Advice for Agencies

What does this mean – the way marketing organizations are structured is probably going to have to change at some point in the future. No more is it possible for a brand marketer to be able to grasp and own every facet of his or her brand. The world has changed. And anyone who keeps telling a brand marketer that it is about 360 degree marketing with paid, owned and earned media integration is over simplifying. As an agency person, recognize what we’re going through and be a positive part of the complexity.

In the digital space, digital agencies don’t like that the fact that they’re at a significant relationship disadvantage. Brands don’t like the fact that they’re sometimes kept at arms length from consumers (agencies and publishers are in the middle). Digital agencies feel traditional agencies don’t get it and traditional agencies can’t understand why brands don’t completely appreciate their digital chops.  In a sense, everyone is unhappy. That’s not good. It has to change and probably only will when truly a new form of an agency rises (yes, I know there have been lots of false starts!).

Here’s what I mean. It is easier for an agency or a media company to sell TV advertisements or digital media impressions or traditional PR tactics than it is to sell social influence marketing or deep consumer engagement. That stuff is much harder to design, price, guarantee and market efficiently. And from a buyer perspective, it is the type of thing you can lose your job over too. No one likes it but it is the future if you want your brand to survive. Please help us get there. Take the risks and force us to.

So what does that mean for an agency? Put extra effort into figuring out what makes you special. And don’t think in terms of just having a special story but also tangible, proof points that make that story real. You’re not that special otherwise. In fairness to the agencies, the brands may not be that special either. We may think we are the most important thing in a consumer’s life but we probably aren’t!

A digital production shop that has grown into a digital agency will probably always emphasize content creation versus conversation management online. A marketer who has had great successes with TV advertising in the Super Bowl will always privilege that over other forms of marketing. An agency that hit a home run with one idea will be called in to do the same thing again and again even though the world may have moved on. The biases will always exist as we’re human. There is no perfect company and no perfect agency either.

But in the long run that’s a bad thing. Ideas do matter of course but they need a strong strategic frame. Without the strategic frame they are meaningless. My challenge to my agency partners is to always think about that strategic frame. What does it mean – on the marketing side we have to do a better job of explaining our strategic priorities and our long term digital strategies. Please help us stay focused. We can’t get too caught up in the candy store syndrome.