“It seems like just yesterday we were learning things about marketers and their agencies we’d never asked before,” says Johanna McDowell, CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS) and SCOPEN partner. “Eight years has flown by, and with every AGENCY SCOPE, we’ve watched our markets evolve.”
The size of the global marketing industry coupled with what AGENCY SCOPE has determined marketers spend enables Johanna McDowell, CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS) and SCOPEN partner, to indicate what’s being spent in South Africa – and which sectors are getting the lion’s share.
As we pull together all the figures, marketers are apportioning their budgets in this manner:
37% ATL – media and production
37% Digital – media and production
26% BTL – POS, experiential. PR and other
Not surprising that digital and above-the-line (ATL) are getting equal share, given the ongoing rise and spread of digital and its various new platforms. However, of interest to the IAS and other intermediaries is the indication from marketers that around 18% of them will be looking for new agencies this year, even while largely satisfied with their agencies at the moment.
Essentially, it’s more about being on the lookout for novel, innovative solutions than merely switching agencies. And this could certainly result in more project work being briefed to more agency partners.
Based on this, I’d suggest intermediaries and all other stakeholders get pitch-fit for what we believe will be as many as 240 pitches of all types in play over the next 12 months. This includes advertising, creative, media, digital, PR and other sectors – an across-the-board review on how marketers feel they need to maintain a competitive edge in the current market.
Based on media spend figures in 2021, and some other maths calculations which I have checked with industry colleagues, we could be looking at a figure of R11.2 billion over 240 pitches across media, advertising, digital, PR etc .
Even while a figure of R11.2-billion looms large when viewed as a standalone, viewing it as the part of the overall price tag that provides in-depth knowledge of the markets is key. And not all pitches are run by intermediaries – in fact only 15% of all pitches currently are run by companies like the IAS.
A number of UK marketers, agencies and intermediaries (including our partners the AAR Group) recently have signed up to the Pitch Positive Pledge, which Adweek.com explained this way: “For agencies, pitching, at its worst, can be an expensive, time-consuming exercise leading to late nights, low morale and diminished creative output. For brands, they’re often procurement-driven with the potential to diminish relationships with agency partners and lead to churn.
“To tackle these problems in the UK sector, ad trade bodies the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) and the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) have banded together to get brands, agencies and intermediaries to commit to the Pitch Positive Pledge.”
Speaking with my IAS hat on, I have to say it’s a move in the right direction for all parties, even our own competitors. Well managed pitches include continuous communication and feedback, and clients are keen for agencies to get this commentary, and ensuring the whole process is captured and shared transparently brings tangible value to the pitch.
We are at a point in our industry’s journey where everybody wants to be better at what they do, and more questions are being asked and answered to pave the way for learnings. With every well-run intermediary-led pitch, CMOs are getting immediate value and proficiency that will last well into their future.
You may also be interested in Winning Teams Are More Than Just Pitchers
We met with a total of 22 agencies, including some shorter speed-dating sessions with smaller independent agencies:
Mon 9 May: Cheil Connec+; Dept; The Brandtech Group; Overland; and Stagwell
Tue 10 May: VCCP; dentsu; The Mars Agency; MI&C; and Virtue
Wed 11 May: Forsman & Bodenfors; Interpublic (IPG); and McCann Worldgroup
Thu 12 May: Havas; Huge; Mower; Zulu Alpha Kilo; Marcus Thomas; and Nelson Schmidt
Fri 13 May: Proto; and TBWA\
At first, I wondered if we would be hearing anything new, or newsworthy.
And, indeed, as this was the first time in New York for four years (three years ago we were in Los Angeles and the last two years we were in the pandemic so virtual, except for London in November 2021), what we noticed straight away was that there was much less traffic in the city and NYC was much easier to get around than before. Getting people back into the office is a priority for agency leaders.
The agencies were very excited to see us all and we have sound bites from the various CEOs extolling the virtues of AdForum and why they participate in it. It costs the agencies a lot to participate: in real cash, time and effort in putting their presentations together.
The presentations and the content were all of a very high standard; there were no ‘duds’ over the 22 sessions. Some were better than others, of course. All of them had had the benefit of a couple of hours of coaching from Peter Cowie, one of the AdForum consultants, on how to best portray their agency to best effect with us as consultants. This definitely paid off. Agencies which want to improve are the ones which ask for help.
Growth is the primary objective after two years of an effective slowdown in the industry. Most agencies were reporting much improved figures for 2021 over 2020, when they all suffered. What was fascinating was to hear that, in the US alone, more than 5.5m new companies were registered. So, 2021 was the year of corporate startups in the US — that’s bound to be good news for agencies as those startups will need agency help sooner or later.
