Can Madison Avenue step up to the social plate?

At MediaPost’s Online Media, Marketing and Advertising (OMMA) Global Conference yesterday, the website’s Editor-in-Chief Joe Mandese led a panel discussion about whether ad agencies are positioned to “tackle the opportunities and challenges” of social media.

At issue was whether the big guys can stave off competition of specialist agencies – something the industry failed to do during the first stages of the digital revolution which witnessed the birth of pure-play digital agencies and the created a major fragmentation in the way that clients’ marketing and advertising needs were managed.

Panel lead: Joe Mandese, Editor MediaPost

Panelists: Bant Breen (CEO, Reprise Media), Marita Scarfi (CEO, Organics), Joshua Spanier (Director of Communcations Strategy, Goodby’s Silverstein & Partners), Antony Young (CEO, Optimedia US)

Play nice!

Antony Young argued that agencies must partner to adequately navigate through the social space – whether that is with their clients or other agencies.

“Social media isn’t just this land grab that one agency ought to own. Everyone should contribute to how to expand social platforms. One important thing to not do is to say ‘this belongs in one agency’s court’. Every agency should bring a social prospective to their discipline.”

In regards to whether it is the agency’s or the brand’s role to manage the presence in social media, Young thinks clients and all their partners all have a role. “Everyone’s got to bring a social lens to their role in communications – it shouldn’t sit with one person or department.”

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