The agency is spurning the old school model, long considered outmoded and largely ineffective, and mounting a next generation client offering emphasizing culture ahead of brand consumerism
NEW YORK, July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Seeking to inject new life into the traditional model for account planning, Adrenalina, a leading advertising and marketing agency that is part of the MDC Partners network, is widening its services to include a forward-looking cultural approach vital for understanding consumer attitudes and influences.
The ad shop's move to ramp up the old school model of account planning, a U.K. import long considered outdated and ineffective among U.S. ad agencies, sets into a motion a strategic shift aimed at enhancing consumer-focused marketing insights and messaging with relevant cultural awareness.
"The 21(st) century planning model no longer is about trying to link consumers and brands," said Manuel Wernicky, president, chief ideas officer and managing partner, Adrenalina. "It's about recognizing the way that culture -- that is, the real world experiences that impact your target -- may positively or negatively influence the mindset of consumers."
Spurning the "account planning" department name and the accompanying job title of "planner," Adrenalina has formed a dedicated cognitive and cultural studies unit that will be staffed by a team of cognitive anthropologists, or "cogs" that are part of the wider agency.
Wernicky said the new offering helps to formalize services for generating new business opportunities and for those already being provided via agency client, Tecate. The Mexican beer's 2009 Anthem campaign recognizes the significant contributions made by Hispanics to American pop culture and the workforce. The push rolled out in late April.
Putting the cultural mindset of consumers ahead of the focus group discussion lets cognitive anthropologists build a cultural profile of consumers utilizing data, insight and other qualitative perspective and offers a clearer picture of who they are and what is happening in their lives, Wernicky noted.
Since consumers tend to provide insight on their own past or present experiences and don't typically foresee into their future (for the basis of gathering trend data), positioning the discussion with consumers at the end of the process is likely to produce the most useful information.
In the case of Tecate, Wernicky says it helped to generate a thoughtful plan that acknowledged the tough economic times that brand consumers face today instead of making light of the problem or avoiding it altogether.