Growth is everywhere, too, small and large companies alike. These businesses are able to outperform everything that came before. Examples are Amazon and Airbnb, which have stable cores but are able to flex and innovate. How do agencies keep up with this changing model? Growth acceleration and new ways of accounting for it are critical success factors.
Of course, the metaverse came up. Overhyped, misunderstood, ignored by gamers, etc. Web3 is the overall platform; metaverse and multiverse are just sections of it. Agencies were either very pro or very against. “What will make the metaverse work will be the ecosystem that grows up around it,” commented David Jones, founder and CEO of The Brandtech Group (previously You & Mr Jones).
Purpose came up, and we met one agency totally devoted to purpose. “Purpose is the new digital” is its mantra and there are six aspects to purpose.
Agencies are all moving beyond advertising. Positioning themselves as either “technology-based marketing services companies”, the “disruptive brand experience company” or “at the intersection of brand, technology and experience”, they comment that creativity is not relegated to advertising.
New business is key, and one agency leader commented that, when an agency is excellent at new business, it means that the whole agency is well-structured and successful, as all of the agency skills have to be harnessed to win. The overall effect of this is highly beneficial for existing clients and existing work. It was one of the better explanations that I’ve heard. Nonetheless, agencies are learning to be more selective about what type of prospects they pursue.
One of the agency groups shared its vision that it wants to “reframe marketing as a valuable service by building tech that puts data to work — creatively, precisely and responsibly”. That vision is a much bigger vision than making great ads!
Agency staff aren’t remaining with their agencies if they don’t feel valued. It’s not only about their salaries; they’re wanting to work in agencies where they can succeed and be recognised by their agency leaders.
Creativity is more important than ever — and one agency leader commented that, although everyone has done well to keep going in the past two years despite the difficulties of the pandemic, the levels of creativity haven’t increased as they might have done, had the world not gone into lockdown. “Cannes may well be a disappointment” as a result was the observation.
Many of the consultants who attended the summit with me are people I’ve known for 15 years. It has been a delight to always be able to share experiences with and to learn from them over this time. None of the Australian consultants could attend this year, as their restrictions are still in place. There were several new American consultants whom we’d not met previously and it was interesting to hear their views.
We all had tough moments during the worst of the pandemic, that’s for sure, but we were all able to stay in touch and were totally delighted to be together again at last in real life — those connections are just priceless and attending AdForum is a highlight for me, personally.
There are almost too many to mention but they were all new and wonderful to watch, not only because of the creativity but because of the business solutions, key learnings and results.
Some agencies didn’t show work. They focused on the holistic business-consulting aspects that were marketing-led, and we were spellbound.
Our next AdForum will be in Amsterdam for three days in October; again, it will be the first time in about five years that we’ve been there. I’m already excited to see and hear what will be coming out of that worldwide summit. In between, there will be Cannes Lions internationally, Loeries locally and a whole lot of other activity.
It seems that the world is finally coming alive again and, although travel is still tricky with all the rules and regulations, the lack of airline staff internationally, quiet airports etc, there’s no question that global growth has resumed. Optimism is in the air.
Watch the daily videos:
8 May Introduction here
10 May Day 2 here
11 May Day 3 here
12 May Day 4 here
13 May Day 5 here
Johanna McDowell, CEO of the Independent Agency Search and Selection (IAS), is attending the first post-pandemic, fully in person AdForum Global Summit, where they will celebrate the 20th anniversary of this prestigious event.
AdForum Wolrdwide Summit is a unique and hyper-focused event for agency CEOs to present their strategy and vision to the world's leading search and management consultancies
McDowell will be sharing live daily updated broadcasts via LinkedIn, followed by various report backs on her return. The IAS will host another of its popular AdForum Feedback Masterclasses on the 1 June, both online and at GIBS Business School, covid protocols allowing.
Johanna McDowell, CEO of the Independent Agency Search and Selection (IAS), is attending the first post-pandemic, fully in person AdForum Global Summit, where they will celebrate the 20th anniversary of this prestigious event.
AdForum Wolrdwide Summit is a unique and hyper-focused event for agency CEOs to present their strategy and vision to the world's leading search and management consultancies
McDowell will be sharing live daily updated broadcasts via LinkedIn, followed by various report backs on her return. The IAS will host another of its popular AdForum Feedback Masterclasses on the 1 June, both online and at GIBS Business School, covid protocols allowing.
Johanna McDowell, CEO of the Independent Agency Search and Selection (IAS), is attending the first post-pandemic, fully in person AdForum Global Summit, where they will celebrate the 20th anniversary of this prestigious event.
