A Moment of Truth for Digital Agencies
OK, deep breath. Adage recently published an article which asserted that “interactive agencies have not yet proven they have the capability to manage brand strategy.“ On top of that Forrester released their first Marketing Wave report which we were included in. Long and short of it—we didn’t do as well as we would have liked. But aside from us, as the related Adage article boldly states, digital shops have much to do (so do all agencies in my opinion). Guess what? I agree—digital agencies have our work cut out for us. But I’m not ready to leave the digital world—in fact, there is no other industry I would want to be working in right now. For me—priority #1 is working with people who “get it”. And so because of this, I feel compelled to lay out what I think digital agencies must do in order to lead brands in an increasingly fragmented, digital world…
1. Speak in Brand
Brand agencies understand that a brand isn’t design, or a logo, or a website. It’s both a promise and a “gut feeling” in the same breath. Brand agencies speak in “brands”—they understand the nuances of what it takes to make a brand a cherished household name. They have a deep understanding of the emotional triggers that can be leveraged in relationships between consumers and brands. But digital throws a wrench in this. Deliver a bad brand experience (more of which are happening in digitally related spaces) and the promise is broken. Brand shops understand the language of emotion and making promises. Digital shops understand how experiences deliver upon these brand promises. Some brands such as Google are built on experience alone. Digital shops must be more assertive and articulate at communicating this connection between brand + experience.
2. Think Outside The Browser
Digital shops should not be afraid to tout their expertise in the digital medium. The fact is the digital landscape is cluttered with bad examples of basic web or interaction design. People react poorly to bad experiences and we understand this. But we must not only keep our area of expertise sharp—and advocate for the importance of nailing the basics, we must also think well beyond the browser. We must factor in the total consumer experience and emerging digital touch points and how other channels fit in. This doesn’t mean we need to be experts in everything. Some of the most respected agencies in the world such as IDEO, Pentagram, Stone Yamashita and R/GA go deep and deliver in specific areas, but they also think holistically and as a result get invited to the table. Digital agencies must stress the importance in Web competencies, while being equally as comfortable thinking outside of the browser.
3. Evangelize Digital To Broad Audiences
Sometimes we speak in technical tongues. Technology is moving so fast that we can get caught up in the jargon game. In order to truly be influential to broader groups of people—we need to win them over as opposed to scaring them. Not everyone embraces the digital revolution and, well—we’re passionate about it. We need to harness that passion turning it into something more meaningful which brings humanity to the forefront. Technology is here to serve us—not the other way around.
4. Corner The Market on Talent
A lot of smart and talented people out there have made the transition to digital agencies. They’ve been bitten by the bug and no longer desire to work in a traditional environment. Digital agencies must continue to bring on the best and brightest people. No agency, brand, company or corporation can lead anything if their talent has left the building. This is a universal truth. If digital shops have the talent, it will become obvious to any client or employee who works with them.
5. Make Relationships Our Business
Digital shops must continue to make progress with their client relationships. Any agency or consultancy is only as good as their client relationships which is dependant on people at high levels trusting each other. This is how risks get taken and innovation is accomplished. Without solid relationships, digital agencies will be seen as “execution” vs. “partner.” Further, there are big challenges in getting a truly unified view of the customer – connecting the dots across channels. Those require big investments from clients in time, systems, and processes. This can only happen when we have the right clients that connect those dots and can marshal the change and investments within our client companies.
6. Celebrate Our Strengths
Brand agencies grew up in a world of 30 second spots, focus groups and print communications. Digital shops grew up in a world of the Web, On Demand and user testing. The world is going beta. It’s moving quickly. Digital shops have the chops to quickly prototype, test and validate solutions. We push for ethnography and a deep understanding of what motivates people. We want to see how they interact with the things we can build for them. Digital shops must become more aggressive in promoting these skill sets as being relevant outside of browser experiences. That’s because they are.
7. Generate Big + Little Ideas
The big idea is still alive and well. It’s just not rooted in messaging anymore. Digital agencies must come to the table with ideas that go beyond messaging but can live outside of the digital world. Little functional ideas. Big emotional ideas. Both are derived from observation and insights from truly understanding the customer, business, and competitive challenges. But we must also keep the little ideas alive as well. Apple is notorious for its attention to detail and that’s why it’s a beloved brand. We must do both.
