ashinynewagency

The helicopters are buzzing, but who has the best view?

Source: Flickr Aubergene

Norman Davies, in his book The Isles: A History, believes historians are focusing more and more to ever shrinking areas of history, rather than continuing to make sense of the wider scope of history. He states:

As the torrent of historical data expands exponentially, so, too, does the temptation to fix one's gaze on those tiny areas...

Sounds familiar. Companies are bombarded by the range of comms channels available to them, consumer insights to inspire them, and areas to engage with consumers in ways unthinkable only five years ago. Add to that the ever-increasing shift from the comfort of clear lines between 'marketing' and 'sales'.  The ever-present temptation is to fall back on what one knows or what one is exposed to most often, or what one hears from the agency partners who also fish in a shallow pool. Norman Davies continues...

As a result, 'Sorry, that is not my field' has become the watchword...

Students are raised on an a la carte menu, which never supplies them with a coherent picture of anything; and teachers are left picking n'mixing according to their likes and dislikes. The public has switched off.

When I read this, something hit me. It seemed to reflect the challenges that face brands in being relevant for consumers. Keep force-feeding the message and the potential consumers will go elsewhere. Just as Woolworth's Pick n Mix has gone, so has the a la carte menu of marketing services. They just don't seem to fit with where consumers are going anymore. Brands are more in need of a wide angle view of the world than ever before.

Agencies are re-inventing themselves. Some new agencies, such as Anomoly, are creating fantastic models that are challenging the a la carte menu offering.

Innovation is one thing though. Re-positioning is another. Media agencies as communications agencies. Media Agencies as digital media agencies. A PR agency that calls itself a 360degree communications agency - isn't that just a PR agency wearing the most fashionable look right now? Meanwhile in the digital space, everyone is a social media expert now.

How real is all this re-positioning? Brands are seeing through this more easily than you think.

Brands need visionary partners. They need experts in their fields but they need people who can advise them in shaping their communications vision. Historically this sat with the advertising agency, yet this just doesn't make sense any more if so many advertising agencies continue to think they can just add the veneer of communications thinking whilst still pitching the ad.

Brands want great people to work with them. Smart people. People they can trust. Brands will look for this more and more, and rely less and less on what shape/size/type of agency that these people may or may not work for. A core team of individuals to support them in their quest for the right conversations with consumers.

They will want people who deliver.

The more that agencies stretch to cover the high ground, the more exposed they might be on the lower ground where they excel in. Isn't the future about a whole new set-up rather than constant jiggling with the present?

Are we not going to be seeing the creation of new entities and working relationships built on small agency communities of trusted smart cookies?

Or should the visionary bit just rest with the client, whilst agencies just execute?

Learning from the U.S. Media Agency of the Year

Initiative Media, under the eye of CEO Richard Bevan, has just been named Media Agency of the Year in Ad Age.

Great news for them.

There was once a time when the words initiative and Initiative Media were somewhat at odds with each other.

What caught my eye were two slightly different reasons for why they have turned things round.

First comes from Interpublic's CEO of MediaBrands, Nick Brien (also my old boss!).

 

"It's the people and great leadership," Mr. Brien said. "They have inspired, motivated and completely rebuilt the sense of confidence of that talent base to the sense that winning became a cultural reality."

So a key criteria for a successful agency in the future will always be great people and great leadership...

Yet, a second person quoted in the Ad Age article suggests:

"Tim and Richard don't sit up on high pontificating about stuff. They actually lead by example. There has been a very dramatic change, because it was a passive place, and now it's a place where things get laid out and you are held accountable for getting them done."

So a second element to a successful media agency is the old adage about bosses leading by example.

Somehow, the shape of a shiny new agency is starting to look like many that have come before it. Am I missing something or are things more simple than things appear?

Can an agency exist without flowers?

So important things first.

Can an agency in 2012 survive without having a big reception area with nice flowers?

Be curious...

Leo wrote up some notes on the session we did at the IMM09 event. They are found here.

One of the themes that came out of the group is that the agency should be the agency of consumer insight, educating the client and helping them keep abreast of trends. And historically, a media agency strength has been the ability to dissect consumer media habits.

Yet two things. First,

"It's all about the moolah"

Got this message from one media agency senior planner, when asked to share thoughts on a media agency:

A commission based agency is for:
The planning and negotiation of the efficient renting of space in pre determined media spaces for determined lengths of time. Success is often based upon the achieved lowest cost per 'thingy' that you're buying, making it a further commoditised business than it was yesterday....(yawn)

Agree here. So how many media agencies around the world are still working on commissions? And is this as much to do with client indifference to organising more forward thinking payment mechanisms as a media agency wishing to be stuck to the cosy commission?

The contributor goes on to say:

Media Agency: Don't you just buy TV space?

When I started at McCann Erickson, as a TV buyer, the media department was seen as the ugly side of the full service agency.

Clients would be enamoured by the Creative Director's genius (and pool table), and be pampered by the Bag Carrying account service teams.

A visit to the media department floor normally involved a swift passing through the press planning section (for some reason close to the lift), whilst the TV buying team (as far from the lift as possible) never seemed to warrent any visits at all.

Welcome to ashinynewagency...

We are Leo Ryan of Ryan MacMillan, and Paul Bay of citizenbay and citizensound.

There we were at the IMM09 on a panel called Talking Digital with Jon Bains of Lateral, in front of media agencies, media owners and brand folk.

We talked digital, but thought it more useful to get the audience to create the agency of 2012.

The comments from the audience were enlightening not only on what they believe the media agency could be, but also what it is right now.

In the audience, less than a handful have used twitter. Similarly, very few have used Last.fm. At IMM08, very few had tried to upload something onto youtube. Given the audience is made up of people who are generating communications ideas for brands, it was a little surprising that so few are getting their heads round such things.

Yet there were some intriguing thoughts and views coming from the group. We will be putting up some of the comments along with a number of thoughts of our own.

But this blog is not ours, it is just a place for everyone to contribute, as so many people have a view on what a media agency needs to be.

You might be stuck in an agency that just doesn't want to evolve, and you need to let off steam a bit. You might be working for the a shiny new agency already, so we would love to know how you did it.

So come on in and join in.

We called this blog ashinynewagency, which seems about right for this little experiment.

Leo and Paul