AdForum Wolrdwide Summit is a unique and hyper-focused event for agency CEOs to present their strategy and vision to the world's leading search and management consultancies
McDowell will be sharing live daily updated broadcasts via LinkedIn, followed by various report backs on her return. The IAS will host another of its popular AdForum Feedback Masterclasses on the 1 June, both online and at GIBS Business School, covid protocols allowing.
Johanna McDowell, CEO of the Independent Agency Search and Selection (IAS), is attending the first post-pandemic, fully in person AdForum Global Summit, where they will celebrate the 20th anniversary of this prestigious event.
AdForum Wolrdwide Summit is a unique and hyper-focused event for agency CEOs to present their strategy and vision to the world's leading search and management consultancies
McDowell will be sharing live daily updated broadcasts via LinkedIn, followed by various report backs on her return. The IAS will host another of its popular AdForum Feedback Masterclasses on the 1 June, both online and at GIBS Business School, covid protocols allowing.
Johanna McDowell, CEO of the Independent Agency Search and Selection (IAS), is attending the first post-pandemic, fully in person AdForum Global Summit, where they will celebrate the 20th anniversary of this prestigious event.
AdForum Wolrdwide Summit is a unique and hyper-focused event for agency CEOs to present their strategy and vision to the world's leading search and management consultancies
McDowell will be sharing live daily updated broadcasts via LinkedIn, followed by various report backs on her return. The IAS will host another of its popular AdForum Feedback Masterclasses on the 1 June, both online and at GIBS Business School, covid protocols allowing.
Johanna McDowell, CEO of the Independent Agency Search and Selection (IAS), is attending the first post-pandemic, fully in person AdForum Global Summit, where they will celebrate the 20th anniversary of this prestigious event.
AdForum Wolrdwide Summit is a unique and hyper-focused event for agency CEOs to present their strategy and vision to the world's leading search and management consultancies
McDowell will be sharing live daily updated broadcasts via LinkedIn, followed by various report backs on her return. The IAS will host another of its popular AdForum Feedback Masterclasses on the 1 June, both online and at GIBS Business School, covid protocols allowing.
Johanna McDowell, CEO of the Independent Agency Search and Selection (IAS), is attending the first post-pandemic, fully in person AdForum Global Summit, where they will celebrate the 20th anniversary of this prestigious event.
AdForum Wolrdwide Summit is a unique and hyper-focused event for agency CEOs to present their strategy and vision to the world's leading search and management consultancies
McDowell will be sharing live daily updated broadcasts via LinkedIn, followed by various report backs on her return. The IAS will host another of its popular AdForum Feedback Masterclasses on the 1 June, both online and at GIBS Business School, covid protocols allowing.
Sun 8 May - Introduction
Johanna McDowell, CEO of the Independent Agency Search and Selection (IAS), leaves shortly to attend the first post-pandemic, fully in person AdForum Global Summit, where they will celebrate the 20th anniversary of this prestigious event.
Said McDowell: “I am very excited to be attending in person once again. Traditionally the New York City forum promises the most forward facing, global offering making for exciting insights and content.”
This forum’s agenda has been built to reflect the trends of the industry in the aftermath of the pandemic and the birth of Web 3. The IAS will represent the interests of South Africa and Africa, from the 9-13 May 2022, throughout in-depth, interactive presentations from an impressive line-up of agency leaders.
McDowell will be sharing live daily updated broadcasts via LinkedIn, followed by various report backs on her return. The IAS will host another of its popular AdForum Feedback Masterclasses on the 1 June, both online and at GIBS Business School, covid protocols allowing.
What marketers require for their own business development are ideas that create growth and metrics that show where it comes from. That means they need agencies that can deliver.
Innovation, ideas and creativity have always been expected of creative and media agencies, but today’s chief marketing officers (CMOs) are looking for these qualities not just in content, but as part of an agency’s approach to viewing its business differently.
The marketer’s job has evolved significantly from a decade ago. Marketers now want agencies to act as business partners, providing overall marketing of the business rather than just campaigns.
The challenge for agencies is to help, support and guide marketers to achieve their business growth objectives. Obviously, telling a client how to run their business wouldn’t be welcomed, but the agency with a good understanding of the marketer’s business and its goals becomes a trusted and vital part of the relationship.
When Agency Scope questioned marketing professionals about their top challenges, 28% cited knowledge of consumers, their journey and their touch points and how to engage with them. So the ideal agency would provide innovative solutions in these areas, including the use of media channels and the way marketers could be reaching specific audiences. It is an agency’s understanding of this that provides the value CMOs need.