8. Play Well With Others
We can’t do it alone. Digital shops must be able to work with other agencies and consultancies while being more proactive in driving their own ideas.
9. Think, Breathe, and Live Strategically
Strategic thinking is mandatory. If you are a leader in a digital shop—demand this from your team. Don’t make it optional.
10. Get Fuzzy
The advertising industry is a machine. It’s gotten really good at scaling up, mass producing messages and selling promises. Some digital agencies have preserved their entrepreneurial roots and understand what it means to be nimble. Right now, much of the innovation that’s happening in the marketing world is being driven by smaller groups of people who collaborate in less unstructured ways. What do you think social networks really are? The start ups are developing digital products which are giving the blue chips a run for their money. Digital shops need to stay fuzzy while being professional enough to move large clients forward. It’s the best of both worlds, but we must be both agile and persuasive.
Leadership is about creating “followership.” Whether it’s brand experiences that lead customers to a better space, or idea and executional leadership with clients or integrated thinking and planning with other agencies, there is much to do. I believe in these ten points. I live them as best I can. I’m passionate about being digital—and firmly believe that people will connect with brands primarily through digital-related channels as we inch toward to the future. No—I wouldn’t work in any other field, but I do think with time, focus and effort we, the agencies with digital in our DNA can help lead the way.
Last 5 posts by David Armano
- Highlights From Marketing 2.0, Paris – April 5th, 2009
- Friendship Isn’t Dead: The Strenghtening of Loose Ties. – March 19th, 2009
- Skittlemania Disrupts The Web (For A Day) – March 3rd, 2009
- Re-Thinking The Focus Group: Tropicana Design Flops – February 25th, 2009
- NBA All Star 09 – February 12th, 2009
David,
Very well said! Thanks for furthering the conversation, and articulating reasonable goals for the evolution of digital shops. In thinking about this since I wrote my own rant on the subject (http://rurl.org/de5), I do agree that some form of analysis of the leading industry players has merit. But I still stand by my complaint — that Forrester’s report doesn’t play fair between traditional and digital agencies. Suggesting that digital shops, on the whole, can’t lead a client strategically (and thus implying that traditional shops can) is unfair and untrue. Where’s the balance that takes traditional shops to task for their inexperience in leading strategy that includes digital?
More to the point, I’d love to see a traditional agency write their own manifesto (as you’ve done) on the challenges they need to overcome.
Rock on,
Tim
Forrester Research drops a stinker
Forrester Research fouled the digital marketing realm yesterday with its report, “The Forrester Wave: Interactive Marketing Agencies.” I suppose it’s in Forrester’s business model to create this kind of analysis, but the end result isn’t any more …
David,
Thank you for sharing this “digital manifesto”. One of the challenges that I see from the vintage point of the client is the culture that permeates the digital vs. the traditional agency.
Digital agencies revolve around technology, specs, and making sure that the project is within scope and time. This “IT’ish” culture is the basis of the digital agency and sometime forces them to focus on the details of a project at the expense of the larger brand strategy.
Juxtapose this with the traditional agencies who, as you said David, speak the language of the 30 second spot, focus groups and print and are always within the confines of a big idea. The traditional agency has had many years of experience managing brand experience, but their challenge is to bring that experience to the digital world in a tangible and effective manner.
I see the traditional and digital agencies on a linear spectrum with the traditional on the right and the digital on the left. The convergence point of those two is that moment in which both of them best utilize their skills, whether they are brand strategy or technological sophistication, to meet the needs of the client and provide an end experience that is both cutting edge and brings the brand to the next level.
Point 8 is perhaps the most important as it is the “playing nice” between the traditional and digital shops that will bring about this new “tradigital” culture.
Thank again David for sharing this manifesto, and a big shout out to Tim and his Viking adventure, best of luck!
Amen, brother.
Here are two thoughts—you got me thinking!
11. Get out of the Middle Management Ghetto (tied to #3)
At DUX, Peter Merholz mentioned that even though his company worked on a project to improve the online experience of a specific tool, he realized that all the other touchpoints were still going to be subpar: Adaptive Path had no inroads into changing or affecting those areas. Great online help experience, dreadful Customer Service Rep experience. And that’s because they were assigned to the VP of Interactive, deep in middle management territory. Unless digital agencies can talk to *more* C-level leaders at companies, we’re not going to get any traction and we’re not going to make a difference.
