travels with kirt in the motor city

   As reported I flew in on Sunday night to Detroit. I heard you could buy up large swaths of real estate and the entire automotive industry for whatever cash you had in your wallet. Actually, I went there to make a presentation to an ad agency about the virtues of non-traditional media. In other words, to pitch them the Dandelion business model.

Dandelion is a new venture formed by Epoch Films and Kirt Gunn & Associates. We launched this company in January of this year. By the way, possibly the worst time in modern history to launch a new company. We remain undeterred and are stronger for it.

The model behind Dandelion is simple. We tell brand narratives using non-traditional advertising. This includes everything from webisodes and video games to docu-series and ARG's. It is based on the idea of reciprocity. The brand provides something of value (i.e. entertainment) and in return the customer values the brand (i.e. supports their product). I have written about this often.

Sending and receiving media is in the midst of a revolution. Brands are at loss on how to effectively react to these changing patterns. Paid media is expensive and less effective. Earned Media is a mystery. At Dandelion, we help demystify it.  To market our model we are using a time tested method, spreading the gospel door to door. Yesterday we knocked on Doner in Westfield, Michigan.

Sheldon Cohen, the newly titled EVP Director of Integrated Production, asked me if we would present to various groups within the agency. Our partner and creator of the Dandelion model, Kirt Gunn, accompanied me on the trip. If you have not experience Kirt work a room you should. He has the unique ability to simplify the uncertain world of new media. Through the use of metaphors and relevant historical examples, he disarmingly relays what we do, why we do it and how we do it. Give him 15 minutes and you'll have a provocative new insight into branded content.

We had three meetings. The first with creative directors. The second with a combination of creatives and producers. And the third with the top account people and business strategists. The third was the most positive. Something you'd rarely hear from a someone pitching a creative model.

The account teams are the ones being held accountable for results. They are having a hard time getting them and need to find other solutions. Dandelion provides one. The creatives on the other hand are more skeptical. They view the Dandelion model as infringing upon their turf since we bring in collaborators from other mediums such writers from 30 Rock, The Onion and other major publications and TV shows. Our ideal model works best by combining these creative disciplines to concept with agency creatives. We know they understand the brand better than us but we understand the space better than them. Together we can innovate with the account people paving the way to a successful venture into the unknown.

After the meetings Kirt, Sheldon and myself sat down to discuss the marathon day of meetings. Doner has been a successful independent shop for decades. They are rooted in traditional media. Rob Strasberg, the new CCO, came from Crispin with the goal of modernizing the agency. Sheldon's directive is to find any means at his disposal to help Rob accomplish this task. It's an uphill cultural battle.

We discussed Doner being at the content starting line with 90% of the other agencies. Only a few have a head start. In finding a new way of looking to service their clients and seeking out creative partners, Doner has as much an opportunity as anyone else to crack the code. It just takes one brave client, one ballsy account guy, one inclusive creative director and one great idea. Sometimes it take someone from the outside to help you realize that.

As we drove on the highway from Westfield to the Detroit airport, we saw signs of the decimated auto industry. Rows of dilapidated buildings. Countless office spaces for lease. No traffic at rush hour. This is an area surrounded by the daily visual of an industry that believed a hundred year old business model never needed renovation. It took bankruptcy and the devastation of an entire regional economy to force it to do so. If that isn't motivation enough to innovate and try new models, I don't know what is.

Believe it or not, I hope to be back in Detroit soon.