YOUNG: For clients like Nestlé we’ve encouraged point of sale solutions ahead of broadcast television. Recently for T-Mobile we recommended NOT doing advertising at all.

PHAM: You have indicated that resonating with consumers is essential – how is your agency doing this today?

YOUNG: The shift we are making is to move away from being in the business of delivering messages to audiences, to being an agency centered on how consumers receive that communication. A great example of this is with Ambien CR, where we have prioritized our media buying against the points where consumers are most receptive to sleep messaging e.g. 1am-3am time slots, Sunday nights before the work week and daylight saving weekend. We are also investing more in tools that help us to buy media in editorial with higher commercial attention.

PHAM: In your book “Profitable Marketing Communications” you share the concept of how investment disciplines, theories and strategies should be incorporated into marketing practices to deliver the strongest potential ROI. Can you provide an example of how brands, agencies and their vendor partners might incorporate the concept into their practices?

YOUNG: Smart investors understand how to manage risk. When managing an investment portfolio this will include investing into areas that can be higher risk, but potentially deliver much higher returns. In the book, we advocate that if companies are to grow, they need to build budgets to test these higher risk/higher return opportunities into their marketing portfolio. Agencies need to encourage testing with clear measurement to gauge success or failure of these test investments. And vendors can help by building research to prove effectiveness not eyeballs.

PHAM: What’s the biggest misconception about ROI?

YOUNG: Too often marketers, agencies and vendors refer to ROI as a substitute for metrics. In our view, ROI is actually about return on an investment. That investment is marketing funds and the return is profitable growth. Marketing ROI is not just about metrics, econometric modeling or success/failure … it is a mind set of managing marketing that drives the bottom line.

PHAM: From your global experience, what is the 1 approach or philosophy that the US marketplace should embrace, but hasn’t?

YOUNG: The biggest theme coming from abroad is the breakdown of marketing silos. Agencies are learning to think, operate and collaborate across media platforms. The places that have no problem with this are the emerging markets where the industry is young and is structured to this new no boundaries world. They are unencumbered by “how it’s always been”.

PHAM: What makes an idea great?

YOUNG: That’s a tough question. At Optimedia we are trying to focus on big communication ideas and go beyond tactical ideas. Concentrating on fewer, bigger and better ideas is a start.

PHAM: If you could work in any other field what would it be?

YOUNG: I’d be fascinated to work in politics. The way that branding, media and personal selling comes together in must-win results appeals to me both intellectually and professionally.

Antony was interviewed by Colleen Pham, Sr. Marketing Manager, Advertising at Valassis.

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