iMediaRants

Challenge: The traditional agency model is broken. Marketing has evolved past geo/demo targeting and is fast becoming tied to individuals and their fragmented lifestyles.

Solution: The agencies goal is to have their clients brand live in the consumers mind and owning that what we define, create and deliver shapes the consumer’s viewpoint. The reality is that consumers are in control now more than ever in how they interact with media. We have to reach them in new ways through a connected media strategy that must leverage today’s new technology playground.

To be successful with this approach agencies must focus on the following

1. Change Your Staffing Approach.
Looking for people with not just one but multiple areas of expertise. Agencies have to move away from their current siloed thinking approach and begin to encourage and reward lateral (outside the box) thinking. The freedom to think “outside the box” exist in all companies at all times, to successfully affect change there needs to be a systemic shift in how the agency strategically concepts, develops and delivers client based solutions.

2. Redefine rolls and responsibilities.
To evolve towards a more integrated organization model most agencies will need to soften the divisions between services (i.e. media, creative, account management). They must become less egocentric in regards to turf wars and more focused on the collaborative effort that is needed to develop the best integrated solution that ties back to their clients campaign goals and objectives.

At the crux of this evolution lies account management. I’m not saying they are the most important part of the change but I am saying that for change to take place it needs to be pushed monitored and measured daily. Account management is the daily contact for the client and all internal teams, they re-communicate the clients thoughts goals and dreams and are as focused (if not more) on the businesses success in the marketplace and to all target consumers.

The following excerpt is from an article written back in 2005 “New Era Survival Guide for Ad Agencies” by Christopher Montgomery

“Revamp client service: Clients today are looking for agencies with which they can build solid partnerships. Clients want to feel confident that their agencies can offer all of the strategies they need to get the message out about their brands. More importantly, given the evolution of the ‘commercial-free’ media, clients want agencies to use the most creative options available to reach consumers.

Agencies must develop a full spectrum of multi-media solutions based on client needs. Account directors will be required to masterfully develop advertising strategies that bundle print and TV ads with digital media and integrated marketing solutions. By broadening their service portfolios, agencies can establish themselves as ‘one stop shops’ for clients.

Once agencies can deliver the services to satisfy clients, they must motivate account executives to sell the services. Agencies will need to retool account management in order to engrain a partnership approach.

One step would be to structure compensation such that ad execs are motivated to offer clients a breadth of services, i.e., rewarding account executives who successfully develop and implement creative solutions beyond traditional print and TV advertising.” Full Article

- To be continued… when I have more time