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"Google and Facebook are attacking,” came the cry from Madison Avenue. “Circle the wagons,” was the answer from France. And so two of the world’s biggest advertising companies, Omnicom and Publicis, announce they are merging. Now that advertisements are more algorithm than Mad Men , the television series depicting Madison Avenue in the 1960s, the merger is being interpreted as the end of the golden era of advertising. It has been seen by the news media as a move by these two ad agencies to shore up resources in order to compete with the giants of Silicon Valley.
“谷歌和Facebook正在向我们发起攻击，”麦迪逊大道(Madison Avenue，美国广告业的代名词——译者注)发出了惊呼。“进入防御模式，”这是法国做出的回答。于是，全球两大广告公司阳狮集团(Publicis)和宏盟集团（Omnicom，又称奥姆尼康）宣布合并。鉴于现在的广告相对于《广告狂人》(Mad Men)描述的时代更加依赖于算法，这起合并案被解读为广告行业黄金时代的结束。《广告狂人》是反映二十世纪六十年代美国广告业风貌的系列电视剧。新闻媒体认为，这一举措表明两家广告公司正在扩充资源，以对抗硅谷巨头。
The problem with this view, however, is that it makes two flawed assumptions. On one hand, it imagines there is a data-enabled, predictive digital advertising machine that is the inevitable future. Search for tyres and you get an ad for Michelins on sale a mile from your current location. On the other hand, it overly romanticises Mad Men-style advertising virtuosity, in which three suave guys sit back with cocktails and kick around ideas on how to sell you anything from hair-replacement therapy to car insurance.
但这种观点的问题在于，它是建立在两个站不住脚的假设之上的。它一方面假设，未来将不可避免地出现一种数字驱动、可预知型的数字广告模式。当你搜索“轮胎”时，会看到一条广告，告诉你在距你当前位置一英里处有商家在特价销售米其林(Michelin)轮胎。而另一方面，这种观点将《广告狂人》式的创意技巧过分浪漫化了——在该剧集中，三个精明练达的男人一边坐着品尝鸡尾酒，一边随意聊着如何推销从植发疗程到汽车保险等各种商品的构想。
Both caricatures have a kernel of truth to them. But if advertising is to thrive in this wired era, the efficiency of digitally targeted media must embrace the creativity of Mad Men, and vice versa. The organisations that can do this, whether they are conglomerates or boutiques, will usher in advertising’s second golden age. Indeed, in a short time we may be watching a hit TV series (or web series, for that matter) dramatising the moment when efficiency became hip.
以上两种夸张的假设都有一定的道理。但如果广告业要在如今的互联网时代蓬勃发展，则必须将数字化定位媒体投放的高效率与《广告狂人》的非凡创意结合起来。能够做到这一点的机构，无论是大型企业集团还是小公司，都将引领广告业第二个黄金时代的潮流。事实上，或许用不了多久我们就能看到一部热播电视剧（或者网络连续剧），用夸张的手法描绘当效率成为时髦的时刻。
The fate of the newly formed Publicis Omnicom Group remains to be written, and Maurice Lévy and John Wren, who will serve as joint chief executives, may not make it through the 30 months that they have agreed to serve together. Yet, if this cross-Atlantic merger leads to a better understanding that good advertising manages the synergies between creativity and efficiency, it will have been a transformational moment for the business. There are three things we should look for.
新成立的阳狮宏盟集团(Publicis Omnicom Group)的命运有待书写。即将出任联合首席执行官的莫里斯•雷维(Maurice Lévy)和庄任(John Wren)或许撑不过他们协议共事的30个月。但如果这笔跨越大西洋的合并交易促使业界更深刻地理解到，优秀的广告公司应当管理好创意与效率之间的协同效应，那么该交易对于整个广告行业来说将是一个变革性的时刻。我们应关注如下三个问题。
First, can digitally targeted advertising also be creative? It is now possible to target adverts to the right person at the right time in the right place. But that is not enough. It is not sufficient to claim that customer segmentation is dead and set up an automatically generated slew of ads based on input. If the adverts are not inspired, they are noise. And they will be ignored. In our quest to tweet, like and trend, we have forgotten that brands can be built through advertising. Ads can generate big ideas that can never be trumped by tactics. That is the magic of an ad, and that is what is missing from many ads today.
