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Shift

[shift]

verb (used with object)

1. to put (something) aside and replace it by another or others; change or

exchange: to shift ideas.

Shift is an appropriate verb to actively describe the level of change now occurring

in the industry. In fact, seismic and shift now seem to be inexorably linked in

our language, and today so many areas of marketing are experiencing change of
enormous proportions and with highly signiicant consequences.

It also brought to mind how “Shift” was used by Nissan for eight years as an

important rallying cry—not only in advertising that asked consumers to take a

fresh look at a bold, new Nissan, but as a unifying message for a company that was
retooling every aspect of its business. Steve Wilhite, who was VP Marketing at that

time and named an Internationalist of the Year for his efforts, said: “Some people think of

SHIFT as a tag line. It’s really much more important than that to us. It’s a wonderful way for us to talk about
our brands and our cars.”

Perhaps the same could be said today for the industry at large.

This edition of The Internationalist refers to quite a number of shifts—whether directly or through
discussion of their magnitude and consequences.

We explore through case studies how media innovation today is redeined through new shifts in brand

strategy, planning and activation as consumer expectations change.

Greg Paull looks at new models for agency-market alignment, which he cleverly refers to as “six degrees of

integration.” Yet these new structures and conigurations in partner relationships represent a signiicant

change in managing an evolving, sprawling industry with new areas of specialized skill sets.

Our story on prestige brands, which authors JP Kuehlwein and Wolfgang Schaefer also call über or ueber
brands, demonstrates a complete rethinking of brand value in a purpose-driven, social media world, as well

as the signiicance of changing one’s view of “prestige.”

Even our short piece on Johnnie Walker from this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona establishes

not only a signiicant shift in personalized messaging through printed sensor tags and smart phone
technology, but underscores how a brand today is as much about the product and the packaging, as it is

about the capacity for data to communicate with customers and inluence the business process itself.

And inally, Joanne Davis tackles an important shift through new Internationalist research and outlines how

the Marketing Procurement function is now shifting to focus on what she calls the 4T’s- Talent, Training,

Trust & Transparency.

Also. 2007 must have be an excellent year for recognizing talent. as four AGENCY INNOVATORS
named that year are highlighted in our Globetrotters feature as they have all recently taken on new roles that

represent key shifts—there’s that word again—in their careers.

Deb Malone

Founder

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