Examines the impact of technology, generational shift, and apathy as key driving forces of change. Puts forward a POV on the real problems facing agencies and brands operating in this "age of embarrassment" powered by the misuse of technology.

1. FORWARD
mobile. social.
a post-agency vernacular point-of-view

2. Over the last seven years we have witnessed unprecedented change that has shaken the
foundation of every industry. The collision between the worlds of “mobile” and “social” have
created the basis for a completely new Internet.
Some believe the accelerated rate of technological and social change have left many of us
disconnected and suffering from shattering stress and disorientation. Others believe it has
revitalized a down economy and strengthened social structures. In any event, change remains. To
begin addressing the many changes happening in society, we must first understand what is
influencing change to happen at such a rapid rate, and why.
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Rethink

3. The majority of consumers now have the ability to socialize on connected
wireless devices operating on high-speed data and voice networks. This has
resulted in:
!Empowerment: untethered mobility. Any content, anywhere, any time.
!Accessibility: from luxury to the common man. Opportunities once reserved for
few are now accessible and a!ordable to all.
!Surplus of Choice: we used to hail a cab, now we book on Uber. We used to
keep the Yellow Pages in the drawer, now we browse peer reviews on Yelp.
!Information Overload: Decrease in quality of decision making.
!No Barriers to Entry: 10X number of innovators, 1/10th the cost, 100X the power.
!Fragmentation: Audiences are being divided into smaller and smaller segments.
!Saturation: mobile devices outnumber their owners.
IT IS NOT ABOUT WHAT WE THINK ABOUT THE VALUE OF MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY, BUT
RATHER HOW WE THINK ABOUT IT. CONSUMERS MAY SEE AN AD ON TV ONCE, BUT
THEY’LL PLAY A GAME ON THEIR PHONE AND SHARE A HIGH SCORE WITH THEIR
FRIENDS 1,000 TIMES.
MARKETING MUST COME BEFORE MEDIA; THERE ARE NO CHANNELS. THERE IS NO
ONLINE, THERE IS NO OFFLINE. THERE IS ONLY “INLINE”. ONE WORLD WITH PEOPLE
EVERYWHERE SLIDING ACROSS TOUCH-POINTS ON RAILS.
Socialization is driving a new, interconnected experience economy where
intention trumps attention. we have seen new forms and mutations of
communication and social sharing emerge as a result of increased mobility;
transcending race, age, gender, income and location.
Obviously advancements in the field of technology have widened gaps between
industrial-era organizations (shackled by legacy investments in infrastructure and
technology) and consumers (who are now adopting and adapting faster than
ever, clearly outpacing those same organizations we call our clients).
IT IS THE TOOLS THAT HAVE CHANGED.
AMONG THE MOST NOTABLE MILESTONES ACHIEVED WITH THE TABLET REVOLUTION IS
THAT THE IPAD TAUGHT US HOW THE WEB IS SUPPOSED TO LOOK, AND HOW WE’RE
SUPPOSED TO INTERACT WITH IT.
BRANDS WHO VIEW MEDIA AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE FUNCTIONAL VALUE AT
SCALE; THOSE WHO PROVIDE CONSUMERS WITH NEW AND INNOVATIVE TOOLS THAT
ENHANCE “EVERYDAY LIFE” WILL BE THE BRANDS WHO THRIVE IN THIS POST-DIGITAL
ERA, AND BEYOND.
This is an ideal scenario for DAN:
! Our ability to swarm around opportunities and challenges with agility and speed
are more valuable than ever.
! We are the only global agency group capable of embracing what economists call
a “transient advantage.”
! We do not have the same sizable investments in aging infrastructure, operations
and software that the vast majority of our clients and competitors are burdened
with.
! The rate of change is accelerating and the majority of brands are confounded by
the balance required to satisfy both consumers and shareholders.
! Their models are broken and their communications no longer resonate with
consumers.
! They need to find new ways to create value, new relevance and new meaning
WE MUST GO BEYOND TECHNOLOGY, AND CHANGE THE WAY WE THINK ABOUT
SERVICE, VALUE CREATION, TALENT, AND WHAT WE CONSIDER OUR INDUSTRY. IT
INVOLVES A NEW WAY OF THINKING ABOUT ISSUES THAT INFLUENCE AND
RESULT IN CHANGE.
