Dodo Birds are Not Extinct

Agencies of the Future

Based on my own experience, as well as Bob Greenberg’s Businessweek article ‘An Adman’s Guide to Survival’, Simon Mainwaring’s blog entry on seminars at the Cannes Advertising Festival 2010, and Forrester’s blog entry on its latest report, ‘The Future of Agency Relationships’.

Recently, I had an interesting conversation over dinner with a fellow communications professional on where we saw ourselves 15 years from now. 

Me: “You know, I have a vision but I’ve been told by some communications professionals that I’m just a dreamer…”

M: “And what’s that vision?”

Me: “That one day, clients won’t be talking to ad planners about messaging strategy and media planners about amplifying that message. Because they’ll be looking for communications planners who admittedly may be stronger in one area than the other but will still be able to provide holistic counsel encompassing messaging and media decisions – they’re tied together anyway right? And that’s where I want to be, 15 years from now.”

Returning home, I googled (thank God for google!), “Agencies of the future”, and I realized I wasn’t alone either in deliberating on this topic!

Way back in 2005, a ‘Businessweek’ article featuring R/GA CEO Bob Greenberg was discussing it (“An Adman’s Guide to Survival“). And as recent as this year, Cannes Festival seminars centred on this topic (according to adman Simon Mainwaring in his blog entry: “Do ad agencies have a future, and if so what does it look like“), and Forrester Research released a report based on 50 in-depth interviews with marketing leaders titled, “The Future of Agency Relationships“.

Cross hiring between creative & media agencies?

I’ve also noticed that unlike 10 years ago (as I stepped into an ad agency for the first time), when media agencies usually hired media planning professionals, and ad agencies almost always hired ad agency professionals, in recent years – lines are blurring. Ad agencies are beginning to realize the importance of understanding the media landscape and are hiring among ad agency professionals of course, former media planners with their noses to the ground on how best to use media to amplify creative messages. On a similar note, media agencies are starting to hire creative agency professionals with their keen understanding of branding and messaging strategies.

So what do agencies of the future look like?

After enjoying myself reading blog entries and articles by fellow like-minded communications professionals around the globe on the topic of ‘agencies of the future’ and reflecting on my own experiences in both creative and media agencies, here’s my assessment on key characteristics that agencies of the future will possess:

1. People oriented

People oriented? Are you serious? (You’re probably thinking…) That’s an age old adage for all service driven businesses isn’t it? How is that a ‘new characteristic’ specific to agencies of the future?

Agreed – totally agreed, that many agencies have recognised the importance of being people-oriented for a long time.

But, the difference lies in its heightened importance in agencies of the future, as discussed by WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell and Unilever’s new CMO Keith Weed at the Cannes Debate 2010. In an age of intense competition, not only is there now a war for clients and business, but more critically, there’s also a war for talented and capable people.

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Afterall, agencies are only as good as the counsel they provide, which essentially depends on the quality of their people. Hence, being people-oriented to retain talented and high performing individuals (as agreed on at the Cannes Debate 2010) has become more vital than ever before. 

At the end of the day, as shared by Keith Weed, it’s now a time when clients trust people and not the scale of the agency. Hence, he believed agencies would eventually be evaluated based on their abilities to retain talented individuals whom clients trusted.

Pay packages just aren’t enough anymore, because truly capable people can win that for themselves anywhere, but more importantly, what will keep them in a place are relationships forged, as well as a sense of being appreciated and respected.

2. Daring

“Enlightened trial and error succeeds over the planning of the lone genius.”

Dave Kalley – Founder of IDEO

I couldn’t agreed more with Dave. Take R/GA ‘s fiesty CEO, Bob Greenberg, for instance. When the rest of the market was raving about the “third screen” – mobile in 2005, he was moving onto the next – massive outdoor digital signages. Here we are in 2010, embracing precisely that – the fourth screen. And guess who has the first mover’s advantage of experience from trial & error? The one who dared to try it first, before the rest.

Not surprisingly, R/GA was among the top 10 most innovative companies shortlisted by Fast Company in 2010.

The time has come when things are moving so fast that there simply isn’t a place for the prudent and highly cautious. Of course, even trial and error needs to be enlightened and I’m definitely not advocating running around like headless chickens. But, enlightened trial and error is very different from being completely adverse to change.

‘‘Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.’’ – Apple’s “Think Different” campaign

3. Accountable

Another trend I’ve picked up both from my own experience and the blogs of fellow communications professionals around the globe is a deepening desire among clients for accountability. No, I’m not referring to accountability in terms of billings, but rather – agencies that are as concerned as their clients about how exactly they’re performing, and this applies on various levels.

On one level is a concern for how they’re being perceived in their communities, as clearly manifested in companies’ growing focus on corporate social responsibility and corporate governance. Hence the importance for agencies of the future to become true partners in a shared stewardship of brands. More on this at Simon’s blog. (Simon is an experienced ad man with many years at Wieden and Ogilvy, by the way).

On another level, tracking of both online and offline marketing has also become absolutely vital, as clients are looking for agency partners who can help them in tracking and optimizing the value of their marketing efforts. ‘Conversion tracking’, ‘optimization’ and the likes are finding themselves into most conversations about offline and online marketing.

On a third level, social media is becoming a huge part of our relationships today. Naturally, conversations on service and brands are happening like never before on social media platforms. This presents a wealth of opportunities for brands while at the same time if not managed properly, could also be detrimental to the brand. Therein lies a need for agencies that are accountable architects of a community, on behalf of their clients.

Evaluating if an agency is an agency of the future

In Forrester Research’s 2010 report, “The Future of Agency Relationships”, Forrester provided criteria by which clients can evaluate if their agencies are agencies that will help them forge forward into the future.

So maybe, just maybe – I’m not just a dreamer, afterall. And by the way, the fellow communications professional I was having that conversation with… agreed with me.

Cheers to an exciting future of change and opportunities!

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