Agencies Aren’t Brave Enough & Why They Need To Stand Up To Rupert: InMobi Boss
InMobi boss Jon White has made an impassioned plea to media networks to be brave and get their collective heads around mobile or run the risk of losing their key value proposition of being trusted business advisors to brands.
Continuing B&T’s fierce feedback sessions, White has joined the likes of HCF’s Jenny Williams in giving agency land a harsh assessment. White told the audience of Rubicon Project’s Australia Marketplace Summit last week that agencies and marketers needed to be braver.
Here is an edited extract of what White had to tell agencies and marketers alike:
“While advertising agencies and clients like to think of themselves as brave, traditionally they’re pretty risk adverse. We can name on one hand the brave ads, because there are normally only five to ten brave ads in any given year. Most ads are pretty safe. They follow well-researched paths. They have been researched to death and they have been pre-qualified. They go to air and we hope to god that it’s within a plus or minus five per cent tolerance of what we expected. So we’re pretty risk adverse.
“I think we need to braver in terms of doing that. A lot of the things that we’re talking to clients and agencies about is about being braver in the mobile space. Mobile offers us some unprecedented opportunities. I talked about the fact that why aren’t clients getting there yet? I guess there are legacy systems, if you think about it, outside of programmatic, outside of digital . . . there are legacy systems in advertising.
“If you go back far enough it was newspapers, then it was radio, then it was television. And desktop is the last in a long row of legacy systems and those legacy systems were [it’s] expensive to produce content, it’s expensive to distribute content, you know expensive on whole bunch of levels, whether you needed printing presses or radio stations or television stations, whether you had to have actors and cameras and crew to make all of that stuff.
“In the new world, desktop started it and mobile has certainly followed it through, the cost of entry is incredibly low. User-generated content, content you can produce really, really cheaply. It can be distributed really cheaply. It can be commercialised really, really cheaply.
“So the opportunities to do some really interesting things at low cost with high return in mobile are already there, but those legacy systems are hard to get out of.
“If you’re a big Group M or an Omnicom Group and you spend 30, 40, 50 years getting in with the television networks, or you spend 80 or 90 years getting in with a newspaper group that maybe has Rupert Murdoch on the other end of it, it’s really hard to say sorry dude we’re going to cut your budget and put it into mobile – they’re going to hurt you, because they have a business to run.
“So a lot of companies are trying to back their new growth by going into new formats like mobile. And we’re in a particular time we’re growth in the world is very low. So if marketers are going: look I’m expecting five, six or seven per cent growth this year and I was going to put most of that to mobile, but I’ve got to cut some of my other channels as well in order to make that happen, you kind of get stuck in between. I think a lot of agency groups are stuck in between at the moment.
“The big groups in particular are stuck because they’ve got lots of big deals they’ve got to honour, lots of interesting new media opportunities like mobile that they really want to take on, but they’re just trying to figure out how they’re going to get that all done.
“[InMobi] can help them overcome that, and they have to overcome that because if they don’t clients are going to start getting to the market faster than agencies can and they will lose that really important role they have of being trusted advisors to brands.
“So I think there’s an enormous challenge for us as mobile specialists to make sure agencies understand the complexities of mobile, the fact that it is different to desktop, but that doesn’t have to be scary. We need to help them to give good advice to clients as to when is the best time to get into mobile is.”
Tomorrow B&T will continue White’s exploration of the advertising and marketing landscape where he discusses why agencies are like Han Solo.
Please login with linkedin to comment
Advertising Standards Bureau Cashback Digital Advertising Jon White Napisan Project Clever Buoy reno rumbleLatest News
The Unapproved Climate Certification Allegedly Causing Mass Greenwashing
Are you left flummoxed in the canned tuna & free range eggs aisle? Just wait till this green certification gets up.
TV Ratings (22/04/2024): Fans Mock “Over The Top” Reaction To New MasterChef Judges
MasterChef returns for its 2024 season. B&T stands by putting peppercorns in Gravox & no one will be any the wiser.
Dentsu Restructure: Muddle, Harvey & Johnston Take Leadership Baton As Bass & Yurisich Exit
A large broom has swept through Dentsu's local ops this morning, taking with it some big names & the air con's cobwebs.
Industry Shares Trends Shaping The Industry This International Creators Day
B&T's asking adland creators to reveal their top trends. And it's not good news for your Jenny Kee cardigan collection.
Mable Extends HOYTS Sensory Screenings Partnership
Mable has extended its HOYTS sensory screening partnership. Vigorously defends its two-star Oppenheimer review.
Orphan Launches ‘They Need Our Help. We Need Yours’ For Children’s Cancer Institute
Anything to do with childhood cancers has B&T's 110% support. That said, we do ignore the red meat & alcohol warnings.
Smile Team Orthodontics & Keep Left Collaborate On Smile-Inducing Campaign
As parents would attest, given the cost of orthodontics you'd expect this campaign to be a lavish production indeed.
Opinion: How Video Calls Neglect Learning Diversity
Need an excuse to duck out of a video call this arvo? Show this to your boss.
DoubleVerify Achieves First-Of-Its-Kind Responsible AI Certification From TrustArc
DoubleVerify receives responsible AI certification. However, not its robotic vacuum that's been seen menacing the cat.
