What we don’t excel at is making the creative leap required to deliver the core creative idea behind a brand. Media agencies excel at understanding points of connection and their context how consumers interact with devices and platforms and the data that fuels these interactions and connections. JG> I don’t think any agency should be type-cast or pigeon-holed when it comes to content development, but we should be honest about who is good at what. LBB> Is there any particular type of content that you think media agencies are uniquely well suited to compared to other players in the field? This will only become more prevalent as we move into an increasingly adserved world and as traditional media becomes more addressable. This also puts media agencies at the sharp end of understanding performance results in real time, analysing information in a way other content providers either can’t access or don’t analyse in the same way. That has effectively made media agencies gatekeepers of knowledge around channel and consumer nuance. These iterations need tailoring to both the connection point within which they are running and the increasingly customised audiences they are targeting (amazingly, over half of Facebook video ads still aren’t formatted correctly). JG> As the communications landscape evolves, diversifies and fragments we are seeing an ever-increasing requirement for multiple iterations of any given piece of content.

What makes media agencies particularly well placed for this? Content is really interesting in that there are so many different kinds of players getting involved– production studios, media owners, creative agencies and media agencies etc. LBB> The World Media Awards celebrates content-led advertising. LBB caught up with Jon to pick his brains. This year Jon is a co-Chair of the World Media Awards jury (deadline for entries is less than three weeks away, so get your skates on!), which recognises content-driven advertising, so the topic is very much front of mind. What’s more, while these days the potential to tweak and personalise content may seem infinite, Jon’s very clear that it needs to be balanced against the production and media costs of making and distributing these variations. Rather content strategies should be informed by smart data and behavioural insights. And while much has been said about the increasing volume of content being created for brands, Jon hopes that the industry has “passed the peak of ‘more stuff’”. Jon Gittings is the Chief Strategy Officer for MediaCom Americas and as such has seen how the worlds of media strategy and content creation have been moving ever closer. When it comes to clever, data-driven content, MediaCom have been leading the charge with award-winning campaigns for the likes of Mars (Snickers’ Hungerithm) and Bose.

Take charge the gunk