I once predicted that the company with the best integration will dominate the market, but not necessarily the one that held category leadership and any or all of the services it offered. And now that we have reached critical mass, the tide is turning.
The offering of integration alone is not enough to stand out in the marketplace, so the smart money doubles down here on creative ambitions and building a cohesive and compelling brand for themselves.
There a serious impending threat to consider, a formidable competitor: Ad agencies. Their form and place are still in influx, as is its revenue model. Agencies are looking to find new ways to lower costs and increase profit centers.
For this reason and others, they are usurping the traditional outsourcing model.
R/GA’s Bob Greenberg claims that the coordination of the multiple platforms (content, web, apps, mobile) make it too difficult to coordinate with outside contractors, even if those suppliers had the diverse expertise required.
We are all aware of local agencies that have reordered the models, cutting the volume of work being outsourced. It is useful to remember that R/GA began as a production company, as did Digital Kitchen, which bills itself as a “digital agency and production company.” D-K has always handled its work primarily with its captive staff. Detecting a pattern? Yup, draw your own boundaries.
It’s time now for those who have fully assimilated the integrated model on the production and post side to start to rewrite their scripts to include being fully capable partners in telling the stories for marketers and without the agencies as intermediaries.
Begin this investigation immediately because the agency erosion is, in my opinion inevitable and imminent.
Clearly it’s a bit of a delicate predicament, but it worth remembering that the post companies were initially afraid to alienate the production community by offering production. I proposed this integration idea to Tom Duff 15 years ago. Right idea, wrong time. D-K seems to have successfully morphed into a digital agency, while it still offers its production talent to other agencies; good work is powerful.
It is now time for the integrated groups to push hard on two fronts: elevating creative excellence and exploring problem solving directly with marketers ,who are also looking for innovative creative, forms and value.
I think we all are thinking this. We’re just reluctant to let the cat out of the bag. Whoops. Game on.
David Rosen is a New Media Activist and veteran commercial director specializing in kids, family and food www.davidrosen.com
