Marketing

NEW YORK, July 14 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- Seeking to inject new life into the traditional model for account planning, Adrenalina, a leading advertising and marketing agency that is part of the MDC Partners network, is widening its services to include a forward-looking cultural approach vital for understanding consumer attitudes and influences.

The ad shop's move to ramp up the old school model of account planning, a U.K. import long considered outdated and ineffective among U.S. ad agencies, sets into a motion a strategic shift aimed at enhancing consumer-focused marketing insights and messaging with relevant cultural awareness.

"The 21st century planning model no longer is about trying to link consumers and brands," said Manuel Wernicky, president, chief ideas officer and managing partner, Adrenalina. "It's about recognizing the way that culture -- that is, the real world experiences that impact your target -- may positively or negatively influence the mindset of consumers."

Spurning the "account planning" department name and the accompanying job title of "planner," Adrenalina has formed a dedicated cognitive and cultural studies unit that will be staffed by a team of cognitive anthropologists, or "cogs" that are part of the wider agency.

Wernicky said the new offering helps to formalize services for generating new business opportunities and for those already being provided via agency client, Tecate. The Mexican beer's 2009 Anthem campaign recognizes the significant contributions made by Hispanics to American pop culture and the workforce. The push rolled out in late April.

Putting the cultural mindset of consumers ahead of the focus group discussion lets cognitive anthropologists build a cultural profile of consumers utilizing data, insight and other qualitative perspective and offers a clearer picture of who they are and what is happening in their lives, Wernicky noted.

Since consumers tend to provide insight on their own past or present experiences and don't typically foresee into their future (for the basis of gathering trend data), positioning the discussion with consumers at the end of the process is likely to produce the most useful information.

In the case of Tecate, Wernicky says it helped to generate a thoughtful plan that acknowledged the tough economic times that brand consumers face today instead of making light of the problem or avoiding it altogether. "Talking up a beer that tastes great when people are losing their jobs, wouldn't be savvy marketing -- consumers will be the first to let you know when you don't get it right."

The Adrenalina program formerly known as account planning is the first such program to be mounted by a Hispanic ad shop and is fashioned after the initial effort pioneered in the general market in 2004 by MDC network partner, Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, Miami.

On board to develop and expand the agency's presence in the cognitive and cultural studies arena, are Sergi del Bas and Bryan Marville, who will serve as Adrenalina's cognitive anthropologists.

Del Bas previously served as an account planner at Big Ideas, Strategic Communication Consulting & Experiential Marketing, Barcelona, Spain, and Marville is a former brand strategist of The Ito Partnership, New York. Both will report to Wernicky.

Key to the success of Adrenalina's cognitive and cultural studies team will be the creation of an independent advisory panel comprised of experts, scholars, strategists and other thought leaders who will share their insights with the agency on the social and economic issues and concerns impacting Hispanic consumers. Panel members are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

For more information about Adrenalina, send an email to: news@getadrenalina.com.

About Adrenalina
Like the Spanish word for adrenaline, which is a hormone generated in the human body when we experience emotions, the New York-based Adrenalina creates ideas that provoke engagement, experience and emotion between brands and consumers. The agency specializes in media agnostic ideas, breakthrough advertising, grassroots and retail promotional marketing, and digital innovation. Adrenalina is a minority-owned and managed business.

About MDC Partners
MDC Partners is a leading provider of marketing communications services to clients in North America, Europe and Latin America. Through its partnership of entrepreneurial firms it provides advertising, specialized communications and consulting services to leading brands. MDC Partners' philosophy emphasizes the utilization of strategy and creativity to drive growth for its clients. "MDC Partners is the Place Where Great Talent Lives." MDC Partners Class A shares are publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol "MDCA" and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "MDZA."

SOURCE Adrenalina