Agencies Evolve When Their Clients’ Needs Change
Since the mid-1800s, agencies have supported their clients’ marketing efforts. As the marketing
discipline has evolved, so too have the relationships with, and services bought from, agencies (see
Figure 1). Each era has arisen from:
· Technological and social change. Newspapers in the 19th century, television in the 1950s, and,
more recently, the Internet introduced new marketing media through which brands connect
with consumers.1 Each new medium forced agencies to rethink the message and how it gets
distributed. Social media and digital proliferation accelerate this change.
· Marketing strategy change. The importance of branding grew during the past century as
marketers increasingly sought to establish an emotional connection with consumers. Digital
marketing practices favor direct marketing and communication over broad targeting and visual
stimuli, causing brand dilution and a greater dependence on direct response metrics.
· Marketer/agency relationship change. Agencies once held the keys to the executive bathroom
at major marketing-led firms. But economic pressures in the late 20th century led many
companies to negotiate and manage agency relationships through purchase orders and
procurement teams to minimize fees. Holding companies emerged to consolidate agencies
across the globe — to gain scale and maximize revenues — across a broad suite of agency
services including creative, media planning and buying, direct marketing, and public relations
services. This often leaves marketers to manage a portfolio of agencies rather than a single point
of contact
(From Forrester Research)