Marketers in large corporates understand exactly who their clients or customers are, who they should be communicating with and where their growth is – or should be – coming from.
However, the issues of where and how to reach them are becoming increasingly tricky. It’s a data-dense area and I’m not sure marketers have all the data they need to analyse and sort into meaningful strategic objectives. If they don’t, they must rely on their agencies to help them with this.
Given the various channels and platforms customers can choose from, what used to be a fairly simple exercise now requires specialist knowledge of the channels.
Add to this consumers who are far more savvy, not only in using the various platforms but also in how to avoid marketing they don’t want to see. It’s trickier to engage with them, so the creativity required from agencies is how to navigate the consumer journey and be seen.
Media agencies in particular know where the triggers are that will engage consumers sufficiently for them to want to make the purchase, and marketers are relying on agencies to see this as a part of their function.
Another important area that challenges marketers and agencies is keeping up with the change in audience. That marketers had a handle on their customer profile five years ago does not mean they’re able to count on that today. So how have those consumers’ media habits changed? How have their buying patterns changed?
The pandemic eliminated certainties. Marketers are now asking: “Where are they doing their buying? How are they doing their buying? Are they back in stores, or has online shopping replaced store visits?” Again, an agency that can produce measurable data here and foresee trends is the one a CMO wants as a partner.
This raises another issue – budget. Marketers are only just starting to revert to their pre-pandemic budgets. Though budgets were slashed during the pandemic, agencies tell the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS) they’re expected to do more for less.
What do agencies do in terms of resources on a limited budget? How do they plan for this and manage it? It’s an important factor in the relationship with the marketer, who is most likely also running on smaller teams and budgets. Gearing up and re-employing people is only now starting to happen.
Agency Scope reveals that the average marketer has, on average, 13 different communications partners. How to manage all of them is something else CMOs are grappling with right now.
Between 2019 and 2021, “integration” ranked among the least important challenges for the agencies in Agency Scope. It’s now the fourth most important issue.
All indications are that a challenge for marketers becomes a challenge for their agencies. The number of channels available, the data generated by so many agency partners and the expertise required to navigate all this leave CMOs on the hunt for agencies with answers.
Johanna McDowell is CEO of the IAS and a Scopen partner.
You may also be interested in reading Trends for 2022 - The agency-marketer relationship
“How well do your agencies contribute to your business growth?” SCOPEN 2021-2022 posed this question to senior marketers when researching trends and challenges for agencies.
Johanna McDowell, SCOPEN partner and CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS), says the purpose of the question was not to compare creative agencies with media agencies, but to determine value delivered to the marketer by each.
“The question is subjective,” says McDowell, “and, quite frankly, a difficult one to answer. How does the client know whether the creative or the media placement was what determined a campaign’s failure or success?”
In the case of media agencies, their metrics will include how well a campaign fared in the media and how well they reached their target audience. “Only the marketer can say whether their agency’s input had a real impact on business, so their answer is largely intuitive,” she says.
Media agencies are able to give an overview on the client’s share of voice, based on their budget and the total spend in the market. This then can be related to the brand’s share of market depending on the stage that the particular brand is at – looking for growth, maturity stage and so on,“ continues McDowell.
AGENCY SCOPE shows that South African CMOs believe that media agencies contribute an average of 34.1% to a client’s growth, where the global average is 24.2% – a good sign for local media agencies.
Cesar Vacchiano, President and CEO of SCOPEN International, points out that data from each country is different and cannot simply be compared to another. “In Brazil, with its integrated full-service model,” he says. “marketers attribute 60.1% business growth to their agencies.”
McDowell is firm in her assertion that no agency can be expected to be solely responsible for the growth of a brand, owing to the sheer number of factors outside the realms of their influence.
“The marketer has a number of areas to take care of,” she says. “They must look after the product, the distribution channels, price, and all the other promotional activities attached to the brand.
“The agency can only do so much,” McDowell maintains, “but the fact that CMOs can say that they believe their media agency contributes 34.1% to their overall growth means it is quantifiable.”
With years of experience across all sectors of media and marketing, McDowell is adamant about one thing: “In the complexity of media channels and the ever-increasing platforms arising today, I would not make a single decision without consulting a media agency expert.”
Where media agencies shine is where they examine all of the channel opportunities. One of the questions AGENCY SCOPE posed to CMOs was, “How many communications partners and platforms are you dealing with?” The answer was a hefty average of 13, making aggregation of value extremely complex.
“CMOs essentially count on the media agency to collate that information,” McDowell notes, citing the AGENCY SCOPE result that shows 57% of marketers prefer all of their media channels, including digital, to be managed by their media agency.
