The Digital Department - Forget "Integration" lets start with communication of one vision

I wrote an essay about bundled and unbundled agency models for an advertising essay competition which I did not win or even make it to the shortlist but it did get me thinking about what agency model works best.

The conclusion for my essay at the time was that it boils down to communication. If a media buyer and a planners working in the same client team aren't talking what are the chances that things will be different if the media planning agency was seperated from the buying agency. This is the same if the creative and media agency were under one roof but do not talk either.

Now don't get me wrong. I love all marketing buzz words and "integration" is just one of those terms that is not practiced but heavily preach. I do like the theory of integration but when you are surrounded by different egos, thinking styles, people with various levels of experience the "one vision" on how a campaign is carried out can often become blurred. Wasting hours of miscommunication, revision of creative/media plans, late sign-off by the client and very mediocre campaign results where the unspoken key learning was when did the vision fall down.

When I say "talk" I mean sitting down all in one room face-to-face and getting everyone's head around one vision. Before achieving this one vision, there needs to be a thorough explanation and exchange of ideas to make sure everyone in the room is on the same page. Now talking is just one form of communication, once the face-to-face is over emails and phone conversations become the major tools to ensure the "one vision" is developed and implemented - as agreed.

However, what I consider to be even worse than running a whole bunch of poorly executed campaigns is that people start losing passion for their jobs. Everything so simple and enjoyable begins to become a chore. The frustration and stress which comes with the blurred vision is the long tail effect of great people who do a great job seeking more satisfying ways/places/avenue to spend their 9 to 5 or more realistically for some 9 to 8.

As cliché as it sounds when I first heard it, great people are the lifeblood to the agency. When will clients and those involved in campaigns realize one vision is the way to go.

How much integration is practiced in your office?

Google Chrome - My Verdict

I like Google Chrome. It was fast to downloaded and very easy to use. I am not sure if I was just relieved that there was another browser option or just the novelty of having something new to play with in office may have hindered my experience.

Nevertheless, there were a features I liked about Chrome which would make Microsoft IE and Firefox look old school.

What I liked about Google Chrome:

> the "quick links" page featuring small images of recently visited websites
> the way you just type your search/url in without having to open the Google page
> the big screen real estate for viewing web pages

I was a bit surprised to not see more integration of their products in this first release because it would be a great opportunity to and have often felt Google are not very good at promoting their suite of products.

For example, I use Gmail, GChat, Google Docs, Google Notebook, Picasa, Search, Blogger, Calendar, Images, Maps, AdSense, iGoogle, AdWords, Trends - whereas majority of the population according to Netview Nielsen//Netratings only use Google search and maps.

The Google Chrome experience I was hoping for:

> Social networking tool bar to preview without having to login
> Google Chat window without having to keep your Gmail
> Google Notebook to drop links/content/images directly from the web
> Google TV channel streaming all your favourite shows on-demand
> AdSense type button/text ads, that reward consumers and advertisers
> For it to become your own desktop PA,to access everything & organise life!
> Web-based games to challenge your friends/strangers
> Click to add items shopping/reminder list you can access from your mobile
> The ability to customize my browser appearance

Perhaps in the next release. I wonder what other people would like?

Google Chrome - Its About Time.

Google has finally launched a web browser - not that most web users think much about the browser they use. I think the web browser market is actually a very interesting space to for Google to play in and why not?

According to the Market Share - By net applications website, Microsoft Internet Explorer accounts for 72.15% of the browser market share. While I am a Firefox fan - they only account for the second largest chunk 19.73% of the web user population.

Now my only wish was that Google released the mac version first because now I have to wait until I get to work to try it out. You would think from the recent iPhone popularity in Sydney, that the WOM about Google Chrome would have spread faster via Apple users. Then again, I wonder if Chrome even works on the iPhone?

So curious about this new browser, I did a little research to prepare myself for the experience:



After watching this video, I thought wait a second...moving tabs is from Firefox, better book marking is from Del.icio.us.

Google Chrome was released only days after the Beta 2 version of Internet Explorer 8.0 become available and already people are discovering glitches.