Advertising agencies not ready for disruption

The shift to online advertising will turn traditional advertising agencies upside down says AOL advertising exec Dave Morgan. He tells AdWeek.com:  “They’ve got overpaid television folks and underpaid online folks.”

In an article titled, Will Digital Cause Agency Shrinkage? Morgan says short term worries about recession should be partially offset by the unusual confluence of the Beijing Olympics and the U.S. Presidential election.

But the article paints a gloomy picture of advertising as an industry ill-equipped to deal with the disruption that has already hit its communications brethren, the news media and public relations.

“It is amazing how ill-equipped the agencies are to deal with what’s in front of them,” says Jason Klein, president of the National Newspaper Network, a 14-year-old joint-marketing organization that sells print ads into 16 industries whose advertising spend is dominated by television.

Thanks to Paid Content for the pointer to the AdWeek piece.