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July 16, 2001
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Ogilvy, which operates under the term “360° Branding®” claims that Bates “Brandwheel™” process is “strikingly similar” to their own. “We’ve spent millions of dollars and months of work creating 360° Branding®. This is something that sets us apart from every other agency, “ said Martin McVeney, Senior Planner at Ogilvy. “To have Bates basically just rip it off, is appalling,” he added.
Planners at Bates contend that their “Brandwheel™” process was created without outside influence. “This is ludicrous,” noted Bates’ Director of Planning, John McDougal. “Our process for creating advertising that gets results is something we take great pride in. After all, it’s not like our creative is going to win new business. We had to have something we could trademark and Brandwheel™ was just the kind of approach we were looking for.”
The two approaches are indeed quite similar. Both suggest that the agencies look at the brand from all aspects and integrate any marketing efforts based on the entire brand under a sub-process which Ogilvy terms “SyneBranding®” while Bates calls theirs “Brand-Alysis™.”
Further, the agencies have nearly identical tactics in consumer research. Ogilvy locates consumer “Touchpoints™” by initiating dialogue where people “actually interact with the brand.” Similarly, Bates seeks to understand consumers with a process called “MindSeek®.”
“All we have is our proprietary marketing tools,” said Mr. McVeney. “Without it, what do we have to offer clients? Good creative? I don’t think so.”
There’s no word yet as to how the situation will be resolved at the two agencies but insiders say that more agencies could become involved in the fray. Nearly every major ad agency in the U.S. boasts of a “proprietary marketing tool” unlike any other. Noted one anonymous insider, “We all do the same god-damned thing, we just give it some stupid trademarked name and a logo and say we’re different. For Chrissakes, what happened to doing better creative than anyone else? Did that ever occur to anyone? Now every agency is flapping their gums about how they do better focus groups. It’s just fucking pathetic, if you ask me.”
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