Questions to Consider
From Innovationclass
(Feel free to break up the questions further - even singularly if you'd like - but I thought posting our answers under the questions would provide a rough framework for now and make it easy for us to see what question each of us was trying to answer through our post. This will, also, make it easy to see where we are having a hard time answering the questions. Try and keep the questions bolded and your responses not.)
What are their major ideas about who and what they are and what they do and why?
One of Tribal DDB's main ideas is about the creation of Brand Demand. They say that the best brands of the current, "consumer-controlled era" are those that can attract the consumers to the brand though programs and communications that excite and compel people. Tribal uses its interactive services to play a part in developing Brand Demand for its clients from initial impressions to the actual demand generation, which results in increased transactions and brand loyalty.
Tribal DDB touts "idea" as the king of communication. They believe that the best ideas are novel, but still encompass a thorough understanding of the audience to which they are appealing. Additionally, for Tribal DDB, ideas are worthless unless they produce results for the clients. Ideally, an idea will allow them to utilize the greatest creative capacity of their team to fulfill a client's goal. Summarized, in the words of Triball DDB, their crux is: "human application of creative excellence in the singular pursuit of RESULTS for our CLIENTS."
What conflicts do you see between idea and practice? Between intent and execution?
When do their actions reinforce their image and identity and when do they contradict them or fall short?
A clear example of Tribal creating "Brand Demand" is the digital campaign they produced for Phillips' Norelco Shaver. The campaign, a novel idea that captivated the target audience, fueled marketplace buzz and sales through the creation of a flash-based website featuring "The BodyGroom Guy." The idea was that this character would be overtly comfortable in his own skin and promote shaving through humorous innuendos about sensitive areas. He became a captivating spokesman for the target audience through his use of wit, charisma and high regard for the product that changed his life. In only the first 2 months of launch, this site saw over 1.5 million visits, averaging 6 minutes of viewing time, with limited support from PR and online advertising. Also, the site has received mentions in over 1500 blogs, has over 13,000 links to it and has received prime media coverage from sources such as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and CNBC. The site is credited with helping increase sales well beyond initial forecast. In addition, the site won a Cannes Gold Cyber Lion in June of 2006.
(Visit Tribal DDB's website to see the campaign and read more).
Implementation? One of the key issues in regard to innovation is moving from idea to execution and then to results. So process is always an important element to consider when looking at innovation, particularly innovation within organizations. It brings to the fore a fundamental question: Can organizations be innovative? And them more questions arise, such as: How do we create and sustain a culture of innovation? What are the enemies of innovation and how do we not allow those to develop within our organization? How do we develop a manageable, functional organization that is still innovative? What is the relation between the organization and the individual when it comes to innovation?
Within the network of Tribal DDB, there are offices that are known for specialty capabilities. In order to produce the best work possible, the different offices work together, whether it's sharing an account, referring an account to the "specialty" office or just getting information/support from the office of expertise. For example, one of the strengths/specialties of Tribal DDB NY is in pharmaceuticals. So, when other Tribal offices get work from pharmaceutical companies, they will either choose to send the account to the NY office, work with them or just consult them, depending on the level of involvement and circumstances. This teamwork between the different offices is one way that Tribal stands out as a great example for our future advertising agency. We can learn from their method of sharing responsibilities and consulting the "experts" to produce the best work possible.
And last, what about goals and evaluation? How do organizations (in your case agencies) know when they are succeeding or not? This brings us to the question of roles that individuals play within an organization and how we evaluate the individual contribution to the overall success of the organization. How will you decide in your groups to evaluate the contribution of individuals within your group? The typical dichotomy is quantity versus quality? What schema is used in the agencies that you are studying?
Tribal DDB evaluates itself based on results. The "Approach" line on their website explains how an idea is useless, to them, if it does not produce results. Results encompass the ability of their team to apply the fullest extent of their creativity to a project that fulfills the client's goal. For Tribal, results are the bottom line. The crux of the Tribal approach reads: "human application of creative excellence in the singular pursuit of RESULTS for our CLIENTS."
Additionally, another marker of success for Tribal has been word-of-mouth referrals. They are recognizing their growing success as they continue to get new clients from positive referrals by current and past clients.
Answers to Ponder
So, here is what I have found thus far and check out
it is a good site [1]
and some answers of course:
Tribal DDB measures success in both revenue growth and awards they aren't about the medinm they are about the idea, they take a collaborative and borderless approach to serving clients business despite the size of their global network ("collective brain" culture which has led to highly effective and awarded work
Their core values based on creativity and humanity,
Bill Bernbach's founding principle was that �Properly practiced creativity can make one ad do the work of ten.
I found this on a blog: An empolyee's reaction to Tribal DDB NY Holiday Party 07: "Nothing says management appreciates your hard work and corporate citizenship like jello shots."
(http://technorati.com/blogs/tribalddbnewyork.blogspot.com)
So I am aware that much of m contribution is through posting random articles and such, but I think the more we read and gather from outside sources the better. Right now we are waiting to get in contact with Tribal DDB and I have yet to hear a response to my inquiry. Therefore, I think if we paint a picture around the world in which Tribal DDB exists it will help us answer some of the questions. Here are the links to two great articles I found. They touch on the concept of Generation-C which is a facet of the creative generation that exists and essentially drives Tribal DDB. Enjoy!
Generation C
Customer-Made
Here is the website I found the articles on...
Trend Watching Website
