farming out their media requirements. That means they are actually trusting another organization to collaborate directly with their clients. That's something that was unimaginable just a few years ago.

Second, many of the larger agencies now have very robust Media Divisions and those divisions are involved with sales promotion, sponsorship and even some creative tasks. Many of them actually feel like full service agencies if you study them closely.

Th

There are three words which often bother me. " I remember when….." When my peers and friends use them, I always feel like telling them to switch gears and think about today and tomorrow, not yesterday. They seldom comply. Now, having been invited to write about how the ad agency business has changed since I was in it on a day-to-day basis, I suppose I have to "remember when."

If you remember when Channel 10 did a live, (LIVE!) daily, (DAILY!) Network (NETWORK!) show, you're probably as old as I am.

If you remember when ad agencies relied heavily on Type Shops for fast, efficient service, you are probably in your forties.

If you remember when word processing people were called typists and when they used a thing called carbon paper, you are probably in your fifties. (Side effects from typewriters and carbon paper were messy erasures and blue-stained fingers.)

And if you think FedEx, cable TV, B101, All News All The Time, Video Conferencing, and Satellites have always been there, I'm jealous for not being your age.

In the ad business, the only thing that's certain is that what's certain today will not be certain tomorrow.

Which brings me to the agency business and some significant changes that have taken place in my career-lifetime.

Whereas client/agency relationships changed focus from print to broadcast over many years, the changes now move with lightening speed. For example, when UHF television came along, it was big news because viewers in this market could see six stations instead of three. Now, who can keep track of all the video available with cable and internet access for movies and on and on. How will agencies have to adjust? Who knows? We do know that the media challenges that face agencies are already causing several significant changes.

First, some are not fighting the media wars. Many are farming out their media requirements. That means they are actually trusting another organization to collaborate directly with their clients. That's something that was unimaginable just a few years ago.

Second, many of the larger agencies now have very robust Media Divisions and those divisions are involved with sales promotion, sponsorship and even some creative tasks. Many of them actually feel like full service agencies if you study them closely.

Thi

!) show, you're probably as old as I am.

If you remember when ad agencies relied heavily on Type Shops for fast, efficient service, you are probably in your forties.

If you remember when word processing people were called typists and when they used a thing called carbon paper, you are probably in your fifties. (Side effects from typewriters and carbon paper were messy erasures and blue-stained fingers.)

And if you think FedEx, cable TV, B101, All News All The Time, Video Conferencing, and Satellites have always been there, I'm jealous for not being your age.

In the ad business, the only thing that's certain is that what's certain today will not be certain tomorrow.

Which brings me to the agency business and some significant changes that have taken place in my career-lifetime.

Whereas client/agency relationships changed focus from print to broadcast over many years, the changes now move with lightening speed. For example, when UHF television came along, it was big news because viewers in this market could see six stations instead of three. Now, who can keep track of all the video available with cable and internet access for movies and on and on. How will agencies have to adjust? Who knows? We do know that the media challenges that face agencies are already causing several significant changes.

First, some are not fighting the media wars. Many are farming out their media requirements. That means they are actually trusting another organization to collaborate directly with their clients. That's something that was unimaginable just a few years ago.

Second, many of the larger agencies now have very robust Media Divisions and those divisions are involved with sales promotion, sponsorship and even some creative tasks. Many of them actually feel like full service agencies if you study them closely.

Th

ews All The Time, Video Conferencing, and Satellites have always been there, I'm jealous for not being your age.

In the ad business, the only thing that's certain is that what's certain today will not be certain tomorrow.

Which brings me to the agency business and some significant changes that have taken place in my career-lifetime.

Whereas client/agency relationships changed focus from print to broadcast over many years, the changes now move with lightening speed. For example, when UHF television came along, it was big news because viewers in this market could see six stations instead of three. Now, who can keep track of all the video available with cable and internet access for movies and on and on. How will agencies have to adjust? Who knows? We do know that the media challenges that face agencies are already causing several significant changes.

First, some are not fighting the media wars. Many are farming out their media requirements. That means they are actually trusting another organization to collaborate directly with their clients. That's something that was unimaginable just a few years ago.

Second, many of the larger agencies now have very robust Media Divisions and those divisions are involved with sales promotion, sponsorship and even some creative tasks. Many of them actually feel like full service agencies if you study them closely.

Th

lightening speed. For example, when UHF television came along, it was big news because viewers in this market could see six stations instead of three. Now, who can keep track of all the video available with cable and internet access for movies and on and on. How will agencies have to adjust? Who knows? We do know that the media challenges that face agencies are already causing several significant changes.

First, some are not fighting the media wars. Many are farming out their media requirements. That means they are actually trusting another organization to collaborate directly with their clients. That's something that was unimaginable just a few years ago.

Second, many of the larger agencies now have very robust Media Divisions and those divisions are involved with sales promotion, sponsorship and even some creative tasks. Many of them actually feel like full service agencies if you study them closely.

Th

farming out their media requirements. That means they are actually trusting another organization to collaborate directly with their clients. That's something that was unimaginable just a few years ago.

Second, many of the larger agencies now have very robust Media Divisions and those divisions are involved with sales promotion, sponsorship and even some creative tasks. Many of them actually feel like full service agencies if you study them closely.

Third, agencies must take steps to become more aware of accountability as it relates to their clients' spending. Welcome, Internet Marketing. Just a few years ago, many marketing folks started thinking about one-to-one marketing. Today it's becoming an absolute necessity for agencies to understand Search Engine Marketing, Optimization and other terms which were virtually unknown just five years ago.

Those agencies which relied on creative radio ideas no longer have a fairly simple pallet to deal with. AM radio was dominant and the change to FM dominance took many years. Now we have two major factors which already influence how radio is utilized by the consumer: Satellite and a little phenomenon called IPod. Cost per thousand is still important but specific, measurable results are more important. That factor is pushing today's agencies into thought processes which require greater strategic ability as well as a keen understanding of how to meld communications for image/brand with clients' demand to see sales figures climb as direct ways to measure ROI. Whoever succeeds in finding the best way to turn IPod users into a demographic group that's available as "media" will harvest big rewards.

Think about how Internet advertising has changed and is changing marketing strategy. That new media increased by 21% in 2004. It's projected to take seven billion dollars away from traditional ad budgets in 2005. Soon, it will be "traditional." Maybe it already is. Agencies must take a leadership role in finding optimum ways to apply those funds.

There are other important topics and terms today which might not have existed for agencies in the past but are core factors today and are likely to become even more important: Broadband, Customer Relationship Management , Video on Demand, Paid Inclusion, Latino Media, Collaboration Extranets, Streaming, Hig