Smile For A Good Cause: The Social Media Campaign Giving Back To The Community
Are you known as the office Austin Powers? More for you teeth than shagability? Get snappy new fangs with this news.
Elon Musk Mocks Albo After ESafety Wins Court Injunction Against X
Albo's 2024 from hell continues - Rabbitohs in crisis, down in the polls and now feuding with world's richest man.
Real Estate Developer In Hot Water Over “Sexually Exploitative” OOH Campaign
Real estate agents again tops in the 'least trusted profession' polls, nudging used car salesmen & ad creatives.
Epsilon’s Shane Hanby: Post-Cookie Era Relies On “Teamwork” Between Brands, Marketers & Tech
This pro predicts more "teamwork" in a post-cookie era. Which spells bad news for the uncooperative or plain stubborn.
Entries For Five Decades Of Advertising Graduates Awards Close On Monday
Entries for the Five Decades of Advertising awards close Monday. And no extensions! Any bribery is open til Wednesday.
Cadbury Extends Commitment To Women’s Sport With Sweet New Wallaroos Deal
Rot your teeth, get fat and support women's sport all at the same time with this sweet new sponsorship arrangement.
Campfire X & Nando’s Partner To Acknowledge Traditional Land Owners Across Australia
Chicken chain unveils important First Nations initiative. The actual chickens more concerned with the Adani coal mine.
Lisa Ronson, Naysla Edwards & Ben Hill Join MFA Awards Signature Judging Panel
MFA Awards adds some serious clout to its judging panel. Still no confirmation Paulini will be performing on the night.
Connect Hearing ‘Sounds Good’ Platform Via Bread Agency
Every office has that one hard of hearing person that's oblivious to the fact. Ramp up their insecurities with this.
Ipsos Iris Data: Australians Prioritise Entertainment & Sports Over Serious News In March
Data shows Aussies prioritising light entertainment over hard news. And who can blame them if you've seen the hard news!
Fur Media Partners With Mad Paws To Support Advertisers
It's never good if your office smells like faeces & brine chunks in aspic. Not if you're pet-friendly agency Fur Media.
MAXIBON Drops Epic Flavour Collaboration Via SICKDOGWOLFMAN
There are few pluses to be had with global warming, except the extension of ice-cream eating season.
Sling & Stone Scrubs Up With Lush Account
Got friends at Sling & Stone? Expect the dreaded loofah and bath bomb for birthdays/Christmas this year.
SBS’s The Cook Up With Adam Liaw Produces ‘Fewer CO2 Emissions Than Industry Average’
SBS could go full vegan for Adam Liaw's seventh season and reduce its TV audience and emissions by 99 per cent.
GumGum & Playground xyz To Merge Media Portfolio, Creating “Powerhouse” Ad Suite
GumGum & Playground xyz tap into consumer mindset. B&T prefers tapping a keg, but whatever works.
All The Winners & Grinners From The TikTok Young Lions Awards Night!
Last week saw every part of the human experience: Exalted, devastated, exhausted & stuffing sausage rolls in the corner.
TV Ratings (21/4/24): Farmer Wants A Wife Wins Sunday Prime Time
Farmer Wants A Wife does make the country life seductive. Apart from the manure stench & the bleating roosters at 5am.
Australia’s Automotive Industry Shifts Gears With CTV
How much was CTV responsible for Australia's record car sales in 2023? Or those horrible oversized American utes?
Australia’s C7EVEN Communications Launches Services In Japan With New Tokyo Office
Aussie comms agency unveils its Tokyo plans. Confirms it's still getting the hang of the toilets over there.
Daniel Goldstein Promoted To Head Of PR At Example
Try as he may to surreptitiously blend in with the wall in his photo, this PR fellow still relatively easy to spot.
Marie Claire & Volvo Partner For The Planet: Nominees For The Inaugural Marie Claire Sustainability Awards Announced
Fashion bible Marie Claire unveils its Sustainability Awards. Yet still refusing to recycle 2023's maxi skirts trend.
Sefiani Unveils A Wave Of Promotions & Appointments
Life's good in PR/comms as Sefiani unveils new hires. Well, bad news for media sites obsessed with redundancy stories.
Yahoo Launches Identity Solutions For CTV
Connected TV just got a whole lot more exciting with this innovation. Bar the incessant Friends re-runs.
Infosum Launches Data Clean Room Solution With Samsung Ads Australia
Infosum & Samsung Ads launch a data clean room solution that's a lot more than a Wettex & squirt of Ajax.
Fast 10: Bread Agency’s Amaury Treguer On Its “Unrivalled” Social Commerce Focus
Bread Agency's Amaury Treguer takes B&T's Fast 10, as he reveals why he won't be sandwiched up against the opposition.
X And Elon Musk To Sue Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Over Sydney Stabbing Takedown Order
If this all wasn't traumatic enough, Elon weighs in to prove he's the world's richest man & world's biggest dickhead.
CRA Siren Award To Be Presented At B&T Awards 2024!
Often attend award nights & think "I wish this night would never end"? Well, B&T's just got that tiny bit longer.