; Jarrad Woods says
it’s important to consider agency culture when
looking for work.
GENNEXT
; Josh Lovison on why
consumers aren’t likely
to focus on the TV in
3-D TV.
DIGITALNEXT
Edited by Ken Wheaton, kwheaton@adage.com
What are our Small Agency Diarists worrying
about this week? What’s going on under
The Big Tent? Do our Songs for Soap
bloggers think your commercial works?
ADAGE.COM
Dubai’s media censorship fuels
the ‘double standard’ it denounces
RANCE CRAIN
WHEN LAST WE heard from Obaid
Humaid Al Tayer, at least in these
pages, he was lecturing a group of
international advertising executives about the evils of Western
thinking.
In what was supposed to be a
nice, friendly welcoming speech in
his role as president of the Dubai
Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Al
Tayer instead scolded delegates
attending the International
Advertising Association conference.
The gist of his message was
that the West didn’t understand or
appreciate the Arab world. Mr. Al
Tayer especially objected to what
he saw as Western demands that
Arabs “replicate Western ways.”
I remember that Mr. Al Tayer
drew applause (the IAA confab
was in 2006) when he said that
the Western media have created
an image of an Arab as “woman-
izer, greedy, corrupt, lazy, illiterate,
rich, anti-Semitic and male chau-
vinist.” He asked whether the
West “has something against Arab
people.”
Mr. Al Tayer is a man of many
interests; in addition to his cham-
ber of commerce position, he is
managing director of the company
that publishes the English-lan-
guage Gulf News, which lately has
been trying to sugarcoat the
recent economic problems in
Dubai (more on that later). He is
also a partner and editor in chief
of Motivate Publishing, a big
magazine and book publisher in
the region (and which put out the
IAA conference daily, with his
speech splashed all over the front
page).
Dubai in recent months was
forced to turn to fellow United
Arab Emirates country Abu Dhabi
for a $10 billion “bailout”—a
word Mr. Al Tayer has forbidden
in the Gulf News.
According to a report in The
Wall Street Journal, reporters for
the Gulf News were also urged to
avoid the phrase “debt crisis” and
asked to “ensure the following
politically correct terminology is
used”—such as “financial consolidation” and “fiscal support”—
when writing about the deal with
Abu Dhabi.
“This is a style guide,” the edi-
tor at large of Gulf News told The
Dubai’s finance chief has
blamed the media for spreading
“blind panic” about Dubai’s finan-
cial jam. (Back in 2006, I posted
the following dispatch on
AdAge.com: “They say that 25%
of the world’s cranes are here in
Dubai, helping to erect high-rise
after high-rise in the most spec-
tacular orgy of building I’ve ever
seen. I was just one more Crain
trying to figure out who would
live and work in all those build-
ings.” I’m still wondering).
AS SEEN ON
ADAGE.COM/
SMALLAGENCY
JOHNSON: THE NEW
AGENCY ECONOMY
One topic that interests me is
how the agency economy is
going to change—not how
much people will pay for
services but what services they
will want and how they will
value them. In 2010, I think
we’re going to see a new
economy emerge with less-expensive services that will
displace a lot of the premium
services that agencies depend
on for the lion’s share of their
revenue. This new economy
will change the organizational
structure of agencies and
determine the next wave of
innovators and leaders. This
will be good for clients and
challenging for agencies.
Marketing and procurement
don’t have to be oil and water
BRAD DEHART
WHETHER IN THE pages of industry publications or at prominent
events, there’s no question buzz
has spiked in recent months about
the butting of heads between
agencies and procurement. While I
understand where the generally
negative sentiment stems from, as
a procurement professional with
extensive marketing experience,
I’d like to offer an alternate view:
The two functions don’t need to—
and shouldn’t—be at odds.
Agencies are decrying a selection process with a severe imbalance between ROI and appropriate
investment by clients in creativity
and quality. It’s not hard to see
why well-qualified shops ponder
walking away from agency
reviews.
There’s also a valid dissatisfaction with giving procurement
generalists the responsibility of
supporting marketing—especially
if they are mandated to put a premium on cost reduction.
That said, there is no denying
that the harsh economic environ-
ment of the past year has driven
unprecedented pressures on mar-
keting budgets. With that has
come increased calls to involve
procurement in the marketing
selection and buying process.
AS SEEN ON
ADAGE.COM/BIGTENT
MILLER: A MOMENT
OF OVERREACTION
After having conducted
research for the 2000 and
2010 Census African-American
ad campaigns, I was neither
surprised nor turned off by the
Census Bureau’s intent to
develop inclusive options,
especially given that more than
50,000 people wrote in
“Negro” as their race during
the 2000 Census.
I’m not the only one who
thinks Wilson’s allegation that
some first-timers may not
participate because of the
“Negro” option may be an
overreaction.
Brad Dehart serves as practice
leader for marketing-services procurement at ICG Commerce in
King of Prussia, Pa.
AS SEEN ON
ADAGE.COM/
SMALLAGENCY
SEVERSON: GET YOUR
MOTOR STARTED
It’s funny how someone can
quickly get pigeon-holed into
becoming the go-to resource for
all things related to a given
profession. I’m guilty of it. In fact,
I do it all the time with my
mechanic friend, investment
friend, accounting friend and
the list goes on. That’s probably
why it doesn’t bother me as
much when I get asked for
advice when it comes to
needing an idea. I developed a
short list of some basic idea-starters that I can give out at will.
