Zimmerman's virtual agency marks the rise of the machines.(Viewpoint)

Advertising Age, January, 2007 by Bloom, Jonah

Byline: Jonah Bloom

Almost three years ago, the team at Zimmerman, a successful but often under-the-radar Omnicom agency, asked itself one of those big business questions: How would we beat us if we weren't us?

Given the Fort Lauderdale shop's substantial billings, large retail and auto-dealership accounts and solid-at least in an Effie way-creative product, they decided the answer probably didn't lie in being another ad agency. Plus, who'd want to get into the ad business today, with its overcapacity and consequent product commoditization? Instead, they decided that machines, computers to be a little more specific, were most likely to eventually crush the Zimmerman admen.

Unlike many who've asked themselves such questions, the shop decided...

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