Marketing 3.0 is all about community messaging: Brian J Terkelsen

Brian J Terkelsen, president, LiquidThread, Starcom MediaVest Group, was at Goafest 2011, sharing his thoughts on the future of marketing at the Knowledge Seminar. In an exclusive interview, afaqs! spoke to Terkelsen to know more on marketing and the changing approach towards the same.

Excerpts from the conversation:

Terkelsen: LiquidThread is the content group. It is the content and innovation team within SMG. On a global basis, it is where digital and social content lives. We created the division over a year ago and it is a natural evolution of the content business that we have been working on in North America for 15 years.

The past year has been excellent. The main evolution is that we put digital and social at the centre of everything that we do around content.

We are certainly making a big effort against content in this marketplace. With CVL Srinivas now leading the group, it is an opportunity for us to not only launch the content practice in a new way, but to also potentially grow this business.

We work across our global clients on a multinational basis. India is a very important market for us and it is a market we intend to grow in the content space.

afaqs!: How do you think attitudes in terms of approach towards marketing need to change in this market place?

Terkelsen: I think the attitudes need to change in all markets when it comes to approach to marketing. Whether it is a developing market or a sophisticated market, it needs to push messaging innovation in particular.

The way we do messaging is not just about asking creative agencies to create better 30-second spots. It is about how we traffic those spots. It is about how we partner with media vendors to make those spots more effective.

afaqs!: Tell us a bit about what you spoke on Marketing 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0

Terkelsen: I think many of our clients are very comfortable being in the Marketing 1.0 scenario - the notion that we live in an exposure-based world, and we have to get our message out, and the message is essentially the brand's claim versus raising brand favourability.

When you move to Marketing 2.0 and raising brand favourability, you begin to think differently about what the marketing is supposed to be doing for you, how the message is supposed to work.

Raising brand favourability is very different than simple work around exposure. Raising brand favourability gets measured differently and content gets to be something different. And, then you can go about taking action.

Imagine the day we can get our consumers to take action based on marketing messages that we put together for them. If we can get to that stage against not only mass messaging, but community messaging, I think that is Marketing 3.0. I think that is the ultimate right now in the space of commercial messaging.

afaqs!: So, who ought to lead by example - the marketer or the agencies?

Terkelsen: Frankly, we should be working very, very closely together. I think many of these multinational clients are pushing us agencies, and the agencies need to be actually as far advanced in their partnerships with these clients as possible.

What we need to do is take whatever is the most innovative brands around and set it as the benchmark and everybody has to catch up to it.

afaqs!: We have seen a trend where a lot of independent small agencies are doing well. Do you think they give the bigger agencies a run for their money?

Terkelsen: I don't know. I wish I had a better answer than that, but the truth is that there is a lot of space in this market for all types of agencies. At the end, it all boils down to who is delivering and who is helping sell the product, and not who has the best idea.

I would love all my people at LiquidThread to believe they are marketers first, and content specialists and category experts later. At the end of the day, if we are not selling enough soaps or toothpastes or television sets, we are not doing our job.

afaqs!: Do you think media agencies are more quantitative than qualitative?

Terkelsen: Media is totally about the numbers; no question about it. Marketing today, has become all about the numbers. The truth is, for me, some of that gut instinct about what is a good idea or a bad idea but a risky and helpful idea is seemingly missing somewhere.

afaqs!: But, don't you think that being all about the numbers is an uncomfortable truth?

Terkelsen: I do not think it is an uncomfortable truth. What really makes it uncomfortable is if you live and die by the numbers.

afaqs!: We hear a lot about digital being the next big thing at conferences and seminars, especially in a country like India where the internet penetration is talked about a lot. But, doesn't relevance count? Has digital arrived really?

Terkelsen: Relevance will always matter across everything. Today, there is no question that there is a growing digital movement here in India. Television is not going away though. But, acknowledge it, digital is coming; if it is not here in full force, it is coming in full force, and you want to be prepared for it. You cannot totally ignore digital.

I don't think you have to abandon television for digital, though. But, digital today, is much more than just straight up display ads. It is rich media, it is video and it is an entirely new approach now.

afaqs!: But, the consumer is getting younger and there should be more emphasis on where the consumer is spending more time consuming media.

Terkelsen: If you believe that, then what is more important is mobile than digital.

afaqs!: The same question would be about mobile, too. The penetration is huge, but do we really care when we are 'spammed' by mobile advertising?

Terkelsen: We have not figured out mobile advertising. The industry has not figured it out. Mobile is not just a telephone. Mobile is now the tablet. You have the iPads. So, I would definitely be heavy on mobile.

But, I would also recognise that mobile is not going to explode heavily and be equivalent to television in the next 18-24 months or even the next five years.

afaqs!: Finally, what are the plans for LiquidThread for the year ahead?

Terkelsen: We are certainly going to grow LiquidThread in India with our current clients. We are certainly going to use what LiquidThread brings to the table in terms of experienced planning and a view about messaging innovation to grow our perspective and how we go about our business.

I think that there are a lot of solutions around content with the other agencies and independent firms. Our approach is slightly different and even though I gave away a lot of secrets during my speech here (at the Knowledge Seminar) and our chat, rest assured there is a ton more that we bring to play.