Vacchiano concurs, highlighting that marketers are not always best placed to determine the extent of the value they’re getting from each channel. “Media agencies house experts on all of the media options available to the client and they are able to optimise the allocated budget across all the channels.”
This, both McDowell and Vacchiano agree, is an area in which it is too easy to waste money without specialist recommendations. “Any decisions made without consulting the media director and agency is potentially money thrown away,” McDowell insists.
“With the complexity and fragmentation of media channels coupled with new ones coming on stream, how can a marketer – whose function it is to be obsessed with creating more opportunities for their brand – be expected to understand the intricacies, even if they had the time?”
Quite simply, CMOs have no choice but to rely on experts who are trained to look at a client’s budget and note the best way to buy the audience that marketers needs to reach.
“There are champions of this game, whose challenge is to make sure a target audience is reached,” McDowell says. “They’re found in the media agencies.”
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What makes an advert great? What makes an ad stand out from the crowd, especially in today’s cluttered media environment? How do advertisers choose the right platform with such a wide choice? How should marketers approach the digital divide in South Africa? Where is advertising headed in a digitised world with so much online content competing for our attention?
Wits Business School along with their Master of Management in Strategic Marketing programme, held a webinar in which experts will considered some of the great campaigns in South Africa’s recent history, as well as what it will take to produce an effective advert in the future.
A lively stimulating discussion with the following panel:
Mr Sylvester Chauke, Founder & Chief Architect: DNA Brand Architects
Ms Johanna McDowell, Founder and Chief Executive - Independent Agency Selection
Mr Brandon Lemuel Mncube, Head Of Group Digital Marketing - Brand - Sanlam
Mr Thulani Sibeko, Chief Brand & Marketing Officer - Standard Bank Group
Mr Lawrence Dube, Executive Corporate Business Manager at Wits Business School will facilitate the conversation.
The primary way a client appoints an agency is through the good old pitch process, writes Johanna McDowell, CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS) and Scopen partner. But is that because clients don't know there's a better way?
Although the pitch process is part of agency life – in fact, the lifeblood of agencies to a certain extent, the whole experience has become very draining over the last 12 to 18 months. The stories we’re hearing from across the industry is how agencies put together a heart-and-soul pitch, an energetic presentation... and the client ghosts them.
Ghosting is currently very prevalent in the industry across all advertising and communication disciplines, where agencies will put proposals together, often accompanied by creative work. Post presentation, nothing happens.
Scopen research shows that 86% of accounts awarded happens via the pitch process. However, what has grown in the last two years is the use of workshops. Instead of weeks of putting together a full-on pitch, the two parties collaborate in a workshop to determine their combined potential.
From an IAS viewpoint, this is a healthy development in the industry. Even while the percentage of participation in workshops is smaller, we believe growth in this area would show huge benefits.
The third preferred way of awarding business is to work on projects, either from an idea suggested by the client or an agency being proactive enough to come up with an idea that would excite the client. In fact, where an agency approaches a potential client with a suggestion and proposal, they may well get some business even if the client has an agency of record. Per-project work can lead to more work, and is a good way to get a foot in the door.
Here’s what clients want to see: An initiative that’s relevant, from an agency that takes the time to really consider the business it is targeting. Approaching armed with research on the potential client’s market sector, along with a proposition that is different, attractive and interesting, results - nine times out of ten – in the client appointing the agency.
When reviewing Scopen research, it’s quite disappointing to see how poorly South Africa performs in relation to its international counterparts when it comes to winning new business. What’s required is a shakeup that indicates a hunger for business and zest instead of blandness in approach.
Note that the agencies in South Africa who are consistently successful know exactly what they’re doing - and that’s why they win. Winning agencies make a point of finding out all they can about a client.
With the research and tools available to everyone today, there’s no reason why one agency should be armed with more intelligence than another. Businesses that have been following Scopen research understand the client and the effort required to win – and they’ve have become measurably more successful.
Bottom line, then, must be: Don’t rely solely on a pitch process or statutory RFP. Compliment that with workshops and a project using idea others haven’t already given to a client. Use the tools and resources available to note how others work and what a client wants, and chase the business instead of waiting for that knock on your door.
Sometimes opportunity doesn’t knock. It gets distracted by an energetic team with great ideas and a desire to win business.
A new survey that rates perception of brands and marketers by creative and media agencies shows fast-food chain Nando’s is the company they would most like to work with.
MTN, which has just undergone a major brand repositioning, is also named, as well as another fast-food brand, Chicken Licken
The results are not surprising because all three are acknowledged for allowing their agencies to continually push the creative envelope. The upshot over many years has been high public brand recognition and regular awards success.
