Today’s digital media are the most measurable ever. But does a focus on short-term, addressable media metrics skew the advertising industry, neglecting the important work of brand building?
This balancing act between brand and performance, and between automation and ingenuity, is top of mind for Stacy DeRiso, global brand president, Initiative.
Having led the agency’s largest market in the U.S. for four years, she stepped into the global role in June. “My focus has been primarily getting to the markets, getting to our clients, and getting to our people,” DeRiso said in this video interview with Beet.TV.
A new mental model for growth
Initiative’s recent success, which includes being ranked the top media agency globally for new business in a 2024 COMvergence report, is something DeRiso attributes to the agency’s core product, which it calls “Fame and Flow.” She described the framework not as a rigid tool, but as a flexible diagnostic approach that allows the agency to tailor its media strategy to specific business challenges.
“Fame and Flow allows us to diagnose the best levers to pull, the best levers that we can pull to achieve a client’s business or growth objective,” DeRiso said. “So it’s a new mental model. It’s actually quite analytical, quite strategic, and it’s a very tangible way for us to go in, understand a client’s challenges or a prospect’s challenges.”
The framework aims to correct the industry’s over-rotation toward performance by emphasizing the synergy between brand-building, or “fame,” and optimizing the customer journey, or “flow.” The most crucial element, according to DeRiso, is the word connecting the two concepts. “The most important word in that product though is ‘and,’ because the industry has kind of skewed very much toward performance,” she said. “What we’ve been able to identify is the power of that ‘and’ and the multiplier effect that fame has on flow.”
Navigating a transformative moment
DeRiso pointed to what she termed a “pretty transformative moment,” referencing the proposed acquisition of its parent company IPG by Omnicom, a move expected to create a new powerhouse in data and media buying. The deal has prompted widespread industry analysis of its potential impact.
“This is the biggest thing to happen in our industry, certainly in my career, but I’d argue in our lifetimes,” DeRiso said of the deal. “And that’s amazing. We’d rather be on the inside of that than not.”
She said that advancements in AI, data, and technology are creating new dynamics that the agency is actively working to harness for itself and its clients.
DeRiso maintained that human capital is still the most crucial component for success. The challenge is ensuring that talent is equipped for the future.