The idea of a global conversation... 

...is almost a cliche but, nonethless, is a decent description of a world in which consumers (aka people) have gotten hold of their own media.  Saatchi's suggestion for nervous executives looking at the sand slipping through their fingers is to grip tighter.  There's no doubt that the emerging media world is a complex one but the idea that you can control it by shouting the same word over and over isn't going to help.  Unless you like the overly-medicated, elderly relative look.  The best response to complexity is an intelligent dialogue not the, "ruthless paring down of the paragraph to the sentence and the sentence to the word".  And if brands don't want to join in, people will be happy to speak on their behalf.

Comments

[edward cotton]

If he means this, it's wrong.

Sure, there needs to be some control, some boundaries and ad agencies still need to develop ideas that inspire.

The difference, agencies need to compose Ideas that can be molded, changed and morphed and taken by people/performers and be transformed into new tales.

[David Koopmans]

I haven't read the full article (can't get in to the subscriber only site) but if your representation of Saatchi is right, it doesn't surprise me too much.
He is right in one thing; the old advertising world has changed forever. However his perscription appears to be straight from the old advertising world of thinking.

It is a simplistic idea that comes from a culture that essentially believes that consumers (aka people, I like that)are there to be crudely manipulated.
In my mind the focus, company marketing budget and energy should shift back to real product and service differentiation instead of these attempts.

[John Roberts]

Been there, heard that. He's a master of recycling.

In 1987, after Saatchi & Saatchi had acquired Ted Bates, we at Bates in NY were asked to adopt the Saatchi UK one word method. Back then it was called "Brand Essence".

Saatchi is all about provocative propaganda that captures the imagination (and headlines). To Saatchi "strategy" is just another art form. This makes for a good read and stimulating discussion. But remember he was also selling unadulterated Ted Levitt and one-size-fits-all global marketing in the 80's, too. Very cool stuff to present to clients at the time but the thinking and execution lacked depth and breadth.

The best work right now is being done by creatives putting together engaging content that reinforces across platforms. This struggle to weave together a focused and powerful communication is different and bigger than the Saatchi premise.