CEO • Author • Speaker
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CEO • Author • Speaker
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Interactive Quarterly: Shock Troops/ The Agency - Home Grown (780 words - Interactive Quarterly - February 3, 1997)Anthony Manson is an old Y&R hand, but one with new media ideas.Few people in new media can say they"ve been with the same company since 1983. (Of course, half the new media workforce was still in junior high in the early "80s.) Anthony Manson, however, is an exception, a throwback to the days when jobs were for life. He landed his first gig as a spot media buyer at Young & Rubicam in 1983. He"s been at Y&R ever since. Today, Manson is senior vice president, group director of Y&R New Technologies, the new media department he created and spun out as a separate unit Jan. 1, 1996--the first new department at Y&R in 30 years. Manson"s long tenure at the agency hasn"t stifled his creativity, however. "I was always into new things," he says. "As a media person, I always asked, "What"s going to make the consumer take notice?" " Manson has made new media a big part of Young & Rubicam by growing the business from within. His first encounter with on-line communications was in 1992, when he put AT&T on Prodigy. "It was my first vision of what on line meant and what you can do for a client on line," he says. AT&T sponsored an entire international business section, a first in on-line advertising. "It opened the door for me in terms of what was coming." Indeed, the work now being done by Manson"s year-old new media group is hip and even visionary. Consider Y&RNT"s Molson Ice "Polar Beach Party" campaign, which included a Labor Day concert broadcast from the North Pole and simulcast live over the brand"s Web site. The idea of flying a bunch of bands and an audience way up north was edgy; MolsonIce.com is cool, irreverent and uses a lot of extra technology to highlight the concert. It"s relatively exclusive: It requires Shockwave. Manson insists that all new media projects be integrated into a client"s overall marketing plan. And if he had his way, the opposite would be true as well: All marketing plans would have new media elements built right in. "Our approach is brand-oriented," he says. Y&RNT"s work for client 7Up is a good example. "Wherever it goes, so we go," says Manson of the new media branding strategy. The 7Up Web site incorporates the "It"s an Up Thing" slogan from the soft drink"s TV campaign and builds on it, featuring a battle of the bands (implemented by indie music site SonicNet) and a contest to win an advertising internship. The site focuses on younger, college-aged people, departing from the broader target of the general campaign. Y&R New Technologies was also responsible for the Kraft sponsorship of Hearst Web site HomeArts, which resulted in one of the Web"s first "microsites." The campaign reflects Manson"s view that a Web site is not for everyone. In this instance, Kraft reaches the HomeArts audience through a section of the site, created by Y&RNT, that features recipes. "That did really well," Manson says. "You didn"t even have to go to the Kraft (site)." (The Kraft section on HomeArts is still accessible.) All of the 20 Web-related projects created by Y&R New Technologies in 1996 are strong visually and enhanced with advanced technology. Manson, though, takes little of the credit. "I"m the new business guy," he explains. Manson understands technology, but says his strength is in more traditional agency work. He "orchestrates the process" of building a client"s new media application, he says. Now, Manson intends to take clients into the age of commerce on the Net; he speaks of clients" Internet ventures as "Web applications versus Web sites," preferring the former for Y&RNT clients. "It"s about building relationships with prospects," he says. This year, Y&RNT will be doing just that as it seeks new clients of its own, separate from the main agency. Manson sees an ongoing evolution for both Y&R and its new media division. "To me, a traditional agency can"t be traditional anymore," he says. "Y&R has always believed in exploring new media," he adds, touting--in typical corporate guy fashion--the party line. Others who know him expect such rhapsodizing to continue. Says Greg Stuart, former director of interactive communications at Y&R division Wunderman Cato Johnson: "(Manson) said to me, "I admire what you"ve done (starting an entrepreneurial venture), but I"m a Y&R guy till the day I die." " Still, Stuart warns, "don"t underestimate him." Even a company man can break new ground. --Laura Rich Copyright © 1997 ASM Communications. All rights reserved. |
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