LIVE! It's Monday Afternoon. Sharing in the NOW.

I was watching the BET awards yesterday, and it hit me…live TV is back, but thanks to one thing: social media.

I wasn’t planning on watching the show, but Twitter enticed me to do so. I logged on, and that's all everybody was talking about. Rare was the person tweeting about the weather. The BET Awards were it!

During the entire event, I was glued to the social network. I had a lot of fun commenting on and reading other people's comments on the main Twitter #BETawards hashtag. People were making me laugh with remarks on performances, award winners, celebrity outfits and, oh, the hair…! It was certainly a good example of that extra element which can be added to open up LIVE events. Live TV is here to stay. So sorry DVR, but with social media, you’re nothing but a cool VCR.

Social media is changing the landscape more than ever. TV is no longer a push medium, but a pull medium. Now, the question for us marketers is: how do we capture our audience’s attention during commercials? How do we get them to tweet and comment on Facebook about our ads during the break? We need to capitalize in real-time.

I’m predicting interactive TVs in the future with social networks plugged-in telling the audience to follow/like (or whatever the lingo will be) in order to receive “exclusive” coupons.

Only time will tell. Cheers, and a good week to all!

Clients. Clients. Clients... What I Love About Them!

My day-to-day job as an account executive at PubliGestion allows me to be in contact with some very special people, our reason to be: our customers….

I love my customers:

- I love the fact that they often don’t know what they want; it challenges our creativity!

- I love it when they have a very precise idea of what they want (even if it needs some refining); it teaches us to be gently persuasive.

- I love the fact that it takes them a long time to make a decision; it teaches us patience!

- I love the fact that they like to change their mind (and thus the whole concept the team has been working on for a week) at the last minute; it keeps us on our toes!

- I love the fact that it is always urgent when the project is in our hands, and becomes much less urgent when they have to review it; it helps us improve our speed and efficiency!

- I love it that they expect us to be available when they need us (Saturdays, sundays and after hours included); it teaches us the importance of service!

- I love the fact that they want to spend little and impress a lot; it teaches us to negotiate, cut costs and create a lot with very little means.

- I love it when our customers are happy with the work we have produced, and proud of it as if they had done the job themselves; It teaches us to share.

- I even love it when they dislike the job we have done; It teaches us humility.

I have to admit I also love the Christmas gift I receive when the client is a happy one… ;-). But mostly, I love the fact that when you work on a regular basis with a customer, you get to know and sometimes appreciate a new person, and that person gets to know and appreciate you, and hopefully sometimes, an old customer becomes a new friend…

And I love my friends!

Bon Flo, Forever

Bon Flo was an incredibly talented writer, a Rap Kreyol visionary with a contagious energy and flow. He will be missed.

As we launch this Prestige/KisaKiHipHop TV ad, let it be considered as an ode to the immortal him.

Bon Flo, You may be gone, but your essence lives on forever.

The PubliGestion Team.

Ad Agency vs. Creative Boutique - Navigating the World of the Creatives

This is a biased entry. You’ve been warned ;)

Okay, so what is a creative boutique anyway? Simply put, it’s a type of agency that only specializes in the creative aspects of advertising, but not in the strategic aspect of marketing.

Creative boutiques are in essence agencies that, at their best, provide specific services to clients: visuals, sounds or maybe both. Although their services may come out aesthetically perfect, without the proper guidance and influence they tend to miss the bull’s eye.

The lack of research done at these agencies hinders campaigns, as they don’t understand the market they are targeting. This lack of appreciating trends keeps them from providing the extra mile to position a brand, or the knowledge to avoid that unanticipated bump - which brings in little to any ROI.

Whereas…

The core feature of an ad agency is its ability to be as creative as the creative boutique, but with more tricks up its sleeves. At PubliGestion we see it as being creative, but with a purpose. We align our creativity with strategic end goals in mind. The pivotal ball in an ad agency relies in terms such as “research, specificity and end results.”

With the knowledge of clients’ markets and the culture, an ad agency has the capability to take the ideas of the creative boutique to a whole other level - as cliché as this may be: The sky is the limit. In today's world you need that key differentiator. You cannot have the same persona as your competitors. That's what a full-service agency helps to provide: that core sustainable brandship - that works.

We figure out what makes a brand stand out. What makes it unique and attractive. Best of all, agencies know how to sell your brand to any prospect - or even create the need - creating value at every step of the consumers' cognitive buying process.

Mathematically, a creative boutique is not equal to, but included in, an Ad agency.