Here's the thing...

A fundamental change is happening to the world of communications.

It’s difficult to articulate exactly why, but in the advertising sector, everything feels like it’s kind of in flux.

Part of it is obviously about digital and the changing nature of brands themselves.

Part of it is the increasingly tired debate about neutrality (but we all get that).

Part of it is about consumer control/ugc/‘the shift from push to pull’ blah blah blah, but already that seems quite clichéd.

Maybe the notion of ‘Advertising’ itself is starting to feel a bit dated, slightly scarily.

But there’s been another change too; one that’s happened more quietly and more gradually.

Our economy itself has changed. We have become a nation of service brands – they account for almost 75 of our GDP and employ the same percentage of us.

As predicted in that book that everyone knew about but no-one read, in an increasingly networked world, markets are conversations now.
At the heart of any service brand millions of these conversations are taking place, all of them different. They happen between companies and customers and amongst the customers themselves, without the company’s presence or permission.

Attempting to ‘control’ these conversations (or ignoring them) is futile and wasteful, but for brands in this rapidly changing environment, making a meaningful contribution to them is not only possible, it is essential.We think this contribution means trying to become excellent at five things.

Firstly, getting to grips with the new dynamics of brand behaviour. The art of minimising the gap between your professed advertising claim (which people either don’t believe, are bored by, or went past at x30) and how you actually act as a business. Rightly, that’s the only thing that matters. Maybe that’s why none of us have ever seen a commercial for the world’s biggest brand.

Secondly, language. The old-school preoccupation with ‘consistency of tone of voice’ is in danger of harming brands. To join in the conversation brands need to speak and act in a way that is human – demonstrate fallibility, alter your tone according to your intent, use charm as well as logic.

Number three, creating imaginative new perspectives on customer data. Digital media is transforming an audience of 1,000,000 individuals into 1,000,000 audiences of one individual. You’ll have read ‘The Long Tail.’ Or the beginning anyway.

Fourthly, evaluation. Creating a demonstrable link between communications expenditure and increased shareholder value. Easier said than done, but it has to happen before McKinsey nicks more budgets from us agency dudes.

And finally – being amazing at bringing it all together and making it happen. Account handling is so back, it’s like it’s never been away. You can’t beat a good suit. It’s against the law.

At Rapier this, then, is the stuff we’re trying to be good at.

We only work for service brands, as they require a specific set of communications principles along the lines of the five points we’ve covered.

Some of it we’ve been doing for years and some of it is new to us, so we’re recruiting people from unusual places to add their points of view.
If you think you might like to be a part of it - as a client, frustrated account man, misunderstood digital evangelist, mild mannered janitor – get in touch. We can set up a meeting which will get postponed several times and end up happening in Coffee Republic in a way that seems relaxed and modern, but is actually really flaky and slightly pointless.

Unless you’re a potential client in which case we’ll take you straight to The Ivy and laugh really loudly at your anecdotes about the time your Powerpoint froze in Basingstoke or somewhere.

Speak to
Catherine Ince 020 7369 8167
cat.ince@rapieruk.com, or visit http://www.rapieruk.com.