Ad Agencies With Urban And Youth Brands Served By Re-launch Of Livewire Strategy/Research

Livewire Strategy/Research announced it would re-launch its advertising agency and brand manager consulting service in order to help agencies plan for and create more focused advertising in an increasingly crowded market. Marketing will take place in the form of new publishing of discontinued e-newsletter "Word on the Street," a website, www.livewirestrategy.net, and word of mouth.

According to Joel R. Johnson, president and director of Livewire Strategy/Research, "It used to be multicultural agencies, then it was urban agencies as really smart brand managers and advertising account planners realized that the urban entertainment industry had a natural in. But what many brand owners and advertisers have discovered is that it's still better to be in on the ground floor of trends, rather than riding the waves. And for that they need an insider, an urban consultant with experience in both the market and on the agency side. My past and current clients appreciate that I, as a 30-year-old African-American male with ten years in the biz, can go where they cannot to get consumer insights for their advertising strategies."

Livewire Strategy/Research has a unique research methodology called consumer ethnography. Consumer ethnography gained notice when it was revealed that in MTV's early years, they hired professional anthropologists to study the youth market. Since then, design and brand agencies have employed ethnography to get a consumer's point of view on how products are bought and used, and how brands influence behavior. Johnson noted, "Ethnography is a science and when it became popular, a lot of untrained and unqualified researchers jumped on it. Many brand managers and planners were put off by the lack of expertise by these so-called researchers. I trained with the best, and began my ethnography training in graduate school. I bring a professionalism to the task that very neatly complements our traditional techniques of focus group moderation and on-site salons. Because the urban market has been a no-go territory for so long for so many classical packaged goods brands, the industry needed an urban insider with the tools to provide solid learnings."

And the in-depth research and knowledge has paid off for many of the consultancy's clients, including DIAGEO (Guinness), Sony Playstation, Ad Council, and for leading advertising agencies such as Red Tettemer, DDB, Mullen, and Rapp Collins.

"There are only good things to come for urban brands. The buying power of the urban market stands at over $600 billion annually, and the market is a montage of white, black, Latino/Hispanic and Asian cultures that are influencing each other in major cities like Philadelphia, New York, Detroit, San Francisco and even in smaller metropolises like Cincinnati and Orlando," said Johnson. "The future looks bright. We are re-launching at a time when even great multicultural agencies like GlobalHue and Muse need ground-level specialist consultants to help them serve their clients."

About Livewire Strategy/Research:
Livewire Strategy/Research is a five year-old urban market consultancy specializing in urban and youth consumer insight development for advertising agencies and companies with urban brands. The founder of the company is a recognized national expert in his field, with experience as a senior planner at several agencies of the world's leading advertising network, DDB. Our specialist tool, consumer ethnography, when combined with traditional research techniques delivers insights in a hard-to-reach urban market. More information about Livewire Strategy/Research or Joel R. Johnson is available at www.livewirestrategy.net.

Copyright © 2008, Eworldwire, Eworldwire
Copyright © 2008, NewsBlaze, Daily News

Tags: urban, research, strategy, ad agency, advertising, br and , manager, multicultural, ethnic, marketing, advertising, ethnography, consumer,,,

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