Alex Leikikh, world-wide CEO at MullenLowe Group, is a guy who will not dodge a concern, even if you catch him on the go. In an impromptu interview with Prasad Sangameshwaran, on the sidelines of the launch of Models to Stands, authored by MullenLowe Group’s APAC chief strategy officer, S Subramanyeswar, the worldwide CEO spoke on a wide variety of matters from his candid views on general performance marketing and advertising to what businesses require to keep as the entire world receives obsessed with net 3.. Excerpts…
Prasad Sangameshwaran: As the small business of communications grapples with the new reality of web 3., what are some points that you want to continue to keep constant, though discarding old baggage?
Alex Leikikh: The fundamentals about insight – a client perception, a classification insight, a brand insight, that then sales opportunities to a tactic that gets articulated into an plan. I believe, it is still the foundation, irrespective of net 1., 2., 3. or 4., where ever we go. In quite a few means, whilst factors like facts, media, tech and internet 3. will impact where by and how manufacturers connect, the elementary principles all over exploration, insight, method, and resourceful articulation, are constant and will keep on to be.
How do the classic businesses like your group remain pertinent when most customers are currently being lured by the new period of electronic warriors?
We just employ the service of people, keep people today and acquire people today who are the natural way curious about the planet. And you use people who are polymaths and persons who are interested in a whole lot of unique topics, and appear from various skill sets and mix them together. So irrespective of whether it is media, electronic, artistic planning, tactic, customer experience or activities, you want to have all those ability sets, under the umbrella and smash them all together.
When you happen to be working on fixing a customer business enterprise problem, it’s not a linear earth in the perception that it utilised to be exactly where there had been just a couple of channels that you could execute in opposition to, and it continues to be that way. So I think it really is a constant gameplan with an knowledge of how media works, how information operates, how tech performs, how net 3. is effective, in phrases of how to join with customers and the place the do the job life.
But basically, you will find practically nothing extra vital and extra impactful than the ability of an concept. I believe that is finally heading to keep on to be the differentiator. All the things else would be a commodity.
You spoke about several services offerings for clientele. How a great deal of it ought to you create and retain in-home and how much of it must be plug and perform? Significantly, clientele want to employ companions throughout the spectrum. They may possibly not be from the same agency group.
I consider we are looking at specific purchasers want to, as you say, retain the services of a large amount of diverse companies. And that is high-quality. We function in a large amount of distinct circumstances throughout client requirements with other associates. At times they’re element of Interpublic Team, at times they’re not. That’s great. And in other conditions, purchasers occur to us and say, we want to bundle everything, because we think that is the most successful way to do it. And of course, some clientele don’t have organisation buildings, or simply funding to manage seven or eight distinct associates. Some purchasers just never have the bandwidth, the wish, the lifestyle, to help it. In these types of conditions, we can tackle all throughout the spectrum.
I imagine the do the job is greater when only 1 company handles almost everything, form of soup to nuts, for a shopper. I imagine the ideal organizations on the earth know how to do that.
And it is really a ton a lot more successful for customers to do that. To function that way, is what we see. And I think the products is ultimately far better.
Coming to the room of adtech and martech. Do you believe these are the twin enemies of creative imagination in the outdated perception?
I feel I am going to say positively that, in the conclude, the only point that’s going to differentiate models, and solutions for clients, is the irrational electricity of creative imagination. I consider that martech included tag, details, media, to an extent is heading to be operate by devices and heading to be just pushed to a commodity. I feel we’re chasing this down a rabbit hole.
I consider that it is all likely to be incredibly valuable for consumers to realize information, all of it. But I think the capability for companies to give differentiated solutions within every single of these silos is likely to proceed to lower. And I believe that is the lure that we have to make positive that we do not run into. And then we proceed to elevate the price of what we present and what we get paid out for, to the brand plan level to the conceptual stage, simply because that’s in which the differentiation is.
Is the rise and increase of general performance pushed internet marketing taking absent the magic of promoting and making it a mechanical revenue-pushed task?
One particular of the troubles is that general performance driven marketing and advertising is polluting the internet. Check out to open up a web site and how quite a few advertisements and banners and points pop up. You are tracked, all over the place you go. They know everything about you. And it is just turning out to be a nuisance. I believe that manufacturers, marketers and companies have to get smarter and improved about how they provide, the place they provide clientele and probable buyers in more respectful approaches.
If you glance at it from the other side, are our reason primarily based significant brand interactions with shoppers essential? Yes. And that I assume is the place the benefit is going to be in the upcoming. I think the lure that we are working into with effectiveness primarily based marketing and advertising is polluting and continues to pollute the net.