Agencies need data

Your Agency 3.0 feature (MW last week), highlights some important issues in the changing agency model, such as result-based payment, the role of planners and creative output.

However, with technology constantly evolving, consumers expect a brand’s social engagement to be ubiquitous. Therefore, what the industry really needs are agencies that can interpret data intelligently to allow for a deep understanding of consumers.

This will help brands to create and nurture connections with those communities to deliver targeted ondemand messages through the
development of innovative technologies. Data shouldn’t be seen as a dirty word – it’s at the heart of what effective planning, creative and production is built from.

Agency structure will need to change to keep up with the pacesetters of this new digital era with faster feedback of data underpinning the solution.

To achieve this, account management will be abolished and client relationships will be led by planners, consultants or researchers, who represent customers to the client brand. Media companies will become responsible for managing and monitoring client brands’ interactions with the community and ensure effectiveness. They will be supported by project managers, who will manage process and efficiency and produce reporting on expenditure to clients and procurement to strengthen the agency offering.

Finally, production departments will turn into real-time logistics headquarters with more hands on deck working around the clock. The production supply chain will become a mark of competitive advantage and the new model agency will become reliant on adserving technologies for on-the-fly messaging, giving new meaning to marketing automation.

Tim Hipperson,
Chief executive, G2 UK