“Disintermediation”
is a fancy word that means “cutting out the middleman.” The actual
economics definition is “the removal of intermediaries in a supply
chain.” No matter what words you use, it’s a concern for agency leaders –
more so in recent years.
Not-So-Secret-Agent
Man
 |
| Uh, sorry -- which one of my agencies do you represent? |
If you think
about it, the very concept of an agency is that of a middleman. The word
“agent” literally means “a person who acts on behalf of another.” That’s
how ad agencies began, as purveyors of media space on behalf of their
clients. Creative development became part of the bargain. During
the 20th Century the business evolved into more of a partnership,
the best agencies working hard to move their clients’ businesses forward.
Not far into
the 21st Century, however, we’re losing sight of how to move our
clients’ businesses forward, and clients are responding.
Relationships
are Too Transactional
Yes,
agency-client relationships are shorter. That’s
not news. Now they’re shallower. Clients juggle an array of
resources at any given time, and not just additional agencies. They hire
content creators, data scientists, startups and even agency people as in-house
resources. Some of this results from a need to connect with consumers in
ways that only newer, specialist agencies can deliver. But there’s a more
fundamental reason.
Clients eschew
the AOR model because agencies made it easy for them. Labor-based
compensation focused agencies on making the ad, shelf talker or website,
distracting from the need to bring business-building ideas. The
relationship got more transactional. Clients can hire almost anyone to
get “fresh thinking”. Monogamy is dead. Is there any wonder someone
started an agency search consultancy named “Madam”?
Agencies Can
Cope In a Couple of Ways
One is to
respect reality. Rather than just walking on eggshells, do the best work
you can for existing clients. Bring them business-building ideas, which
is something different and something more than delivering the scope of work.
It builds trust with a client who will think twice about straying from an
agency that proves how much it cares about the business.
The other is to
approach prospective clients with the same attitude: How do we solve
your business problems? You’ll start to turn the tide, at least in
your corner of the world.
What not
to do: Chase all the services your client is buying from other agencies
or suppliers. If it’s something you’re good at doing, then by all means
sell it. If you think you can develop it as a core competency, keep at
it. Even then, however, it means little if you don’t also bring
business-building ideas. Without those, you’ll be disintermediated.
(According to spell check, I just made up that word.)
Previous
posts on this subject:
No comments:
Post a Comment