Building the media plan of the future, today

In a keynote at OMMA East this morning, David Verklin, CEO of Carat Americas, shared seven things marketers can do today to create the media plan of the future:

1. Think about advertising and marketing as a team endeavor
2. Adopt a “nothing is wasted” attitude
3. Allocate 15 to 20 percent of your marketing budget to digital
4. Become a true student of the business
“Participate in the digital revolution, don’t just talk about it or skim the surface.”
5. Re-think the idea of reach — it matters less and less
“In the digital age, you need to manage thousands of small placements.”
6. Take a sales rep out to lunch
“The dialog between sales reps and buyers has never been more commoditized, and there has never been a greater need for re-engagement.”
7. Talk to five kids under 20…
“Ask them about IM, SMS and blogs.”
…someone from Europe…
“Ask them about laddie mags, SKY Cable, Vodafone and G4.”
Watch 10 hours of TV and read 3 magazines.
“The creative business is actually alive and healthy.” Verklin identified three common themes running through the steps:
1. Get out of channels/silos
“Do everything you can to break down walls. It’s not about one channel or another — it’s really about how all the channels work together to build engagement.”
2. Consumers are a more important part of the dialog now than ever before.
3. The function and role of content and technology is changing.
“Content is no longer viewed as an empty space which a message can interrupt.”