Forget the Puny Network, Build An Ecosystem

By | January 6, 2009

Really, all the major agencies (Interpublic Group, WPP Group, Publicis Groupe, and Havas) are going to have their own ad network?

It’s too much for them to not have a piece of that pie:

The ad-network business, we almost shouldn’t have allowed it to exist . . .

They should . . . but only like a Web native, and that’s not likely as a group.

One of them, maybe Havas, will decide that having their own ad network means leveraging other networks and adding something novel. And that network will have low expectations built in, be able to adapt, and have the ability to easily absorb a critical element no one knows about today. That one will take off.

These agencies need to think hard about what “own” means in this context. Because where they really could make their money is combining search and display ads in a conversational ecosystem. That’s what they need to build . . . together: a new media ecosystem.

So, tap into these ad networks, enhance them, extend them. Open source them. But don’t try to build and own them. In fact, the best move is exactly the opposite one.

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  • http://www.unstructuredventures.com/uv Taylor Davidson

    That's a good question: what do they really “own”? Proprietary information / data created by the success and pricing of their network? Unique distribution channels? Client relationships?

    I'm curious, how can the agencies create a new media ecosystem? I don't know much about the current process and ecosystem, only a suspicion it's fragmented, opaque and inefficient. Please correct me if I'm wrong…

    • http://brooksjordan.name brooksjordan

      Marketing online has to become a conversation with standards, and it's a long way from that now. If they'd work together to create such an ecosystem, then they could all make money, sooner.

      • http://www.unstructuredventures.com/uv Taylor Davidson

        Open beats closed, right?