Is Integration becoming a dirty word in agency land?
We always keep an eye on the competition and one thing is certainly true, it has never been a more popular term to describe an agency’s offering!
So it may not offer much differentiation for agencies going forward, but more importantly what does it mean for clients? We recently spoke to around 60 international marketing directors to get their views.
Our research points to different client segments requiring very different engagement models. At the one end there are clients who value the full-service agency model. They are often resource constrained and work for businesses that perhaps don’t value the marketing function as much as they possibly could. They want the efficiencies an integrated agency can bring and the convenience of having ‘one throat to choke’!
At the other end of the scale are the more sophisticated marketing operations. These are brands with bigger budgets, more marketing resources and, more often than not, communications functions that are organized by discipline (or ‘silo’ if you are a true integrated believer!) They buy specialists – direct marketing agencies, digital agencies, advertising agencies, branding agencies and media agencies – and often build rosters of similar companies to drive competition and / or manage workload.
So one questions is, are these bigger clients uninterested in the idea of Integration?
We certainly think not. We see an increasing trend towards a requirement for more Integrated Planning, with agencies being thrown together to collaborate on initiatives. Whether this works and is effective against the original objectives always comes down to the agencies and individuals involved. The client can always help by ensuring there are clear areas of responsibility … especially when it comes to delivery of the plan! And the agencies can help (and make things easier for themselves) by cutting back on the number of people involved from each side!
We are certainly comfortable with both the above approaches as I am sure are many of our Integrated competitors. Our approach has always been rooted in Integrated Thinking rather than simply Integrated Deliver. It is not about being full-service or a one-stop shop. It is about solving clients’ business problems and we are always happy to work with other like-minded agencies to achieve that goal.
We always keep an eye on the competition and one thing is certainly true, it has never been a more popular term to describe an agency’s offering!
So it may not offer much differentiation for agencies going forward, but more importantly what does it mean for clients? We recently spoke to around 60 international marketing directors to get their views.
Our research points to different client segments requiring very different engagement models. At the one end there are clients who value the full-service agency model. They are often resource constrained and work for businesses that perhaps don’t value the marketing function as much as they possibly could. They want the efficiencies an integrated agency can bring and the convenience of having ‘one throat to choke’!
At the other end of the scale are the more sophisticated marketing operations. These are brands with bigger budgets, more marketing resources and, more often than not, communications functions that are organized by discipline (or ‘silo’ if you are a true integrated believer!) They buy specialists – direct marketing agencies, digital agencies, advertising agencies, branding agencies and media agencies – and often build rosters of similar companies to drive competition and / or manage workload.
So one questions is, are these bigger clients uninterested in the idea of Integration?
We certainly think not. We see an increasing trend towards a requirement for more Integrated Planning, with agencies being thrown together to collaborate on initiatives. Whether this works and is effective against the original objectives always comes down to the agencies and individuals involved. The client can always help by ensuring there are clear areas of responsibility … especially when it comes to delivery of the plan! And the agencies can help (and make things easier for themselves) by cutting back on the number of people involved from each side!
We are certainly comfortable with both the above approaches as I am sure are many of our Integrated competitors. Our approach has always been rooted in Integrated Thinking rather than simply Integrated Deliver. It is not about being full-service or a one-stop shop. It is about solving clients’ business problems and we are always happy to work with other like-minded agencies to achieve that goal.
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