A key objective of the SCOPEN research set for 2025 is to interview more marketing professionals from more companies from around the world.
The study is published every two years after in-depth meetings with the highest-level decision makers across marketing, communications and advertising, from the largest to the smallest spending marketers in South Africa.
“The sixth wave of the AGENCY SCOPE study is on track in South Africa and Cesar Vacchiano, president and CEO of SCOPEN International, will be arriving in South Africa in February, ahead of fieldwork on the study beginning in May 2025,” said Johanna McDowell, SCOPEN partner and CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS).
“In interviewing over 3 000 CMOs around the world, we’re excited to see what 2025 brings’,” she said, adding that more companies and more marketing professionals would take part in the study.
Ramping up AGENCY SCOPE’s evolution in SA
McDowell said another step in AGENCY SCOPE’s evolution would be interviewing new profiles of key decision makers within the participant companies, encompassing leaders in digital, technology and innovation.
“These managers also hire and work with agencies and other partners,” said McDowell, “which will bring even greater depth to the value of data we collect.”
The fieldwork will also identify and include other profiles of client companies, over and above the usual investors in communications.
For example, the 2025/2026 study is looking into start-ups, the dot.com sector and digital platforms that are working with agencies more than ever before. “Numbers in this area may not be significant at this point,” said McDowell, “but it’s certainly an area we need to be aware of to keep our finger on the pulse.”
It will also amplify its sample of agency professionals interviewed, an important viewpoint to understand as they assist in determining which agencies are most attractive to work for.
“Following on from the inclusion of the best agency to work for in the 2020/2021 study and the success that this data found in the market, we will be driving a broader study for 2025/26,” McDowell explained. Going into the 2025/26 study, this data will be richer and even more valuable.
AGENCY SCOPE fieldwork calendar
Interviewers will hit the ground running in May 2025, with their tasks completed by the end of August. Analysis and processing will run through September and October, and reports will be presented from late October for a month.
One-on-one meetings with the agencies will be held in February, when Vacchiano arrives in the country and spends a week talking to subscribers. “We’ll be gathering the commentary of agencies around what they feel is important to glean from the study.”
Samples from previous editions
“Samples of the research from 2016 to 2023 show how this sector has grown from 191 respondents across marketing, creative and media professionals in 2016 to 528 in 2023,” said McDowell. AGENCY SCOPE will be aiming for 700 completed interviews in 2025.
Vacchiano added, “We see 2025 as the opportunity for marketers and their agencies to steady the industry and apply innovations from the recent past, while continuing to seek new ways of collaborating and growing their businesses, based on robust data.”
