McCann… every time there is news about you in the press, our blog gets loads of irate, almost nonsensical rants about the agency. And me? Personally, I turn on Andrew WK’s, “I Get Wet.”
“I Get Wet when the party is dying/
I Get Wet without even trying/
I Get Wet/
I Get Wet whenever you trying/
I Get Wet when I know that you’re dying/
I Get Wet/”
Today’s news comes from The New York Post:
“In pursuit of more revenue, McCann Worldgroup, a division of ad giant Interpublic, is considering teaming with private-equity firms to resurrect dead brands or, in other cases, create new ones.”
Oh boy. First off all, McCann is always about ten steps behind everyone else on this “product revenue stream thing.” Anomaly does this, as does BBH and those shops will tell you it ain’t easy. Now, does this sound like a good idea for ol’ Mister McCann? John Dooner, Chairman Chief Executive and his kids cranking out watered down products that nobody wants? Those poor creatives over there. Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.
In another stunning example of McCann’s slow ass move to grasp consumer culture, the media side, McCann Universal, has just released their social media report titled, “When Did We Start Trusting Strangers?” It’s full of insightful, groundbreaking gems such as:
“The clear trend that emerged was that consumers were sharing opinions in unprecedented numbers.”
And, “-the research clearly shows we now trust the opinions of strangers we read online as much as our closest friends and certainly more than advertising.”
Oh and let us not forget: “Secondly, transparency is essential.”
Dear gawd McCann! Why don’t you spare us all a lot of trouble and just sit down, stop issuing press released and shut the hell up. These kind of things, where you prop yourself up trying to prove you understand consumers, just make you look very bad indeed. We are all laughing at you. Right now.
Here’s an idea – why don’t you let Matt Weiss, the shop’s growth officer, be in charge for a little while? It could be fun. You might come out from the dark ages.