The "Scopen Marketer Scope" survey engaged more than 200 professionals who work in the creative and media space. More than 150 were in creative agencies and 50 in media agencies all belonging to holding groups or independents operating in SA.
Johanna McDowell, CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Co and Scopen partner, says: "Until now, research has been about asking marketers for their perceptions and input around what they think of their agencies, and while we’ve had opinions from creative agency professionals, we’ve never really asked them what they think of marketers."
To determine their quintessential client, agency professionals were asked to define the characteristics that their ideal or exemplary candidate must meet. Nearly 40% overall said considering the agency as a real partner was the most valued characteristic, with an even higher ranking by media agency professionals.
This attribute was followed by 27% saying a marketer’s willingness to assume risks and being open-minded was important, with a chief marketing officer’s trust in the agency deemed third most important.
Following these, importance was also placed on "adequate recognition and compensation" by media and creative entities.
Respondents also said they valued clients who constantly sought to innovate, and valued transformation and those who prepared good briefs for agencies on work needed. This has been a constant complaint by agencies for years: they are forced to navigate in the dark.
Surprisingly, just more than 40% of respondents rated marketers on their digital advancement. This gap should be of concern to both agencies and marketers, given the direction that brand marketing is heading in.
McDowell says: "Once the ideal client was defined, we then asked these same interviewees to name two client companies that most closely match the defined qualities." Nando’s, Sanlam and Unilever were the three most mentioned companies.
Scopen researchers then asked which they consider to be their "brand or marketer of the year 2021", specifying they could choose only one. Chicken Licken and Nando’s were the two brands most mentioned.
The report also reveals that agencies value client decisionmakers being involved in day-to-day meetings, not juniors. This is a constant complaint, both from agencies and marketers, in that heavyweights arrive for the pitch process and are rarely seen again until the account needs to be renewed or there is a crisis to manage.
In the overall marketer performance ranking, Mazda came out top, followed by insurance group Hollard, for having attributes that sustain a long-term relationship, or, as McDowell says, "a brand that is the marrying sort". Other brands on that list include Mondelez, Shoprite, Nando’s, AB InBev, Standard Bank and Ford.
In response, Heidi Brauer, head of marketing at Hollard, said on social media: "Our little-big brand has done well to get such recognition from agency professionals. Small budgets can be beautiful constraints."
The Scopen Best Agency to Work for SA 2021-2022 offers a view of the breakdown of the 156 creative agency members and 50 members from media agencies. While there’s very little between the ages and number of years in their sectors, some of the key factors that determine who would move agencies and why set them quite far apart.
Personality – or job - traits show up in response to whether flexibility and work from home opportunities would be a factor in changing jobs. Just 7.1% of creatives against 16% of media people see this as important. From an IAS perspective, this is interesting because previous research has shown that creatives thrive in a lively office environment, whereas media specialists are happy working quietly and even alone.
Areas that would entice more creative agency professionals to make a move are company culture, the challenge of the job and work-life balance. They’re a work-hard, play-hard group for whom pride in their work and the value placed on their company by the industry is somewhat more important than for media agency employees.
The latter, however, score credibility – notably, how they perceive their bosses or company leaders – a fairly hefty 32%, while their creative agency counterparts score this just 21.9%.
The old adage holds true that change is the only certainty in life. When probing the predisposition to change, 14.2% of creative agency people and 20% of media agency personnel are thinking of moving to another agency. A reasonably high 36.1% of creatives said they would “definitely not change”, while 42% of media staffers noted that they would “probably not change”.
Where would those who felt the urge to move on be most likely to go? To a client-advertiser, said 36.4% of creatives; while 30% of media shifters would do the same – but 30% of this group said they’d join an agency. Note here that just 9.1% of creatives quizzed would join a start-up, while 20% of media people would be keen. None of the latter would be looking to become a business consultant, where 13.6% of their creative counterparts would.
Overall, when a professional considers changing their job, the key criteria among the largest sector (31.6%) is salary driven, followed by the hunt for opportunities for professional growth (25.2%).
Having looked at the “how” of the Scopen study, when we asked the question of respondents, “If you were to move to a new position in another agency, which are the three agencies to whom you would be most attracted?” we come to the top three agencies.
Overall creative agencies of choice are Joe Public – by a fairly good margin – followed by TBWA very narrowly pipping Ogilvy at the post. King James and M&C Saatchi Abel are fourth and fifth respectively.