第一，定向投放的数字化广告是否也能充满创意？如今在适当的时间和地点将广告定向展示给适当的人已经成为可能。但这还远远不够。声称客户细分已经寿终正寝，并根据输入数据自动生成一大串广告，也不足以让人满意。如果这些广告缺乏感染力，那么就和噪音没有区别。我们追求推特转发、点赞以及引领潮流的过程中，已经忘记了品牌是可以通过广告来打造的。广告可以创造出技术手段无法超越的宏大构想。这正是广告的魔力所在，也正是如今的很多广告所欠缺的。
Second, even creative adverts have to be efficiently produced and delivered so they meet the basic goal of selling products by advancing the brand image. Too often, the decision on the client side is left to people who have little experience and cannot judge a flashy ad from one that will sell. Money is being wasted on adverts that go right over a consumer’s head. They may win awards at Cannes, but they lose at the cash register.
第二，即便是创意广告也必须以高效地制作出来并投放出去，以实现通过提升品牌形象带动产品销售的基本目标。很多情况下，客户方面的决策者缺乏经验，无法区分一条华而不实的广告与一条能提高销量的广告。资金被浪费在了消费者无法理解的广告上。这些广告或许能够在戛纳(Cannes)广告节上获奖，但对提高销量没有帮助。
The way to fix this is to think about process improvement: how are critical decisions made? Not long ago, it was rare for businesses in the knowledge economy to think along these lines. Today, we are seeing a commitment to greater efficiency across a range of sectors, from manufacturing to professional services. It is time to bring this thinking to advertising.
解决途径在于思考如何改进流程：即关键决策是如何做出的？直到不久以前，知识经济企业很少按照这种思路考虑问题。如今，我们看到制造业、专业服务等多个行业已经致力于提高效率。是时候把这种思维模式引入广告业了。
The Google model of targeted advertising is appealing because it claims to cut down on waste. We need to ask how that efficiency can be brought to creative process. Done right, it may even generate greater creativity. Mr Lévy and Mr Wren, along with the chief marketing officers managing our best global brands, should look to the example set by counterparts in manufacturing and supply management.
谷歌的定向广告模式之所以颇具吸引力，是因为它宣称能够减少无用功。我们必须思考如何提高创意的效率。如果做法得当，或许甚至能够催生出更精彩的创意。雷维和庄任、以及管理着全球最优秀品牌的首席营销官们，应当学习制造以及供应管理领域的一些企业所树立起来的榜样。
Third, creative teams and assets need efficient management. Teams need to work together in real time so that additional resources are freed to enable the companies to innovate and grow. IBM and Accenture both illustrate the point. Both have highly sophisticated people and resource allocation, and both employ tracking systems to monitor and ensure efficiency. This data-enabled monitoring has proved neither a threat nor an impediment to creativity. In fact, data have enabled a new set of tools leaders can use to nurture creativity among teams.
第三，必须有效管理创意团队以及创意资产。团队之间必须实时协同合作，以释放出更多的资源，推动公司的创新和成长。这一点在国际商业机器公司(IBM)和埃森哲(Accenture)身上得到了体现。这两家公司都拥有高度复杂的人员和资源配置机制，并都运用了追踪系统以监控效率并确保高效。这种基于数据的监控系统已被证明既不会威胁，也不会阻碍创造力的发挥。事实上，数据使得一系列新工具的运用成为可能，管理人可以借助这些工具培养各个团队的创造能力。
The cross-Atlantic merger has captured our imaginations because it is a global business development rich with personality and sex appeal. Now, the likes of Apple, Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola are going to be handled by one big company. But the value of the merger will be tested by whether it ushers in the second golden age of advertising. It can do so only by merging the data and analytics of 21st century invention with the ideas and genius creativity of the first golden age of advertising, enabling efficiency and creativity to thrive side by side.
这起跨大西洋合并案激发了我们的想象力，因为它是全球商业领域发生的一件彰显个性与魅力的重大事件。从现在开始，苹果(Apple)、宝洁(Procter & Gamble)和可口可乐(Coca-Cola)等公司将成为同一家大型广告公司的客户。但该合并案的价值将体现为新巨头能否催生广告行业第二个黄金时代。而新巨头若想实现这一目标，唯有把数据、二十一世纪新出现的分析方法与广告业第一个黄金时代的构想以及天才创意融合到一起，使工作效率和创意能力同时得到提升。
