Competitive conflict? No big deal…

In his latest SCOPEN trend highlight, President and CEO of SCOPEN César Vacchiano notes that where once certain clients would prefer not to employ an agency that was working with a competitor, attitudes have changed.

“Our study shows that the percentage of clients not concerned by competitive conflict in their sector within an agency has grown from 21,3% in 2019 to 40% now. That’s a fair leap,” says Vacchiano, “and while precise reasons were not requested from respondents, further analysis indicates that two main factors stand out in marketer’s attitudes to this – trust, and wanting a specific agency, at all costs.”

Says Johanna McDowell, Chief Executive Officer at Independent Agency Selection (IAS) and Managing Partner of SCOPEN Africa, “We saw an uptick in trust between clients and agencies during Covid19, and are pleased to see all parties appear to be maintaining the status quo.

“This, combined with clients knowing that a specific agency will be best for what they want to achieve and choosing them despite any reservations they may have had shows a maturing of the market.”  

Like Vacchiano, McDowell says it would be interesting to discuss this with marketers and further digging may bring interesting new moves to light. “Is it only about trust, or the fact that some agencies are positioning themselves in the consultancy space, which is known for being a space that has always had conflicting clients and competitive brands.”

“It is less of an issue than it used to be,” Vacchiano posits, pointing out that “in some cases the degree of specialisation of an agency and its reputation means their value is such that some clients are prepared to take any perceived risk simply because they want that specialty and that service.”

Trust, technology and intellectual property

Here, McDowell notes that it is not in the interest of any agency to share client information or be concerned about what a competitive brand may be doing. “For years, agencies have had frameworks within teams work so as another team on a competitor’s project doesn’t get the down low on who is doing what.

“Technology, too, can ensure that even within the same agency, competitor’s information can be locked down and accessed only by password protection for each project. Agencies have long been using both company values and technology to protect each clients’ intellectual property, again reducing any anxiety in among marketers.”

Clients not entirely comfortable with sharing an agency with competitors are usually in the retail, banking and FMCG sectors, but even these may share an agency depending on what type of work the agency is doing for each. Again, Vacchiano highlights that it is not in any agency’s best interest to transgress the protective framework.

McDowell adds, “Overall, a key factor is, quite simply, a marketer wants the agency they want. They want the creativity, the culture, the level of innovation and they’re prepared to work with the agency known for meeting the highest standards in each area.

“Clients want the best and in a sea of sameness, they’re showing more and more that they’re willing to roll the dice on an agency known for being the best. So far, trust is winning.”

Brand vs performance cultures

As marketing agencies continue to seek ways to deliver the goods, we are seeing ‘old agency’ bumping up against ‘slick martech’, writes Johanna McDowell, CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS) and SCOPEN partner. On top of these draining legacy issues, do we really need another new dashboard?

To paraphrase Nick Law, creative chairperson at Accenture Song, “Branding is a mature culture of storytelling and craft, suspicious of the scientific world of algorithms, while the performance world is young and bright, with a deep understanding of modern media and technology, sneering at the hand-wavy romantics”.

At this point, nobody seems truly able to fill the gap left by operating brand and performance separately. On the one hand, traditional agency creativity is often off the mark where targeted content is required; on the other, performance teams seem to be continually throwing more martech at a communications problem.

Turning data into action

So, how do we deal with what has become known as the “messy middle”? Understanding the need for data and analytics, the IAS believes that turning only valuable data into actionable marketing campaigns is necessary. This will require a balance between brand and performance at an organisational level.

It’s not more software that’s required, but more soft skills – now effectively power skills – when applied to creating a marketing ecosystem that understands the job to be done. Organisations must comprise people who understand both communications and technology, and what each should be doing to draw the two sides together.

The primary focus should always be, “how does this help the marketer and the brand?” We see data management as a function that must shift from being a separate department within the marketing ecosystem to being the responsibility of business leaders.

Value in simplification

AGENCY SCOPE 2023 noted that marketers are recognising brand building and the creativity behind it as being crucial, even as many keep chasing the analytics. How do we make sure the missing middle doesn’t handicap the process?

Simplifying processes could result in reducing the “messy middle” and its part in the agency ecosystem’s often sluggish response to opportunities to turn data into sales. The AAR, IAS’ UK partner, suggests an incremental building of the industry by moving more creativity and budget to data-lead targeting, driven by clients.

Simplification in this context does not necessarily mean reducing or even streamlining the number of agencies within a marketer’s eco system, but rather the understanding that clients need these skills that are becoming more specialised as technology advances at speed.

For example, the key area of consumer targeting has grown to incorporate essential data that requires specialists to extrapolate the precise analytics that will positively impact marketers’ results and the long-term success of the brand.

Staying in their lane

With each additional specialisation, marketers are left to determine which of their current agencies have the capabilities they require and whether yet another agency may be needed. Here, the IAS suggests choosing one organisation that has the skills and experience to find ways for existing agencies to collaborate better or to introduce a single, multi-channel organisation that frees up the client to focus on core daily issues.