The picture is slightly different when network agencies are split from the independents, with TBWA coming first among the network agencies followed by Ogilvy and King James. Among the independent creative agencies, Joe Public is obviously the winner, with The Odd Number and Promise Group in second and third place respectively.
First place in the media agency sector is The Media Shop, with Wavemaker not too far behind and Mediacom coming in third. The network media agencies dominate this particular study.
Pointing out that this is the first time the study has been done in SA, César Vacchiano, co-founder and global CEO of Scopen, says: “These are interesting results for SA. Results could well have been influenced by the pandemic given that SA was in the depths of the third wave when we conducted this research. It will be interesting to see how much has changed when we repeat the study later this year.”
The changes in our industry have been massive – and not just due to the pandemic, either. We’ve seen print take something of a knock, and digital rise and grow unlike any platforms before.
In fact, ACENCY SCOPE 2021-2022 shows that globally, digital has grown 2.9 percentage points (+7.6%) in the last three years, with China and Mexico apportioning the highest budget to the sector than any other country, at 50.1% and 47.9%, respectively.
At home, the IAB South African Digital Ad Spend Report for 2020 revealed that despite a super-sluggish economy, the digital industry experienced an 18% year-on-year growth. This is life-changing on many levels, not least the question of how the media agency has had to change to keep up.
In fairness, the media agency role isn’t changing so much as taking on far more of what they have always done: Making certain that the channels and media opportunities they recommend to their clients are the most appropriate and best performing, and dispensing budgets accordingly.
A media agency’s job years ago was doing precisely this – only choosing from a handful of television channels; a fair selection of magazines and newspapers; some outdoor; and umpteen radio stations.
Without digital in the mix, choices, strategies and costs were manageable. Today, there’s digital, a sector that has mushroomed and continues to proliferate as the “next big thing” comes along. It is made more complex because of so many more channels and platforms, and the media agency must keep an eye on all of them.
In its early stages, digital platforms often bypassed the media agencies and worked directly with marketers – and some still do. This scenario is not without its issues, though. AGENCY SCOPE shows that 57% of clients prefer their media agency to look after their digital initiatives along with their current responsibilities, to ensure they’re getting the best deals, that the channels’ performance is up to scratch.
The media agency’s role has had to expand to take up all these new opportunities and be on top of what is relevant now. They’ve also had to review the so-called “tried and trusted” platforms to ensure each client is getting the best option for their spend.
Many of the print options that would have been recommended without question in the past don’t exist anymore, so media agencies staying current with the sector is even more important now.
Viewing this from a client perspective, where media is not their core business, staying current in this age of vast choice is almost impossible. Clients must, by necessity, rely on their media agency.
To ensure prime recommendations, media agencies have had to become far more agile to ensure the pace at which they make choices matches the rapid growth of choices being offered.
In my view, the media agency has become a far more valuable marketing partner than ever before. This is not to say they were not always exceptionally valuable – but the scope they must deal with now makes them a marketer’s right hand. Perhaps this will result in a greater recognition of the role of these agencies in managing the complexity of the numerous media opportunities.
With digital spend in South Africa at 37% of a company’s budget, the bottom line question must be: If an agency is performing its primary function, should it be expected to be monitoring the digital media ecosystem while also ensuring the appropriateness of the non-digital spend?
There’s no right and wrong, but the scope of each marketing partner must be coordinated. AGENCY SCOPE shows some clients are working with an average of 13 different communication partners including agencies, consultancies and digital platforms. It doesn’t take much for these numbers to bloat, putting paid to the agility required.
The media agency takes care of the largest part of the client’s expenditure – media buying and running campaigns is a pivotal role. Backed by SCOPEN research, I’m of the opinion that they have the overall view of how the budget is being spent and why.
In choosing a team of partners able to give a marketer the edge, I would want my media agency to have an eagle-eyed view of the landscape I’m investing in
In psychology, “feedback” is loosely considered information about a process or interaction that is provided to enable a person or entity to make adjustments that eliminate problems or optimise functioning. The same is true for marketers, agencies and pitches.
The cornerstone of the intermediary process is feedback, and it was a founding feature of the Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS). It was seen as important to be able to help agencies understand how they performed, which areas they were weak in and how they could up their game for future pitches.
Agencies that get feedback have a chance to meet or exceed standards and improve their performance based on real issues. Without it, they’re left guessing at what they could have done differently and what needs to change to create a winning pitch.
We’ve worked with agencies that have applied the learnings that feedback offers and have gone on to hit a winning streak of pitches.
Feedback that makes a difference
The vital feedback from intermediaries is about how an agency communicates during the pitch, presenting their credentials in the best light and appealing to the core brief. The fact that intermediaries are part of the discussion when a marketer is narrowing down its choices means we have inner-circle information to guide agencies.