12. Washing Machine Good, Waterfall Bad
Waterfall methodology is killing the industry—great ideas don’t get built because our processes prevent rapid ideation and iteration. We may have nimble minds but our bodies are stiff and inflexible.
David, a cogent story as always. The truth is that precious few agencies of any type are set up to lead in this rapidly changing world. The internet cuts across the 4Ps and flips the traditional top down world on its head. Clients are crying out for connectors and catalysts rather than just brand stewards who function as brand cops at the intersection of media. As agencies with a digital DNA, we’re comfortable as connectors and catalysts. Evolution will favor those with a digital DNA. Happy Holidays!
Why do our customer’s do what they do?
Understanding (via “quant-lative” measurement) the effect online initiatives have on customer’s in-store behaviour is a complex task, but Critical Mass is making significant strides.
There are methodologies we use to discover insights and measure how our marketing efforts change customer behavior. Measuring historical customer lifecycle behaviours through RFM models (Recency, Frequency, Latency) enable us to predict how to deliver a message, to the right customer, at the right time. We execute a robust research process, including not only the quantitative and statistically sound methodologies, but also qualitative measurement (e.g., ethnographic/focus group studies, and monitoring of social media) to gain the best directional insights. Employing all of these methods allows us to understand our customer holistically and to deliver a more efficient targeted message.
Taking it one step further, to see where linkages occur between channels we must centralize online and offline data sources. For example, with one of our clients this entails establishing close relationships with, in-house, client side analysts with whom we collaboratively share and merge online data (email, banner, paid search and site against in-store shopping data).
However, to successfully find insight via this breadth of customer information, manpower is required:
Bodies
o Resources are key. It takes volume to execute this type of work, and we’re increasing our capabilities as client education results in new measurement initiatives.
o Establishing relationships and collaborating with client-side Analysts is also a necessity.
Tools
o Building strategic partnerships helps. For example, we’ve established a relationship with Google and one of our key clients, which has significantly opened the door for innovation. By strategizing together, the possibilities are endless.
o Beefing up skills with tools like SAS and SPSS are critical, and we’ve got statisticians organizing formal instruction to increase overall knowledge company wide.
Minds
o Persistence, commitment, and drive are necessary to successfully navigate the complexities of gathering, centralizing and measuring customer data.
o Motivation via endless curiousity and desire are of utmost importance to strategize and evaluate tactics to deliver the best customer experience.
o Politically savvy communication, harmonizing, and relationship building skills to spur enthusiasm, collaboration and action across agency, clients and vendors is critical. Only when we all come together as a team can we make strides to better understand our customers.
So in response to the Adage article and Forrester Wave awards, we know what need to do, we’ve already starting doing it, and we’ve got the key components to succeed.
Shaina Boone
Sr. Analyst
Critical Mass
Tim,
Yes, I think “brand agencies” should also write a manifesto. I for one would love to see it.
Stephan,
The convergence concept is very interesting. This may not be an issue of one vs. the other as much as it is how much do they overlap…
Gabby, nice extensions. I like them.
Mark, good to see you here. You know in my heart I feel the same way. We have to be honest, I think digital agencies will help pave the way and to your point we are good connectors, but can be even better catalysts.
Shaina, from what I’ve seen, we have nothing to worry about regarding our analytics. You guys rock.
Helpful to general agencies as well!
Thanks.
Nice article, dude.
I believe, as I’m sure you do, that digital is no longer a channel. So if we can remap digital to a contextual discussion, then it opens the door for fuzzy thinking and moving way, way, way outside the browser.
Sean
Stephan,
Sadly for a lot of digital shops, in a market as new and small as New Zealand’s anyway, there are no big retainers and thus no guarantees or decent budget for fully evolved strategic thinking. As much as we have the desire, and I believe some ability, the model of engagement doesn’t yet support it.
We get a bit stuck in the project to project loop because that is all we are fed. The only players with retainers are subsets of big traditional agencies, producing pretty average work.
Hi David;
Thanks to Greg Verdino for guiding me to your thoughtful, articulate view.
In particular, I applaud your advice to “think outside the browser”. I might add that we have confused the medium with the message and our messages in the digital medium can be less than inspiring.
I’m also be interested in your views of b2b focused initiatives. Or are we all just consumers whether at home or at the office and therefore human behviour is universal?
