We’ve seen it coming for a while now, and everyone is trying to adapt in some form or fashion… some much better than others. The traditional advertising agency – the kind that specializes in mass media and mass impact – is quickly becoming a thing of the past.
The industry is redefining itself, right before our eyes. I believe that three major elements have led to this change – the economy, advancements in technology, and tougher client demands.
All these factors have created a world where advertising and marketing efforts must be more targeted, measurable, and held to the highest of performance standards. When was the last time you implemented a campaign where moving the needle on awareness was the key performance indicator? Conversion, acquisition, and one-to-one, two-way communications are the buzzwords of the day. Awareness and favorability are becoming things of the past. Don’t get me wrong… they still play a role. But when the C-suite is evaluating marketing efforts and setting a budget for the upcoming year, it is the harder lead and business metrics that they care about. Soft metrics are nice, and an important part of the top portion of your funnel, but they are not going to lead to larger marketing budgets and end-of-year bonuses!
Our agency is no exception. Our skill set has changed. Our service offerings have changed. And everything we do is now driven by individual targeting, data, and measurement. We’ve even added a chief analytics officer to our staff. He pushes us to find ways to evaluate every point of contact with our brands. We really aren’t an advertising agency anymore. Sure, we do advertising. But we do a lot more that really isn’t considered advertising. I would call us more of a marketing solutions company.
That means we’re competing with a whole new group of companies – those that specialize in branding, marketing consulting, market research, media, production, digital marketing… and don’t forget about traditional advertising agencies. The lines between all these types of companies are really becoming blurred.
Everybody is trying to create the perfect blend of services, technology, insights, and analytics so they can offer actionable insights and create consumer-influenced communications through a variety of traditional and new delivery forms and channels that can be real-time optimized and targeted to the individual… on their terms.
Agencies finally seem to be making the changes necessary to compete in today’s world and meet the new demands of their clients. How do you think we’re doing?
– Stephen Weinstein, EVP, Director of Account Management
