The Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS) occupies a unique and privileged position at the heart of the marketing industry, where brands and agencies intersect.
We have regular conversations with CMOs and Agency leaders about the marketer / agency ecosystem as we assist all participants work together to deliver effective marketing that will drive growth.
One of the biggest surprises from the AGENCY SCOPE 2023/2024 study – the results of which are currently being presented to various industry players – is the huge growth in the number of agency partners/platforms that a CMO interacts with. On average, this number has risen to more than 15.
In reviewing a recent report from our partners, AAR Group in the UK, they identify in more detail the types of partners these 15 are, and table the growth from what was more common less than 10 years ago, when the average number of partners in a marketing agency ecosystem was five.
Closer examination of this trend
Digging deeper, AAR talks fluidity as well as flexibility, and comments on the fact that the growth has happened for both individuals, in how they work; and for brands, in the number of specialist agencies that they have the option to work with.
Much of this fluidity has arisen from the opportunities that were created by necessity as a result of COVID, where working from home, working remotely, and companies building in more flexibility into their businesses and their lives as changes became the new normal.
For brands, this created a fragmentation of its customers and an evolving media landscape that required an increased number of marketing specialisations to create successful marketing campaigns.
Fluidity and flexibility
What we have seen already is that great talent no longer wants to live exclusively in a world of permanent agency roles, and that fluidity and flexibility is here to stay. The focus now is on accessing talent, regardless of where it chooses to work.
The agency ecosystem is therefore evolving to accommodate these trends so that brands are able to access a greater number of specialists, either via an open talent network through increased agency contacts or within a holding company offering.
With economic uncertainty now cited as one of the most fundamental reasons for needing a more flexible marketing ecosystem, clients are less able to commit long-term to having large teams available – plus they now wait longer before approving projects in case of last minute impacts on their side.
Freelance vs permanent staff
This means that the need for freelance versus permanent staff rises. While it’s not easy for agencies to manage this trend without building in far more flexibility, they may capitalise on the benefits of a more fluid talent pool.
What does this mean for the management of the increased number of partners in the ecosystem?
There is no simple formula to determine what agency ecosystem is best for a brand. Scale and business category are two of the biggest factors in defining how many partners a brand will best work with.
Whether the brand will command and control all of the specialists needed, or if one of the agencies in the system might be better suited to integrate the different resources is a question that must be answered by all players, possibly on a case-by-case basis.
The IAS believes that the debate will continue throughout this current decade, and we draw a few conclusions here that may help brands and their agencies define future working methods.
Some conclusions
• Brands will have the appetite to increase the fluidity of how they build their internal and external capability.
• More systems are now in place to allow greater access to more specialists and build them into the marketing ecosystem for a brand. In fact, brands not doing this may well be missing out.
• There is no one-size-fits-all solution. The right agency ecosystem changes according to marketer capability, category, scale and culture.
• The need for media-neutral leadership that puts the brand’s customer first has priority over the remuneration or leadership of one type of agency.
• Agencies need to leverage freelance expertise from a skillset and economic point of view, without losing the culture and passions of the agency itself. The industry has been built on the differentiation of groups with varieties of expertise and points of view – and these key attributes need to be maintained for a sustainable future.
What this means for the IAS is that, increasingly, marketers are seeking our counsel when it comes to simplifying their ecosystem structures without losing any of the benefits of the increasing need for specialisations.
Johanna McDowell is CEO of IAS and SCOPEN partner. The IAS (Independent Agency Search and Selection Company) in association with the AAR Group (UK) was founded in South Africa in 2006. IAS specialises in client/agency relationship management and helping clients find agencies. SCOPEN Africa was launched in South Africa in 2015 in partnership with the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company.