TMT (Technology, Media & Telecom) impacts our business on many levels. It is no
secret that Industries supported by advertising, such as journalism and
publishing, are in a state of disruptive crisis. Defying all trends, in recent history
DAN has done very well. However, this business is cyclical, clients are fickle and
the competitive landscape has significantly expanded due to fewer barriers to
entry, 10x the number of innovators operating at 1/10th the cost, equipped with
100x the power than what we saw just a few years ago.
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They need to find new ways to create value, new relevance and new meaning
PRIMARY DRIVING FORCES OF CHANGEPRIMARY DRIVING FORCES OF CHANGE
Technology innovation Technology, Media & Telecom (TMT) investments
Innovative products/services accessible at scale Seismic shifts in consumer demand patterns
IT’S ABOUT PEOPLE, NOT TECHNOLOGY
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE TOOLS.
USABLE. ACCESSIBLE. AVAILABLE. ANYWHERE. ANYTIME.
“MOBILE” & “SOCIAL” MEDIA DO NOT EXIST.

4. Achieving the business goals of our clients requires tearing down the artificial barriers that exist
within our own organization. As lean, agile and collaborative as we may be, we must begin
developing business cases for transformative services. This will require a willingness to migrate,
make smart cuts, and make smart investments that will allow us to surf the waves of change
rather than become pummeled by them.
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Recalibrate

5. Our unified P&L, collaborative culture and lack of redundancies give us a
substantial boost toward developing a stripped down, horizontal group of
agencies. This would allow us to gain a clearer perspective and get ahead of the
tide. However we must also be able to constantly adapt, and be able to think and
act in ways our client, consumers, and our competition cannot.
According to a recent global study of 1,500 CEOs conducted by IBM,
the biggest challenge CEOs face is the so-called complexity gap. Eight
out of 10 expect the business environment to grow in complexity, but
fewer than half feel prepared for the change. The research also
reveals that CEOs see a lack of customer insight as their biggest
deficit in managing complexity.
They prioritize gaining customer insight far above other
decision-related tasks and rank “customer obsession” as the
most critical leadership trait.
PEOPLE BUY STUFF. BUSINESSES SELL STUFF.
OUR JOB IS TO SUCCESSFULLY CONNECT AND ENRICH
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE TWO.
WE MUST NOT FORGET THE JOB WE’RE HERE TO DO WHILE THINKING ABOUT THE JOBS OF THE
CONSUMER AND THE BUSINESS VALUE WE AIM TO CREATE FOR CLIENTS.
TECHNOLOGY, “SOCIAL”, AND “MOBILE” DO NOT SOLVE PROBLEMS. THEY CREATE THEM.
TECHNOLOGY INVITES PEOPLE TO CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIOR, ROUTINES, AND HABITS. THE
PROBLEMS WE SEE WITHIN THE MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY ARE A RESULT OF
FORCING NEW TECHNOLOGY TO SOLVE OLD PROBLEMS, WITHOUT ADJUSTING IT FIRST.
People care about change, whether they embrace or oppose it. They may seem to
care about technology, mobile and social. However these are just words used to
represent the stuff that makes change possible.
TECHNOLOGY IS NOT INTERESTING.
HOWEVER, BEHAVIORAL CHANGE IS IMMENSELY INTERESTING. A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF
HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND THE ABILITY TO FORECAST ITS SHIFTS ARE INCREDIBLY VALUABLE.
Fortunately, this is our business. And this is what we must get serious about
developing our core value proposition around.
We are not technologists. Our job is to determine the consequences of
technology. Whether it brings new challenges, new opportunities, or both. And to
make these insights actionable for our clients.
This is an important step in the evolution of our industry as we’ve gone from
attention, to engagement, to demand, to ongoing participation, and now to
culture.
WHAT THE F*CK IS MOBILE & SOCIAL?
The very words themselves are the problem. Let’s clear this up right now by
defining them.
