As the CEO of JWT, the world’s fourth-largest advertising agency, Providence native Bob Jeffrey has a powerful influence over the messages Americans see and hear. During a recent visit here to speak at Brown University, Jeffrey – who got his early sales experience as a clerk at the old Prime Drug on Cranston Street – spoke with Providence Business News about the smartest marketing strategies for Rhode Island, the future of Internet ads and ending what he calls “idea racism.”
PBN: What is “idea racism”?
JEFFREY: The business we call advertising has radically changed in the last several years. The old model was a passive model, where people were just receiving, and the new model is much more about engagement and participation. So consumers are actively engaged in controlling what they see, when they see it, and how they see it.
In addition, our business, historically, for years and years and years, was always about New York and London. And what I’m saying is that no longer is true. Ideas can come from anywhere. And part of that is eliminating geographical barriers.
And the other aspect of idea racism is ending media discrimination. Again, in our industry, people have been too mired in traditional formats – TV, primarily, and print. That’s radically changing. We’re in a situation where clients don’t want to pay for that like they used to, because you have declining viewership and escalating rates. The world is much more about [the] nontraditional – digital being at the forefront, especially when you break it down [by generations] and you look at what we call “digital natives,” young people who grew up on technology.
PBN: This sounds like a strong critique of your own industry.
JEFFREY: It is. I feel like the industry is not moving fast enough. We need to be much more aggressive about adopting the technology, about giving the young people who understand this more responsibility to drive that within our organizations, and we have to have more courage with our clients to really push them into those areas.
PBN: What specifically needs to change?
JEFFREY: The most important step is for people [in the ad industry] to think of ideas versus execution. All too often, people get an assignment from a client and the first thing they say is, ‘We’ll do TV.’ I don’t want to hear that as the desired response – it’s much more about an idea. That’s the behavioral thing we have to break.
PBN: Americans, especially younger ones, are growing more cynical about advertising, as well as more media-savvy. Is it getting more difficult to reach people?
JEFFREY: After the oil industry, the advertising industry is the least trusted. But my view is the reason why there’s a cynicism is that marketers have underestimated the intelligence of the consumer for a long time. I don’t think consumers have a problem with commercialism as long as you don’t disguise it.
PBN: With the explosion in media choices over the past two decades, the audience also has become fragmented. Does that worry you as someone who needs to get a message out?
JEFFREY: I only worry about that if we’re not embracing it as a reality. It’s a huge opportunity, and there are a lot of ways to be creative about it. A lot of the work we’re doing now is what I call creative innovation – nontraditional work that just cuts through the clutter.
PBN: Does that mean you see Internet advertising taking more of the dollars that currently go to TV over the next few years?
JEFFREY: I think you have to look at it holistically. In the U.S., for example, I would argue that Internet advertising is under-spent relative to the penetration of Internet within the population. … I do not think TV is going to go away, though. I think TV will always have a role, especially appointment-viewing TV, like the Super Bowl.
PBN: In a tough economy, businesses want to make sure they’re getting the best value for their ad dollars. Knowing Rhode Island, how do you recommend that a smaller company spend its marketing budget?
JEFFREY: I think every advertiser, no matter where your brand sits, really has to look at what the value equation is for your brand, because I think in this environment consumers will be much more rational about purchase decisions.
Knowing Rhode Island, I think word of mouth is critical. Rhode Island is one of those places where endorsements … [are] really, really key. I think the other thing, too, is online. Paid search online, which I think you can do here, can be very cost-effective, as can using online [opportunities] to optimize your messaging.
But I see PR in a much more extensive way. Depending on what the business is, there’s always events here where, if you have the right brand, you can insert yourself into that event or venue. •
