Do more, and do it differently.
After a week visiting advertising agencies in New York City, one thing was clear to me: everyone, from small creative shops to legacy powerhouses, smells trouble.
Big clients rely increasingly on their in-house creative teams. Consultancies are acquiring creative agencies to widen their breadth of service to companies. Edelman, a famed public relations firm, is expanding its advertising arm, as well.
Across the board, clients are moving away from the stable, traditional agency-of-record model. Though agencies still enjoy trusted relationships with brands, those brands are looking for more nimble partnerships, and often seek agency consultation on smaller, one-off projects.
Diffusion of services and specialization aren’t fleeting trends in this industry. They are part of a long-term shift.
The smartest agencies are changing their models to prepare for and adapt to the future, and new agencies on the scene are filling niches that didn’t exist even five years ago.
For example, successful agencies offer intellectual property services where they suggest business and product innovations then support those suggestions with creative departments.
Anomaly is behind popular consumer brands like EOS lip balm and dosist cannabis pens. The shop grew its business by 50% in 2017, and plans further product innovations in the future.
Digital giant R/GA recently launched a startup acceleration program called R/GA Ventures, which offers technology startups mentoring, connections to a portfolio of partners and venture capital as they establish their brand and product. Its star has risen fast: it received a Gold tier ranking in the 2017 Seed Accelerator Ranking Project and has given R/GA a foothold in the changing media landscape. (See my piece from last winter for more on this.)
Even agencies that stick to communications are seeking new ways to provide advertising services. Though Droga5 is known for its powerful campaigns built around great film spots, the agency is trying to move away from that model and toward more integrated digital campaigns across platforms — all while retaining their agency’s creative spirit. Other creative shops look for unusual ways into the consumer’s mind and heart, through experiential activations and other “ads that don’t look like ads.”
SpecialGuest, a New York firm that describes itself as a “communication and arts company.” takes a different approach to change adaptation. The agency offers in-depth consultation with in-house creative teams through every step of a campaign process, from strategic planning to VR and IP. In in-house creative, where many agencies saw a threat, SpecialGuest saw an opportunity.
This shift matters for everyone, but account managers must be particularly aware of the way the relationships between agencies and clients are changing. Regardless of city, size or past success, advertising agencies can no longer assume that brands need and want their services. That’s scary for the industry, but it’s also exciting.
As Kyle Provo, a copywriter at Anomaly, put it, “if you want more from a company, do more for them.” The shifts in the business world are a mandate to the advertising industry: do more, and do it differently.