WHAT IS SOCIAL? Social is the human connection between media. Facebook is a
digital property built around a newsfeed containing content published by your
(social) peer network. They sell digital media. A percentage of that media is served
on mobile devices.
WHAT IS MOBILE? What isn’t? Mobile transcends media. It is the most powerful
touch-point in the history of mass media due its five unique attributes:
Mobile and Social are so different from media channels that nearly every existing
lead agency model has been confounded by these “disciplines” of marketing.
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21 3
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6. MOBILE AND SOCIAL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE MORE IMPACT THAN ANY MASS MEDIUM IN HISTORY, HOWEVER BECAUSE OF THE WAY WE BUY, SELL AND
MEASURE MEDIA AND ITS IMPACT, AND OUR INABILITY TO DESCRIPTIVELY EXPRESS THE ROLES EACH PLAY, THEY HAVE BEEN RELEGATED TO SPECIALIST GROUPS MOST
BRANDS AND AGENCIES DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW TO INTEGRATE AND MEASURE. AND AS DRUCKER SAYS, “IF YOU CAN’T MEASURE IT, YOU CAN’T MANAGE IT.”
OUR CLIENTS STRUGGLE TO KEEP MULTIPLE AGENCIES SYNCHRONIZED. WE STRUGGLE TO ACHIEVE THE RIGHT BALANCE OF STRATEGIC CONSISTENCY WITHIN A BRAND
NARRATIVE AND ACROSS CAMPAIGNS, WHILE ALSO LEVERAGING THE UNIQUE ATTRIBUTES OF EACH MEDIUm, channel and touch-point.
EXISTING BAL AND LEAD AGENCY MODELS CANNOT
ADAPT TO THIS NEW WORLD OF CONVERGED MEDIA.
WE MUST DEVELOP A MODEL THAT IS FASTER, MORE OPEN AND
MORE FLEXIBLE THAT ALLOWS EACH DISCIPLINE GREATER
FREEDOM TO EXPRESS THE CAMPAIGN STRATEGY.
IN THIS NEW “INLINE” ERA, WE MUST NOT ONLY HAVE THE
CAPABILITIES AND CREDENTIALS, BUT ALSO THE TALENT AND
CULTURE TO CONTINUALLY ADAPT TO MEET THE EVER-CHANGING
NEEDS OF CLIENTS.
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7. Agencies are never short on words intended to scaffold their practices with tag-lines and
manifestos about customer-centricity, consumers at the center of design thinking, and the virtues
of viewing media as an opportunity to create value in the everyday lives of people. We talk about
moms, children, families, holidays, togetherness, sharing, belief systems. . . we talk about culture.
We are well-intentioned. In most cases, we believe the stories we tell. Then the sobering reality of
the economics of our business settles in and we regrettably return to the same practices we
resent. These self-imposed practices hold us back because we lack the courage and resolve to
not just theorize about the future, but to create it. We are full of self-loathing, and we do not
subscribe to the same philosophies we put forward to our clients as counsel.
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Adaptive OS

8. This is the hard truth we must face. This is not about social, mobile, technology,
big data, DSPs, or retargeting. Those are words we use to excuse our behavior
and subvert real solutions to real problems.
ARE WE AWARE OF OUR LACK OF AWARENESS?
CLIENTS ARE MUCH SAVVIER TODAY THAN THEY WERE JUST A FEW SHORT
YEARS AGO. THEY ARE DEVELOPING DATA MANAGEMENT PLATFORMS,
DEMAND SIDE PLATFORMS, AND INNOVATION LABS.
Brands are beginning to understand the value of the massive amount of
information they have collected from their customers, and how to understand
relationships between this data. There is a massive generational shift upon us
with nearly half of the US population under the age of 30. We are nearing a
tipping point that will be driven by young adults who are not handicapped by
memories and longing for the days of shoving inflated media through a pipe and
keeping what sticks to the walls.
AVOIDANCE, IGNORANCE OR FEAR?
THERE ARE MANY THINGS WE ARE AWARE OF RIGHT NOW THAT WE
CONTINUE TO IGNORE. THINGS WE KNOW ABOUT THE NOT-SO-DISTANT
FUTURE THAT WILL UNDOUBTEDLY CHANGE OUR INDUSTRY FOREVER.
