Reading the Territorial Restructuring of Business Services as an Innovation Process: The Case of German Advertising

Joachim Thiel

International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2005, vol. 29, issue 3, 564-580

Abstract: This article provides a particular perspective on change in the spatial structure and organization of the German advertising industry, i.e. considering it as based on a fundamental innovation process. This in turn involves integrating this change into the wider debates on territory and innovation which have strongly influenced regional science over the last 20 years, focusing on two opposing views of the relation between actors and their environment: the GREMI approach of innovative milieus and Storper and Walker's ‘window of locational opportunity’ argument. After a brief outline of this theoretical framework, the innovation process within German advertising is traced, starting from the success story of one pioneer agency and examining its impact on the national landscape of advertising agencies and on the pattern of competition between them. It is concluded that in conceptualizing the spatial dimension of innovation in business services, it is vital to take the labour market of professionals into account. Cet article offre une perspective particulière sur l’évolution de l’organisation et de la structure spatiale du secteur publicitaire en Allemagne, en le caractérisant par un processus d’innovation fondamental. Cette base implique elle‐même d’intégrer cette évolution dans des débats plus larges sur le territoire et l’innovation, lesquels ont fortement influencé la science régionale au cours des vingt dernières années. Deux visions opposées de la relation entre les acteurs et leur environnement sont donc examinées: l’approche des milieux innovateurs du GREMI et l’argument de ‘la fenêtre d’opportunité localisée’ de Storper et Walker. Une courte esquisse de ce cadre théorique précède la description du processus d’innovation au sein de la publicité allemande; celle‐ci débute par le récit du succès d’une agence d’avant‐garde, puis examine son impact sur le paysage national des agences publicitaires et sur le modèle de concurrence qui les anime. L’article conclut que, pour conceptualiser la dimension spatiale de l’innovation dans les services aux entreprises, il est crucial de tenir compte du marché du travail des spécialistes.

Date: 2005
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