Many industries, from travel to music, have been disintermediated by technology – their layers of middle-men removed and their supply chains crunched as people are able to buy from and use services directly. Gradually this trend has come to the marketing industry itself.
The agencies that once controlled the one-way bridge between brands and consumers are now challenged by the rise of connected platforms that let brands address consumers directly, but also allow people to talk straight back with a click or a swipe.
The client-agency relationship is changing and there are three areas that need to be addressed if agencies are to continue to be useful to brands:
The right incentives
Usually a client pays for its agency’s time and hopes the resulting campaign will bring success. In the digital world, where success can be instantly quantified and plans changed accordingly, it makes sense to be paid for performance and the value that the work delivers.
Collaboration
People move as fast as technology lets them. For an agency to keep its brands relevant, it must collaborate constantly across the evolving landscape, linking with tomorrow’s technology partners, rising media platforms and fresh startups. We need collaborative DNA and the willingness to find the right partners.
An ever-evolving brief
Today there is often no end point to your digital activity; you’re never going to stop trying to improve the mobile experience you give customers, and you probably won’t decide to stop servicing your customers through social next week.
Beneath this, the technology landscape changes constantly. So a brand requires a relationship with its agency that evolves like technology does, not a project-by-project fix. A fluid, collaborative, performance-based style of working doesn’t come naturally to all agencies, but disintermediation is an impolite process – it doesn’t ask permission. The agencies that thrive will be the ones that continue to evolve, as although the change might feel seismic today, we’ve only just begun.
Michael Islip is UK chief executive at DigitasLBi
This advertisement feature is brought to you by the Marketing Agencies Association, sponsors of the Guardian Media & Tech Network’s Agencies hub.