• Ubiquitous, anywhere connectivity
• High speed broadband
• Video everywhere
• Eradication of attribution challenges
• Smart, connected cities
• The Internet of Things
• The redefining of media as we know it
• Broad impact of mobile commerce
• Age of mass to age of the individual
• Mobile devices as remote controls to the world (wallets and keys will soon be
embarrassing relics)
The list is endless. We are so busy being busy, we are blind to the opportunities
our Network is ideally suited to exploit.
CHANGE THE WORK ITSELF
IF WE CLAIM TO “INNOVATE THE WAY BRANDS ARE BUILT” WITH A CLEAR
CONSCIENCE, WE CANNOT SIMPLY SETTLE FOR TRADING DESK MARGIN,
MIGRATION FROM TV TO DIGITAL VIDEO, AND PROGRAMMATIC BUYING
ACROSS ALL MEDIA. THOSE ARE SHORT MONEY COMMODITY BUSINESS
TACTICS, NOT LONG-TERM VIABLE BUSINESS STRATEGIES.
We must invite the world (brands and consumers) to experience a new age of
transformative services and usable media developed by the only global team of
agencies with the agility, size and speed to develop and deliver modern brand
promises.
NEW FOCUS
WE MUST BEGIN TO MORE DIRECTLY CONFRONT CHALLENGES AT THE
INTERSECTION OF TECHNOLOGY, CULTURE, HUMAN BEHAVIOR, AND
ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN.
The value we create in the years ahead will be determined by our talent, culture
and ingenuity. In turn, the combined power of this approach will drive a high-
margin, high-value suite of services only DAN can claim ownership of, at scale.
‣ STRATEGY: defining purpose, mapping priorities, and developing
roadmaps for the future
‣ BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION: evolving how we capture, package, and
distribute value to our clients
‣ TRENDS AND FORECASTING: exploring the complex future of our clients’
industries through thorough consumer journeys, video ethnographies,
ontologies, scenarios and forecasts
‣ INVENTION: imagining new products and platforms that will fuel the growth
of our clients
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9. ! It is abundantly clear that today’s media-saturated consumer expects advertising to be synonymous with
content. At minimum, media should not “get in the way of the Internet”. Every brand has Red Bull-envy.
The vast majority of them aspire to become akin to publishers, content producers, entertainment
companies, and even newsrooms -- equipped with the tech stack to support the required workflow.
! This desire has far-reaching implications. It requires frameworks and systems that adapt to each consumer
to ensure the brand engages at the right time, with the right messaging, and a thorough understanding of
intent, context and the many variables that exist within the user’s geo-location. This ladders back to the
notion of culture, and where our clients have permission to play and where they should stay away.
! To truly create dynamic systems capable of ingesting, analyzing and acting on information to ensure the
most personalized experience, we must ensure our DAN AOS can continually adjust and remain impervious
to changes in technology and consumer behavior.
! This approach is not simply about creating and distributing media -- mobile, social or otherwise. It’s also
not just about designing new interfaces or upgrading to a new technology stack.
IT’S ABOUT SUFFUSING OUR ENTIRE ORGANIZATION’S CULTURE, PROCESSES, AND TECHNOLOGY
WITH THE ABILITY TO RESPOND TO ANY SITUATION, ANYWHERE, FOR ANY CLIENT, FOR ANY
CONSUMER, AT ANY MOMENT.
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10. NO REDUNDANCIES COLLABORATIVE VS COMPETITIVE LEAN AND AGILE UNIFIED IN EVERY SENSE BUILT FOR CONVERGENCE ADAPTIVE
BIG
BRAINS
LITTLE
MACHINE
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OMC: More than 30 media
agencies, four global networks,
hundreds of specialist agencies
within DAS
IPG: More than 20 media agencies
WPP: More than 50 media agenciesPublicis: More than 1,300 agencies
VALUE BEING BIG OVER BEING GREAT MARKET SHARE AND PROFIT ARE NOT RELATED BAD CLIENTS DRIVE OUT GOOD CLIENTS
ADVANTAGE
DAN