Agencies: All Change Please, All Change

So far at least here in the UK the impact on the size and shape of the various organisations involved in our industry be they agencies of any type advertiser marketing departments ad tech businesses or publishers has been comparatively minorThis is not to gloss over the redundancies nor the businesses that have had to close but various Government schemes have done a lot to buy timeHowever amp8211 economic reality is about to kick in I fear it39s not going to be much funPrevious recessions have of course been horrible My own memories go back to the 197039s but I39ve lived through variations virtually every decade sinceThe one thing that happens for sure in a recession is that the ad business shrinks Advertisers spend less pressures on fees kick in and the only realistic option for agencies is to reduce staff numbersWe shrink but we hold our shape Advertising and media agencies emerge as recognisable albeit with fewer people working in themA survey by Moore Kingston Smith reported this week in 39Campaign39 indicates that 58 of agencies plan on cuts impacting up to 20 of staff numbers and a further 22 suggest a number over 20The survey involving 100 agencies from several disciplines also found that quotthe situation could get worse before it gets better but that 87 of respondents believe the crisis presents them with an opportunity with more than half saying it allows for a rationalisation of their businessquotI39m not sure that 39rationalisation39 is the right word Why shrink when you could restructure After all the agency sector has for years been criticised for carrying on as before with processes and structures no longer fit for purposeWhat is 39fit for purpose39 And whose purposeOver recent years this has become a pertinent question farther back it was far more obvious amp8211 agencies succeeded or failed based on how well they met their clients39 needs You could argue that public ownership via the holding companies changed the dynamic certainly technology online media forms and the whole matter of media transparency have rewritten the rulesNow there is an opportunity to rethink structures and processes and for agencies to base what they do unequivocally around the needs of their clientsIn short to reconsider what value an agency can add in an age of datadriven decision making and inhouse operationsOn the list must be a clearing away of anything that detracts from creativity a more integrated approach to communication and a more rigorous approach to metrics research and learningBut it39s not just what we do but who does it and where It may be a clichamp233 but it39s still true that an agency39s assets are its people Many have got used over the last few months to different ways of working and to different prioritiesWe all understand the need to create an environment within which talent can flourish An important part of this has been physical location and inhouse proximityNow there39s the challenge of rebooting many organisations given that some staff have managed the last few months comparatively well others less soThe online site Fastcompanycom carried a piece this week on how to knit together what the brilliant young author ahem refers to as a psychologically fractured workforcequotOrganizations of all sizes and across all sectors and regions have such a disparity of employee experiences of the pandemic that creating a sense of quotonenessquot is a formidable taskquotAgencies have become used to a certain way of working They grow they shrink but they carry on doing much of the same thing The biggest have become industrialised Complacent UnquestioningAny reboot would normally take an age let39s be honest it has taken an age The pandemic and the coming recession are speeding things upAgencies have a chance to look afresh at everything they do To focus on what39s important and to cut out timeconsuming irrelevanciesThere39s also the uncomfortable truth that many working and employment practices are simply inappropriate not to mention selfdefeating today Others have commented on the lack of diversity and the shortage of opportunities for those outside the cities and the bubble of privilege and encouragingly are doing something about itIt39s clear that we have to get a lot better at thinking outside the traditional box if we are to meet both the changing requirements of our clients and the resetting of the priorities of our peopleWe have an unfortunate track record of pontificating about change in this or that industry whilst continuing down our own same old pathCircumstances outside of all of our control are going to give us the chance to walk the talk The question is are we up to it The irony is that we may have little choiceClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Agencies: All Change Please, All Change

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Brian Jacobs

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