THE AGENCY OF THE FUTURE?
AGENCIES HAVE A LOT TO ANSWER FOR - IT’S NOT THE WORD AGENCY’S FAULT
Let’s Redefine Creativity First:
NO COMPARISON
There’s a lot of talk around what constitutes the ‘agency’ of the future. That’s not a conversation we want to be in.
We don’t want a comparison with an agency of the future any more than we wish to be compared with an agency of today.
The word ‘agency’ is historically associated with the creative industry - marketing, advertising and branding.
Advertising, the creative industry’s glamorous elder sister has unfortunately brought the game into disrepute.
Advertising is very visible so it takes the punches and often deservedly so.
It’s done little to prove it's value and not much to respond to the criticism.
IT’S A GREAT SHAME
What Happened?
For decades agency practices have been opaque and too often arrogant.
Perhaps to create some mystery it’s been plagued with confusing language.
It became negligent and complacent when solving the challenges it was given.
The creative industry is not in disarray because advertising isn’t valuable to business but because the industry as a whole and many of the methods have become irrelevant.
I ACCEPT THIS FEELS UNFAIR TO THE GREAT CREATIVE BUSINESSES THAT REMAIN OUT THERE
The Crux
Agencies have focused for too long on methodologies designed to win awards and too little focus on understanding the clients business and what it means to drive value.
Value, for clients, comes from doing what matters.
It’s a business discussion that embraces creativity - this means:
Knowing the insights of the marketplace
Understanding how the operation really works so that value can be injected properly
Appreciating what the brand is really about
Meaningfully integrating the marketing and media strategies - everything that delivers performance and return on investment.
Making sure that work done has impact and that these returns are measured properly - evidence of improvement in reputation, increased awareness and reach, transactional performance market attention and trust.
LEADERSHIP SINGULARITY
This Is A Leadership Discussion
The job of (rather than the words) ‘marketing’ and ‘media’ is what’s important to the leaders of business.
In fact there’s no division of labour (in the digital era) between leadership and marketing.
The best leaders on the planet ‘know’ marketing - it’s the entirety of their task - to make the business successful in the hearts and minds of their customers. That’s it.
Business is nothing without marketing and marketing is nothing without execution
NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.
The Genie Is Out Of The Bottle
What agencies have done historically is being rapidly replaced.
It’s being rapidly replaced because clients are running from what they’ve known for a long time.
That relevant creativity is not the birthright of the creative industry - it’s available in many places and unlocked by the true creatives.
The are conscious beings and leaders that know the job that needs doing.
It’s also being replaced by necessity.
They have realised its possible to be far smarter and paying greater attention to what works.
Clients can create their own creativity,
they can improve on their agencies contribution through owning their own data, through automation and digital systems.
They can get access to creativity by greater use of independent creative people - through advisors who know how to extract value from their business marketing and business media skills.
For us it’s not about the agency of the future but significantly developing the role of marketing and media inside the business.
The successful clients recognise that this role has to be fulfilled by people who understand business strategy and how to create the right attention and relationship with their audiences.
So What?
Our business is wholly focused on return on investment and supporting the leadership in whatever way that is needed. This is the conundrum for anyone trying to create strategy today.
It is almost impossible to predict the future however that is the solution every client needs.
Not being able to predict the future cannot stop us from imagining it and working out the best path.
It has been said that the best way to predict the future is to create it. In order to create the future we have to weigh it up.
It is possible to identify patterns based on experience and to project possible scenarios that are of least risk.
To do nothing presents higher risk therefore this is a valid strategy.
It is possible to identify existing utility and to project gaps in that utility where new services and ideas may lie. To not predict such gaps presents missed opportunity therefore this is a valid strategy.
It is possible to apply creativity ingenuity and innovation to develop new ideas that have not previously existed. To not imagine such futures is irresponsible for today’s leadership and therefore is also a valid strategy.
Given these three fundamental truths, clients of the future need to gain the skills from somewhere.
Direct Access To Creativity
THE PILLARS
Access to the skills, concepts ideas innovations products and solutions that currently do not exist inside the firm. (This is the capability most required and least likely to exist inside the business in the future.)
The kind of strategic horsepower and creativity of mind required can define talent and skills most often found in the entrepreneur, not the employee.
Having access to these concepts and these skills into the minds of the
CEOs and leaders of the types of a company where there is no choice but to contract for value of this nature.
Our audience is likely to be in large enterprises - seeking to change. They are subject to change only when triggered by a realisation that the enterprise will fail or is under intense scrutiny by its shareholders, the market or its competition.
But often the bigger enemy is themselves.
