Categories: Articles

The Connected Agency

I had a slew of flights this week and was finally able to tear through a Forrester Research report called, The Connected Agency, by Mary Beth Kemp and Peter Kim. Peter was kind enough to shoot it over to me after we finally met in our "protein forms" at the ACA – Association of Canadian Advertisers – event, Continuing The Conversation, last April in Toronto. For the record, Peter is an awesome presenter and – if you get the chance – is not to be missed.

Here’s the executive summary:

"Today’s agencies fail to help marketers engage with consumers, who, as a result, are becoming less brand-loyal and more trusting of each other. To turn the tide, marketers will move to the Connected Agency — one that shifts: from making messages to nurturing consumer connections; from delivering push to creating pull interactions; and from orchestrating campaigns to facilitating conversations. Over the next five years, traditional agencies will make this shift; they will start by connecting with consumer communities and will eventually become an integral part of them."

The crux of this report focuses on these concepts:

1. Creative and media agencies are stuck in the mass media world.

2. Digital agencies "get" interaction but are newcomers to branding.

3. Specialist boutiques support social media.

4. New players compensate for left-brain deficiencies.

5. There are gaps with existing agencies.

So, what are the solutions? According to the report:

1. The need to move from messages to connections.

2. Media must move from push to pull interactions.

3. Operations have to move from campaigns to conversations.

What were my takeaways? Agencies (interactive and traditional) are both in flux. We’re all trying to figure out this space and establish best practices. Marketing is, indeed, changing. Is it good or bad? I think it’s all opportunity. Those who are threatened by the changes never really had a snowball’s chance in hell. Those who embrace the change and flux will need to ramp up, get more experience (both in terms of resources and creativity), and they’ll need to prove that they’re not just about tactics, but that they get the brand and that they understand the underlying strategy behind it all.

Do we really have any choice? Doubtful. If we’re not all acting like The Connected Agency, what are we doing?

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.