Catherine McQuaid
http://www.huntnewbiz.com/
If we accept the assumption that most products have become commoditized and that companies are internally running nearly as efficiently as possible, then marketing is the last battlefield that companies can actively compete, and defeat, one another.
Companies that deliver the right message, to the right customer, at the right time, in the right channel will flourish, while those that falter will fall behind. Delivering in such a manner requires a robust understanding of not only who the customers are (their demographics) but also how and when they interact with different mediums over the course of their lifecycle (their behavior). It requires integrating multiple channel measurement, message and mix in such a way that dynamically optimizes the user experience and the marketing objectives.
Executing on a 360 multi-channel model is not just a matter of dividing spend based on a single marketing mix model. Ingenuity is also required. There is symmetry and a temporal component to how different channels complement and reinforce one another in a customer lifecycle. It’s about responding to changes in this marketing mix model based on how customers respond to those mediums, and improving how these mediums fit and work together as they evolve and become adopted.
The 360 model, and direct responses to it, matters immensely in competitive environments. It is well worth the institutional struggle to achieve such harmony and optimization
Great, provocative post.
Traditional agencies still see the web as just another media – “It’s like when TV was invented” they say.
But the Internet is more like eletricity.
As they’re missing the point in the beggining, there’s a great opportunity for new “born-interactive” agencies who knows how to deal with this powerful, but uncertain energy.
I’ve been bitten by the bug too. But looks like art directors need to be Flash Gurus to build brands in digital environments.
Design thinking is the way.
Let’s live life on the overlap, right David?
[...] David Armano – “A Moment of Truth for Digital Agencies“ [...]
Andre, the overlap, intersection and fuzzy areas of like is where things get interesting, so I see no reason for it not to apply here. Moving forward will depend on coordination between multiple players and of course clients playing the starring role.
Catherine, good question. I worked on many b2b initiatives for a considerable amount of time. b2b firms need to realize that they too are brands and that the digital space raises expectations from b2b customers. Ex. getting used to buying stuff from Amazon, Ebay, Netflix etc. However a b2b customer still has specific needs that are different from “consumers”, like buying in bulk or spending money that isn’t theirs.
It all comes down to understanding the customer and their motivations. Once you have a clear insight into what’s driving their behavior–it shouldn’t matter if it’s B2B, B2C or B2Z.
[...] David Armano – “A Moment of Truth for Digital Agencies“ [...]
[...] A Moment of Truth for Digital Agencies at Experience Matters David Armano lays out what he thinks “digital agencies must do in order to lead brands in an increasingly fragmented, digital world…” Thought provoking list. (tags: digital agencies) [...]
Hey from
I hate to be the one that doesn’t jump up and down and give each other a high five but, what are we all going on about?
Digital will lead the way for these silly 30 second television advertisement people in one breath then. We must be able to work with other agencies.
No wonder digital has got a bad rep, always being looked upon as the spoilt little kid always wanting wanting wanting.
I am relatively new to Digital, i got involved in 1998 after a decade in ATL and since then i’ve been the Creative Director for a couple of the top global digital shops. Never once have i stood on a box and stamped my feet shouting to the industry, we are better than you are, we will be your leaders, my daddy is bigger than your daddy.
The only reason there is this so called war with Traditional v Digital is because of continued talk like this.
But thats just my opinion.
Steve
“The only reason there is this so called war with Traditional v Digital is because of continued talk like this.”
Steve, thanks for sharing your opinion—but I don’t see how “talk like this” adds fuel to the fire. Did you even read point number 8?
“8. Play Well With Others
We can’t do it alone. Digital shops must be able to work with other agencies and consultancies while being more proactive in driving their own ideas.”
As for the stomping and shouting as you put it, it’s called “talking”. Something which happens a lot in this medium, just as you were able to share your opinion and I’m able to respond to it.
I see where you are coming from, but I don’t buy the spoiled kid analogy. I’ve challenged our industry to do better while not shying away from what we do well. I think that’s a pretty grown up thing to do if you ask me.
[...] A Moment of Truth for Digital Agencies at Experience Matters – n [...]
Dave –
Nicely said.
One add from my perspective: it ain’t about technology or the next shiny metal object; it is — as it always has been — about communication.
Cheers,
RWM
[...] become digital, but for the time being I find it easier to work at an agency where people already “get it” more than at an agency that’s just getting started in digital. Having to spend time on [...]
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