Who you gonna call?

If you were a kid in 1984 there was only one question on your lips: Who You Gonna Call? The answer? Ghostbusters!

(Admit it, you’re singing the tune in your head now aren’t you!) 

By Simon Davis, Global Head of Channels, Mindshare

Fast forward almost 40 years and many of those kids now find themselves asking the same question, but this time it isn’t about paranormal activity, not unless you consider attribution modelling and digital maturity an ‘other worldly’ practice. 

These days it’s the refrain of many clients who are trying to pick their way through an increasingly complex, convoluted and critical digital landscape. 

The bad news is that whilst there were four Ghostbusters - Venkman, Stantz, Spengler and Zeddemore – who worked as a single team, today it’s less likely that you’ll find the solution to all your problems under one roof. 

Whilst agencies used to hold a privileged position as a trusted advisor to a client, hired for their skillset, deep expertise and industry knowledge all built on years of experience, this has now changed because the world of marketing has changed. 

It’s become much more complicated and with far greater table stakes at risk. As companies push towards more digitised operations, in a more digital economy, powered by digital platforms, even the word ‘digital’ has become an obfuscated collection of expertise where it’s hard enough to agree on what success looks like, never mind what you need to do to achieve it.  

Success can now be a combination of media, technology, people and process, and more importantly, how these come together. Alas, too often we look inwards, not outwards, and find ourselves instead focused on ‘if’ recommendations are valid, not ‘how’ they help to drive growth. 

As a result, we now live in a world of validation, audits, consultation and digital maturity, with each party involved vying for the final word with the client of ‘what good looks like’, and often far removed from ‘why’ the party was brought in to begin with. 

The reason the Ghostbusters work so well is the chemistry. Venkman is the front man who brings the (excess of) personality; Spengler is the nerd who makes it all work; Ray Stantz is the true believer and Zeddemore is ‘the normal guy’, the one who brings the real-world perspective. 

The key is that none of them could do it on their own. 

This is why a client needs a well-balanced team, an outward and solutions focussed effort, with each team member with their own skill set and goal, and when brought together more than the sum of their parts to help drive growth. A marketing version of the Ghostbusters, with a mix of consultants, auditors, agencies, freelancers and paid experts, all working together towards the same goal. 

Admittedly, that goal is more likely to be ‘driving sales’ than ‘driving a pan-dimensional being back to their own plane of reality,’ but I figure if you’ve got this far with the analogy, then you were one of those kids in 1984, and if you were, then this is for you: