I had the chance to work closely with a top tier Japanese traditional agency on a partnered pitch to a automobile brand recently. The initial idea was integrated with them leading on the big idea and strategy while digital will complement.it. The usual.
Half way thru, they did a 180 and asked for digital to lead instead. We would loved to have the opportunity to do that. But even then, it kinda shocked me. Really? Digital on the forefront instead of being dragged along like a dog on leash. Eventually we went ahead with a big digital push. The ideas and strategy were great, but I'm not sure if the conservative Japanese client were ready for this paradigm change.
Look around you. More time spent on TV or streamed TV? Paperback or ebooks? Magazine/Newspaper or Flipboard/Pulse? Meet up with friends or Facebook/Twitter? When was the last time you NOT HAVE a phone/tablet before you drift to sleep? We are spending more time on digital interactions, whether we like it or not. An entire generation of adults are in the making right now, who does not know a world before mobile phones, tablets and Internet.
But I agree with the article, they can both be in the front. I recently mentioned about an interactive print ad. There are tons of other examples where traditional and digital fully complements each other and forms a bigger whole than the parts.
Now if only our clients recognize this and be cognizant that digital is equally important. And blardy show us the money already!
Read more here.
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2012/10/digital-first-print-first-both-should-work-together291.html
Image credits: http://www.pbs.org