Interestingly, many marketers are reluctant to give direct feedback to agencies, often to avoid a challenging discussion or disagreement. For an intermediary, however, it’s not personal. We are not naming a winner, merely sharing feedback on the client’s choice without fear or favour.
We have no axe to grind with either party, so feedback is dispassionate and based on real data and events throughout the pitch process.
Why timing is vital
Over the years, we’ve learned that the timing of an intermediary’s feedback is crucial. Share an assessment too soon and you’re dealing with a group of people who have put their hearts into the pitch process and have lost, leaving emotions raw. The time, resources and particularly the energy agency personnel put into the pitch includes actually seeing themselves working with the new client, and disappointment runs through so many levels – creativity, strategic thinking, the developing of unique touch points and more.
Feedback too early is difficult to absorb through the emotion and would be wasted. But because intermediaries keep an audit of every part of the process, we are able to give all feedback in due time, when the team is ready to absorb the information and use it for growth and development.
The feedback proves valuable in the short and the long term. As Andrew Shuttleworth, co-founder and COO of Brave Group, says: “We really needed help from the IAS with our chemistry sessions and we recently applied its feedback from a previous pitch into a recent process. It worked extremely well for us.”
Feedback for winners
Of equal importance is the intermediary’s meeting with the pitch winners to ensure the elated team is clear about why it was awarded the work and what it promised to deliver during the highs and lows of the pitch.
Even with the value of feedback clear to all, many pitches are still not run by intermediaries. They should be – when they are, everybody wins.
Delegates from both agencies and marketing organisations were in attendance at a highly engaging masterclass session last week Wednesday, 9 February 2022, with a panel consisting of Claudia Walters, Mazda head of marketing and communications; Suhayl Limbada, KFC Thailand CMO (but until recently KFC South Africa CMO); and Justine Cullinan, Nando’s GM marketing — brand strategy and communications.
In the early months of the pandemic, during hard lockdown and with no sign of any vaccines at that stage, all three marketers had to focus on the following particular areas:
Acceleration in ecommerce
Efficiencies in logistics and delivery, supply chain management
Greater agility
Depending on the sector, there were immediate budget cuts — one of the marketers commented that even the budget for 2022 is less than the budget of two years ago.
In the food sector, marketers experienced a coming together of the industry bodies eg the restaurant association, supplier associations and so on, so much greater levels of collaboration as a result.
In those first months of the pandemic, the marketers certainly became even more operationally involved than previously but their important role was to be able to share insights on how consumers were experiencing the pandemic and how these experiences were affecting their respective brands.
When it came to relationships with their agencies in the early days of the pandemic, discussions revolved around ideas on how to communicate in this new environment and with all of the restrictions. In some cases, there were so many great ideas that the marketers found additional budget to support these.
The cost and time benefits of shooting online, instead of on set and with a great many people, was a key learning and certainly one to take forward, maybe not for every commercial but certainly for some. One commercial was turned around from start to finish in 24 hours — not the greatest fun but it was worth it for the result.
Existing scopes of work were scrapped; it was all about starting again!
One of the marketers put in place a 100-day plan for ways of working with all suppliers. Retainer discussions had to take place, in some instances, and with the inevitable cuts, if required.
The agencies had to become part of the client teams on an even more intensive basis, and it was vital to check in and look after each other to make sure that people on both sides were coping with the impact on their lives.
It’s still very volatile and will remain like that for a while. One of the marketers talked about how important it’s become to show the value of marketing to the internal teams, so that they can see that marketing works.
The marketers talked about the value of collaboration, true agility, purpose, human connections, and brand-building. It’s also important to be aware of how people’s behaviours have changed: health has become more important, along with the need to eat healthily.
So how do client-agency relationships look for 2022? What else could agencies be doing to help their clients through this difficult time?
More flexibility and speed in turnaround times
Agencies must evolve as the brands evolve
Planning ahead, with the ability to provoke new thought over the next 10 years
Focus on making a real impact
Simplify processes and outputs — stay focused on thinking of the big idea
Stay true to your values
Be brave and distinct
While the marketers commented that they might have good budgets, especially where sales have been good, the money needs to be spent wisely. Marketers have had more time during the pandemic to study their media expenditure, for example, and where the money is being used. With so many channel options, this is being looked at very carefully.
On the subject of media, marketers want to know about the new media channels and how best to ‘show up’ there. Marketers know they need to invest in their brands — agency expertise in content, on the right platforms, is crucial — especially if budgets can’t afford TV campaigns. It’s all about finding the right audience, concluded one of the marketers.
