What happens if the traditional marketing model collapses before a better alternative is established?

So asked Advertising Age’s Bob Garfield in his landmark article titled “The Chaos Scenario.” Garfield recently wrote the third installment in this series proclaiming that we’ve actually entered this scenario ahead of schedule.

Not linear, but exponential

Some of the changes we experience in this business are gradual and linear, but the movement to digital is exponential. Some agency executives continue to think of the digital revolution as “This year’s most critical issue for the past 8 years,” but even the most cynical will now acknowledge that the revolution has truly arrived.

The implications for marketing communications firms are monumental – some obvious and some not so obvious. Senior agency executives around the world report seismic changes in their client relationships brought on by not just the economy, but by the urgent need to find more innovative solutions to marketing problems.

Demonstrating digital leadership

Of course digital isn’t always the answer, but increasingly clients are turning to agencies not only for help but for thought leadership in digital marketing, and only the most progressive agencies are in a position to deliver it.

In Ignition’s consulting work, we regularly encounter agency principals who recognize the urgency and importance of the shift to digital, but are personally unprepared for the change.

Not just organizational competency, but personal competency

Ask a senior agency professional a question about broadcast production and they can usually answer it. Same with print, radio, outdoor, or even point of sale. But ask them a question about digital and the answer is often, “That’s a little out of my league – let me have the digital guys get back to you.” That’s a little like dodging questions about television if you were an account executive in 1954.

Agency leaders, managers, and senior executives all need to develop a personal competency in digital just as they have in traditional. And if you haven’t learned it already, you need to enroll yourself in what BBDO’s Andrew Robertson calls a “reverse apprenticeship.”

Senior professionals as students

If you can’t answer the questions of what, who, why, and when regarding digital, you need to enroll yourself in a program of self-study. If you’re in a general agency management position, your curriculum should cover such topics as:

• Digital terms and terminology
• Types of digital projects and solutions
• Identifying and mapping scope of work for digital projects
• Stages in digital projects
• The tools and methodologies of digital project management
• Managing technologists
• Marshalling and managing digital assets
• Experience design and usability testing
• The role of quality assurance in digital production
• Basics of online analytics

Most of the digerati are self taught

Think about the digitally-talented people you know and you’ll realize most of them are self-taught. They took an interest in digital and learned it on their own. You can do the same, especially because everything you need to know about digital is online, and most of it is free at sites ranging from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) to ClickZ.

Make the commitment to a digital apprenticeship this summer and assure your personal relevance in the marketing communications business.

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