Nike Wake-Up Call

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Nike is searching for a new agency to handle its interactive work, and that this is a wake-up call for traditional advertising agencies not altogether comfortable with working in the digital realm.

Highly respected agency Weiden + Kennedy has been Nike's lead agency since 1982, but the article suggests that even though the agency has created top-quality work in all other areas, it has been slow to adapt to the web. As the article also maintains, this will certainly not go unnoticed across the advertising industry.

Many traditional (but supposedly integrated) agencies with backgrounds firmly in tv and print have been slow to adapt to the new media environment. It seems that some clients are starting to look at other options.

No doubt Joseph Jaffe will be pleased, as more of the predictions in his book Life after the 30 Second Spot appear to be coming to fruition.