Do Traditional Agencies Have A Place In the New Normal?

Yes but the bucket is leaking fast.

There are some clients that are comfortable with what you and they know.

They are looking for your kind of solution.

They grew up with that.

Nothing wrong with that today but wrong for your shop and employees tomorrow.

These types of clients may have a digital agency in place and they spend some time there but not too much.

They have too much to do already. After all, they have fewer people supporting them.

Many clients don’t have the time capacity to change.

Their offices aren’t fancy.

I remember getting transferred from JWT Toronto to Chicago to work on Kellogg’s. My first client meeting was at their plant in Battle Creek because that was where their marketing department was based.

Is that all there I though?

The song is better than my experience.

For many clients their management doesn’t know much about the digital world.

They also want one stop shopping because they don’t have the time to deal with multiple players.

Some firms I know have tried to fill that need. PR firms sometimes tell me that they have creative resources in house because their clients ask for that. Lots wrong with that. Why build a practice in a declining sector?

What type of client would opt for that type of solution?

Best to find an alliance partner and developing a revenue stream for yourself. Nothing wrong with partners coming to client meetings these days.

I also run into digital agencies that tell me that they can do it all. Video Capabilities sounds like a great resource because of the importance of online videos. Very credible. We can do print ads. Not so much.

Project management is not the same as account management.

Try to find a small creative resource and house them in your shop or find a traditional agency. They may be able to send you work in return.

Agencies that chase everything that moves for the fear that the clients will go somewhere fear their own weaknesses.

The key is not to chase the past but create the future.

__________________________________________________________________

Hank Blank runs a Marketing Consulting firm in Laguna Niguel, CA helping companies with his knowledge and his network. Feel free to connect with Hank on LinkedIn or contact him via email at hank@hankblank.com.