When I joined Barkley, we were in the process of making a profound change. Interactive was regarded as a complementary discipline and managed as a separate department. That’s not the right approach in today’s mediascape.
Interactive has become a core marketing discipline, and we treat it accordingly. Interactive specialists work side by side, in the same departments and on the same teams as their counterparts from other specialties.
I liken this change to the difference between a priesthood mindset and an evangelical mindset. In the priesthood model, sacred knowledge is guarded and dispensed by a select, cloistered few. In the evangelical model, the word is spread as far as possible, and converts are enlisted to help spread it farther.
Now, taking the evangelical approach is not without challenges. For one thing, where awareness of interactive trends and best practices had been the province of a few specialists, it is now the responsibility of a broad cross-section of Barkley partners in diverse departments—planning, creative, account management and media.
Keeping communication flowing and accountability clear in a distributed network like this is a challenge. But if the Internet has proven anything, it’s the power of distributed networks.
So we’re harnessing that power to produce great, integrated interactive work. And at the end of the day, what we are able to offer our clients is a superior interactive product, one that is infused with fresh ideas and integrated with other media and consumer touch points.
Barkley’s approach is ever-changing, just as the interactive landscape we live in. But we welcome clients and partners who want to take this path with us, confident that rewards of the journey are well worth the hazards.