This enables each agency to stay in their lane, recognising each others strengths, and work to support the ambitions and objectives of the brand.

It’s time for the “them and us” of brand versus performance to combine their vast swathes of data and talent to create a “magic middle”, simply and swiftly, for the sake of the brand and its customers.

Fortune favours the brave – someone has to stand up soon and say, “Enough…”

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Nedbank, the ‘ideal’ client, and also the most attractive brand for agencies

As a continuation of the study on de BEST AGENCIES TO WORK FOR, according to professionals working in agencies (both creative and media), SCOPEN analyzes in its BEST MARKETER TO WORK WITH Study, the most attractive brands in South Africa for these same professionals, and the qualities that an ‘ideal’ client should have.

The field work was carried out between the months of July and September 2023 and a total of 200 professionals have been interviewed (155 from creative agencies and 45 from media agencies).

The three main characteristics that the South African interviewees mention when they talk about those that a brand must have to be considered an ‘ideal’ client are, firstly, Partnership / Build Long-Term relationships (for 56.5%), secondly, its Ability to Take Risks and look for Big Creative Ideas (38.0%) and in third place, the Professionalism and Seniority of the Brand's team (20%). Other characteristics are mentioned below, such as Adequate compensation, an in-depth Knowledge of the business, Clarity in briefs and objectives, the client’s ability to Share Feedback and information and their Respect for timings.

Cesar Vacchiano, President of SCOPEN International asserts, “It is very relevant that when agency professionals choose those client companies they want to work with, they prioritize long term partnerships that produce confidence and trust when risk taking, over adequate compensations (that probably exist in those long term relationships). Analyzing longer-term client-agency relationships across different markets we always notice that these partnerships produce admired professionals in both parties and better work (creative and effectiveness awards).”

The South African clients that, according to the agencies, come closest to these definitions of ‘ideal’ are: Nedbank, ABInBev and Chicken Licken.

On the other hand, regardless of how the brands score on the different attributes that evaluate their relationship with their agencies, the professionals are also asked about the brands with which they would like to work (more aspirational, due to the visibility and impact of their communication). In this ranking, the first three positions are occupied by: Nedbank, Nando's and Absa.

Joe Public and Mindshare stand as the most attractive creative and media agencies to work for

SCOPEN presents the results of the second edition of the BEST AGENCY TO WORK FOR Study on creative and media agencies in South Africa, which identifies the most attractive agencies to work for, for the professionals who currently work in them. The field work was carried out between the months of July and September 2023.

In this edition, a total of 200 professionals have been interviewed (155 from creative agencies and 45 from media). The sample is higher among professionals from Johannesburg (73.5%), with greater female representation (58.5%) - higher in media agencies - and the average age is 44 years. On average, they have been at their agencies between 7 and 8 years and more than 7 in their current position. Management positions have the highest representation in the sample (a third of them are CEO/Partner/MD).

The key factors that most influence an agency change are Professional Projection/Learning (51.1% - almost 26 percentage points more than in the previous edition) and Salary (41.5% - 10 pp more vs. 2022). Aspects such as Company/Organizational Culture (17%), Professional Team/People (11.9%), Client List (9.6%), Creative Quality (8.9%), Hours -Home Office, Flexibility- or International Network (both with 8.1%) are mentioned less.

Among the six tangible aspects suggested, the three most important that influence preference of one agency over another are Location & Access (27.3%), Work-life balance -working remotely and with flexibility- (23%) and Benefits -other types of remuneration- (21.8%). Among the intangible aspects, Respect -how employees think they are perceived by their leaders- (27.5%), Credibility -how employees perceive their boss/leaders and the company- (23.5%) and Pride -Value of work, image of the company in the industry- (17.5%) are the three that stand out.

In South Africa, the satisfaction of professionals working in their current agencies is high, with an average recommendation level of 8.8 out of 10, and an NPS of +57.3. Only 13.7 of the professionals interviewed declare their intention to change agencies (certainly or probably). If they did, they would mainly change to a client company.

Cesar Vacchiano, CEO of SCOPEN Global, says… “Across all markets we see that due to the uncertain times we live in, most agency professionals (43% in South Africa), are not thinking of changing agencies. Among those thinking of changing, the vast majority want to move to a client company. It is a big problem if agencies are not attractive for professionals in our industry, as without outstanding talent, agencies will lose relevance for marketers.”.

Joe Public achieves the top position among the most attractive creative agencies

The 10 creative agencies leading the Best Agency to Work for 2024 for South African professionals are:

#1 Joe Public                             #6 GREY

#2 Ogilvy                              #7 M&CSAATCHI ABEL

#3 TBWA\                             #8 Promise

#4 Accenture Song                #9 Grid

#5 VMLY&R                         #10 FCBAFRICA

Joe Public maintains the position it achieved in the last edition, as the most attractive agency to work for among creative agency professionals. This is mainly, because of its first position (much higher than the rest of the agencies) in the Top 10 ranking of independent agencies. Ogilvy and TBWA\ reach second and third position (being first and second in the Top 10 of Group Agencies). Among the Top five in the global network agency ranking, we find Accenture Song, which achieves fourth position, not having appeared in the Top 10 previous edition, and VMLY&R, which rises two positions (it was 7th in 2022). We also found two significant rises from Grid and FCBAFRICA, both of which appeared in position 17 in the previous edition, and now reach positions 9 and 10 respectively.

