According to the gurus at the various trade publications, the agency sky is falling. Yes, there are some concerns and you can waste your precious energy believing it or you can do something about it, because contrary to what the trades say, you’re the one that’s in control.
With over 60 ad agency members in CEO Stars, I’ve observed some very minor concerns, but for all, business continues to boom, and the revenue trajectory is upward and beyond as agencies provide marketing leadership, strategic direction and digital and creative solutions.
There are two elements driving agency doomsday: the hysteria that consultancy firms are going to kill the ad agency business and the second – the larger corporations taking more marketing and digital efforts in-house, attracting highly experienced talent – in some cases raiding agency team members with the lure of bigger paychecks and benefits.
From where I sit, I see both happening only on a very limited scale, but certainly not enough to create panic. Consultancies seem to be more attracted to digital firms to bring them up to speed and shorten their digital learning curve – but they’re not buying every digital agency. At the same time, consultant firms may only be a threat if you’re handling mega-corporations, which the majority of mid to large agencies are not.
Most agency owners don’t realize they are already consultants, and great ones too –
their seasoned experience over the years puts them in that category.
The future of what agencies look like isn’t in what others do or say – but in what you do and how well you adapt to changes in the economy and what you push forward that increases your client’s market share.
But the changes – this is the stumbling block – must be in sync with what’s comfortable in your mind. By that, I mean, taking what you’re good at, pushing the crap aside and ‘going for it.’ You can make your own future despite what all the pundits and gurus say.
While some agencies are caught up looking into the crystal ball, I say look inside of you and your team and position yourself in laser-like style. Know who you are and what you want to do and what problems you can solve.
And finally, don’t under estimate the super power in you that helps companies move forward, while others are moving backward.
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