OgilvyOne's april fool's joke in june : part 2

it wasn't really a joke, but it did sound like one, like a nasty april fool's prank done in late june.

that PDI article has been appearing in the google "advertising in asia and the philippines" section of WAWAM! for a few days already. the headline read "'Digital marketing now mass and mainstream' - ad exec, author", and i ignored it and did not bother to read the article.

i found the headline odd and a little funny. i wondered why PDI the country's most widely circulated newspaper would print a preposterous article like that? the philippines - digital marketing mass and mainstream? hahaha

the comedy is completed when just below the article in the PDI about what OgilcyOne said, another article with a headline read "Philippine marketers still wary of online advertising" http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=122517

the OgivlyOne article obviously came from a press conference they called when Kent Wertime, president of OgilvyOne Asia Pacific visited the philippines. wertime is the president, visited manila and the OgilvyOne manila wanted to give their boss some press exposure. that's a good thing to do for your boss. and also use the opportunity to give OgilvyOne some press coverage and get more business in the philippines.

were the objectives met? no, i don't think so.

the timing of the press conference for OgilvyOne was pretty bad. another article casting doubt if not contradicting the statement of the asia pacific president appeared just about the same time as they had the press conference material printed.

what happened was a PR nightmare. ogilvy's PR agency has lots to explain on this one.

but the timing is not the only thing wrong about the OgilvyOne effort. something bigger than that - a bigger mistake, a more fatal one is the topic they chose for the asia pacific president to talk about.

i wasn't in the press conference so i really don't know what was talked about during the conference. i am only basing it on the news article. it's possible the writer of the news article screwed up that's why it's written that way.

but i doubt if it's the newspaper reporter's fault. they usually give out press write-ups for reporters to take with them to make sure there are no errors and the message is controlled when published. so in other words, the topic the asia pacific president talked about is the topic they want released in the papers.

the fatal error is this - "digital marketing now mass and mainstream" DOES NOT apply in the philippine market.

it probably applies in the US market (or does it?). if it does not apply in the philippines, why the hell did they make that as the topic for the asia pacific president to talk about? they just had the asia pacific president say something completely meaningless and irrelevant to the philippine audience. what's the point? will OgivlyOne get more clients in the philippines if the asia pacific president said something meaningless and irrelevant to the philippine market?

now, the fatal error does not end there.

the topic opened a wound in the heart of OgilvyOne and this one is the april fool's joke unleashed in the month of june, something like adding salt, actually two rounds of salt on the open wound.

read through the article, and you will see two elements in their press conference that effectively made OgilvyOne shoot themselves in the foot, well both feet.

1st shot in the foot: "Still, the "tectonic shift" toward digital marketing is increasingly felt in Asia where usage of mobile phones and the Internet is growing."

in other words, digital marketing being mass and mainstream HAS NOT YET arrived even in asia, it is just forming. they just contradicted themselves!

2nd shot in the other foot: "Puyat however admitted that digital marketing remains a young industry in the country."

and guess what, it's far from being here in the philippines!!! so, why in the world did the president of OgilvyOne asia pacific call a press conference in the philippines to tell us something that isn't here and not meaningful and relevant in the philippine market?

one of the key reasons one calls for a press conference is to make yourself relevant and meaningful. and saying something not relevant and meaningful will make them that? huh?

i don't think OgivlyOne will get new clients out of this press release and press conference. here's a more scary thought - OgilvyOne's existing clients who do use digital marketing with them might stop using digital marketing. the president of OgivlyOne manila just admitted they have been doing digital marketing for their clients that is not effective and does not bring anything to the business.

this very expnsive april fool's joke is a WAWAM! this is a self-inflicted WAWAM! for OgilvyOne manila.