Pictured here are: Herve de Clerck, AdForum and organizer of the Annual Agency CEO Summit; Faris Yakob, Chief Innovation Officer, MDC Partners and David Porzio, Chief of Staff, MDC Partners
Newsbreak: Global Agencies Find New Ways to Respond to Change at AdForum CEO Summit
The ad agency business is generations away from the simplicity of the "Mad Men" era. Collaboration, problem solving, performance, and new international permutations are at the heart of today's complex matrix of agency solutions for global clients.
The 10th Annual AdForum CEO Summit, which occurred earlier this month in New York, provides an extraordinary overview of agency thinking as top executives from global networks, micro-networks, independents and specialists present their views of a changing marketplace and how their companies are responding with better results for clients with worldwide concerns.
The week-long autumn event is designed to equip agency management consultants from all corners of the world with up-to-date information on the expanded roles agencies now play for marketers. It is estimated that agency management and search companies are now involved in 26% of all significant searches. The consultants participating in the AdForum Summit have undertaken a total of 350+ agency searches per year, representing $5 billion in billings, as they work with marketers who seek objective ways to find agency partners with the right deliverables for their needs.
Although all agencies pride themselves on points of differentiation and how their unique philosophies provide client value, the week's "speed-dating" nature (comprised largely of hour-long overviews from agency management, strategists and stars) does cause participants to look for threads of similarities as they seek trends that offer a more complete picture of marketing thinking today.
In fact, after visiting with two dozen internationally-minded agencies, a number of themes emerged:
PROBLEM SOLVING: Today's agencies increasingly want to address a client's challenges and be in a position to solve problems and create opportunities. They believe this is the source of groundbreaking work. Their greatest wish is to partner with clients who are willing to transform. Certainly, agencies now have more specialized means than ever before to tackle a myriad of marketing problems. Perhaps the most interesting new option was presented by a Canadian shop that retains architects on staff to design retail experiences as stores themselves are increasingly key expressions of marketing energy.
IDEA-PERFORMANCE BALANCE: Of course, a majority of agencies admit that "the idea" is always at the center of good advertising. For some the mantra is "strategy first;" other call the new creativity a blending of innovation and technology. Many insist that it's still about story telling at heart. However, accountability and performance are rising in importance. Every agency today needs to be results oriented. And most are trying to take metrics beyond Facebook results to understanding more about managing those relationships that social media has now enabled.
STRUCTURE: Some clients want to work with small, nimble networks; others see size as an advantage. Every agency is juggling to find the best options on the worldwide size/flexibility spectrum. They are seeking the best contemporary agency model with the right range of intimacy/scale, infrastructure/personality, accessible teams/ hierarchy, and innovation/legacy.
NEW GEOGRAPHIES: Building bespoke teams that come together around a problem or an idea are fast becoming the leading element in redefining agency geography. Whether they are called idea communities, global creative hubs focused in one location, customized client alignments, or groupings of skills, the largest dots on the maps are no longer assumed to be the default centers of excellence.
Could London be on the wane? After years of UK agencies being an international center of the business, particularly in terms of the rise new-thinking independents, it looks like more agencies are finding alternative geographic solutions. Some micro-networks don't see London the map at all -- perhaps because their interest in fast-growth Asia and Brazil is stronger and potentially longer term than Old Europe and the UK. Others feel that pan-regional centers for Europe can effectively operate from hubs that range from Amsterdam to Istanbul.
SINGLE P&Ls: There is a growing commitment to single Profit & Loss statements built around certain clients or geographic teams. Certainly this is true for many of the micro-networks, but increasingly, large multinational shops are aligning key offices that support global brands to be collectively incentivized to work together, share resources, and get the job done. A single P&L team will either succeed as a group and share collectively in bonuses, or fail together and get nothing.
DIFFERENTIATE BY CORPORATE CULTURE: Smaller agency networks are looking at themselves as "culture first" organizations, as they recognize that their "personality" is a large component of their differentiation strategy. There is growing acknowledgment that great people won't work out if they are in the wrong environment. And this hold true for clients, too. Such thinking, though, is not isolated to micro-networks. Large agencies know that culture and philosophy are extremely important. As holding companies vie for key global accounts while they are constantly interchanging talent, the need to differentiate is critical.
PEOPLE AS MEDIA: Increasingly, these times are not only about connecting brands to consumers, but about connecting consumers to consumers. Sometimes, the ability to start a conversation is more important than selling things -- despite the fact that we have transitioned from an age of communications to one of participation. Agencies now talk about creating ideas that are "humanly relevant," attest that successful brands need to be part of a "cultural conversation" and define "populist" creativity as not what you say about a brand, but what you do.
Today, considering "people as media" and discussing marketing concepts as "human" or "holistic" certainly represent a sea change, and are expressions that simply would not have fit at any other time, except perhaps during Gandhi's India.
Today agencies have to embrace more challenges and contradictions than ever before in their effort to “get it right” for global clients. It is an ever-shifting balancing act that includes some of the following extremes: Nimble execution v. worldwide reach; Local insights v. global scale; specialized expertise v. seamless integration; extraordinary craftsmanship v. cost savings/procurement guidelines: award-winning creative work v. performance analytics with real-time data tied to sales.
Every top agency manager knows that he or she must grappling with solutions, structure and integration. There are flaws in every organization; however, the candor at the AdForum CEO Summit was refreshing. Agency leaders also know they also have to find and nurture talent and manage growth, particularly as they acquire other specialist companies. Increasingly they have to shape organic, collaborative and often entrepreneurial structures.
If agencies could create a “wish-list” from their clients, it would include:
- Have courage. Allow agencies to help push the boundaries of experience, engagement and interaction.
- Be willing to implement change.
- Provide us with more data from your digital ecosystem, so we can truly help some problems.
- Break the campaign mentality. A fan base is always on and requires a continual cadence, not stops and starts.
- Think non-traditionally—not only in terms of marketing, but budget planning. Sometimes an effective viral film should require the same investment as a big 60 second spot.
- The new effectiveness is talk-ability and non-paid media, which should be considered in the communications planning process.
The 10th Annual CEO Summit was organized by AdForum, the online marketing resource company that serves the creative information needs of advertisers and agencies around the globe. Participating agencies, independents and holding companies included: DDB/Component Group, 72 & Sunny, Possible Worldwide, JWT, Johannes Leonardo, LBi, Gyro, Brooklyn Brothers, EuroRSCG, McCann WorldGroup, McCann Erickson, McCann Healthcare, MRM, Momentum, Sapient, Lowe@Deutsch, DraftFCB, Sid Lee, Dentsu Network West, and Interpublic.
