Comments on: Full Service Agencies for the 21st Century

By: Paul Frampton

Paul Frampton — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 18:17:05 +0000

There is another way which is to have a Group that believes in protecting specialisms within each agency but creating an ethos of collaboration & generosity. At Havas Media Group, we now have 3 media agencies (HM, Arena & Forward for O2) , Cake ( branded content/social), HSE ( sponsorship/partnerships), aisLondon (digital & data led creative agency) and AKLP ( shopper marketing) now all sitting on one P&L with a senior leadership team of 3 (2 of which are from the media shops) . We are very much aiming in the spirit of Android new tagline : “Be Together. Not the Same.” In Jan, we kickstart “The Collective” a unique group of senior strategists & planners representing every part of HMG to design true comms planning across owned, earned, paid and creative & media. Watch this space. #havastogether

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 10:41:18 +0000

I wish I was around in the full service days, if just to have first-hand experience of both models. I’ve definitely seen wasted opportunities and downright botched campaigns because of media and creative working out of sync. Takes a strong leader to “herd the cats”. Bob “Ad Contrarian” Hoffman’s quote rings very true to me – “Creative people make the ads. Everyone else makes the arrangements.”

By: Brian Jacobs

Brian Jacobs — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 22:52:42 +0000

Ah Jacques (he says, sucking on his pipe) if you only knew the half of it when it comes to inter-sibling-agency warfare..

By: Brian Jacobs

Brian Jacobs — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 22:51:02 +0000

Yes Goff but you were always very good! I think some of our erstwhile creative director colleagues might struggle though

By: Brian Jacobs

Brian Jacobs — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 22:50:06 +0000

Good point Jeffrey – it’s strange how rarely agencies follow the advice they give their clients when it comes to assessing their own market-place.

By: Jeffrey merrihue

Jeffrey merrihue — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 22:44:40 +0000

I agree…rather than fight the inevitable decline due to dis-intermediation by copying the attackers…better to ride the decline with a core offering that is different and based on historical strengths…

By: Brian Jacobs

Brian Jacobs — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 22:43:34 +0000

Thanks for the comment Peter. Yes I agree – but I think the media guys have moved on further and faster than their creative siblings.

By: Brian Jacobs

Brian Jacobs — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 22:41:28 +0000

Thanks Jeffrey. I agree with the by-passing the middle man comment but I think if I was an agency I would seek to counteract that by offering something closer to a full-service, or fuller-service solution. Meanwhile, more power to MOFILM!

By: Jeffrey merrihue

Jeffrey merrihue — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 22:38:21 +0000

I think the oppostie is happening…brands are going directly to talent pools and audience sources and are bypassing the middlemen and this is accelerating…it may be that full service may decline less than the specialist parts?

By: Peter Cornelius

Peter Cornelius — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 01:16:39 +0000

Where it has also got very ‘cloudy’ is what defines media and creative in today’s complex marketing eco-system. ‘Media’ embraces paid, bought, owned and earned assets and the real game changer has been digital and all that entails. Many media agencies are active in the digital ‘creative’ space for it requires real time targeted solutions that constantly change to reflect response driven thinking. We all need to move on for we operate in a very different marketing world.

By: Goff Moore

Goff Moore — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 17:16:14 +0000

I could present a campaign in 10 minutes.

By: Jacques Lehodey

Jacques Lehodey — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 10:33:33 +0000

Want to be in that room as well!
As concerns internal battles (Group M vs Kantar), I would suspect that very fuzzy lines are agreed to at a corporate level and the teams involved with the clients are left to fight it out. A cynical view perhaps…