Mindshare achieves first place among the most attractive media agencies

 Mindshare reaches first place as the most attractive media agency to work for (it was in fourth place in 2022), followed by The MediaShop (first in the previous edition) and phd (which rises one place). In the Top 10 we find four significant increases: CARAT (which goes from tenth to fourth place), OMD (from 11 to 6), and Publicis Media and UM (which go from 16 to 7 and 10 respectively).

 The 10 media agencies in the #BATWF 2024 are:

#1 MINDSHARE             #6 OMD

#2 The MediaShop        #7 PUBLICIS MEDIA

#3 PHD                         #8 Metamedia

#4 CARAT                    #9 Starcom

#5 Wavemaker           #10 UM

AGENCY SCOPE: Creative strategy boosts agency contribution to clients’ growth

By far the hardest question to answer in the AGENCY SCOPE study is when we ask marketers, “How much has your agency contributed to the growth of your business?”, says Johanna McDowell, Independent Agency Search and Selection Company (IAS) and SCOPEN partner.

It is, she notes, one of the last questions in the study and the one that has marketers scratching their heads in view of the difficulty of considering the sheer number of factors that contribute to business growth.

“Agency contribution to growth is clearly not just about the advertising or the return on investment, which would be too simplistic,” says McDowell. “Larger marketers, in particular, understand the number of factors that may account for business growth, including product, price, distribution, among others.”

In some instances, marketers don’t or can’t answer, but the many who do respond have enabled AGENCY SCOPE to determine that creative agencies contribute just slightly under 30% to their client’s business growth, while media agencies are contributing just under 34%, she says.

“The answer to this question is also a factor in determining the net promoter score (NPS) the agency achieves.”

South Africa versus rest of the world

According to SCOPEN co-founder and global CEO César Vacchiano, comparing South African contributing agencies to their global counterparts is important in setting benchmarks and the trends that drive them.

Says Vacchiano, “The global average for creative agencies in the SCOPEN markets is 32%, while the media agency average is 33%. Of the two, media agencies would be easier to track, owing to the fact that they have more data that can prove business growth and they share their various analyses with their clients.”

The latest AGENCY SCOPE South Africa stats show overall improvement. In 2021, the average contribution made by creative agencies to clients’ business growth was 26% and is up by 4% in 2023. Media agencies have maintained their 34% contribution from 2021 to 2023.

“Considering that another statistic – percentage of spend on advertising – when we look at the investment ratio of the amount of money invested in advertising communication by marketers in relation to their company turnover figures, marketing, communications, advertising and media budgets were around 4.2% of turnover,” Vacchiano asserts,

“In 2023, it stands at 3.5%, showing the investment in the four sectors above has dropped considerably, highlighting the fact that budgets have had to work a lot harder.”

Marketers know that to maintain a contribution to business growth according to what the client sees is good; but to be able to have increased it like creative agencies have done is excellent.

Creativity delves into realm of business growth

Vacchiano and McDowell concur that this data underscores marketers’ suggestions that the importance of creative agencies cutting through the clutter and producing workable strategies is vital; and it shows in the SCOPEN study responses. Clearly, this is being recognised across the board, particularly in relation to business growth.

“To impact business growth at the same level with less money across two years shows creativity is key,” McDowell asserts, noting that it is not just creativity in terms of ideas, but also media strategising and creative implementation of financial spend across the various platforms and in a variety of ways to reach target audiences.

“In the final analysis,” says Vacchiano, “creativity in every sense of the word has taken a vital leap into the way in which marketers and agencies conduct business with a steady eye on growth.”

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#MasterclassNotes: Why chemistry reigns supreme

Seventeen years and 500 pitches later (excluding those I was in and ran during my time in agencies and as a marketer), I’m more than ever convinced that, without chemistry, the client-agency relationship is doomed.

Chemistry isn’t just about liking each other or socialising. It’s so much more.

A commitment to a relationship involves discussion, shared values, appreciation of cultures and so on. A client-agency relationship can’t be governed by contract and resource plan alone. It’s about standing together and facing the difficulties that inevitably will occur, such as a sudden budget cut.

Where & how the “magic of chemistry” starts?

Chemistry starts during the early stages of a pitch process, whether formal or informal — or it should. How an agency could possibly go into a final pitch presentation in front of a marketer without having had at least one exclusive interaction with that potential client is beyond me. Plus, in my view, agencies must push for that managed interaction because chemistry is a two-way street and it’s an opportunity for each party to evaluate the other, just as they do later during any professional relationship management exercise.

Chemistry sessions over Teams don’t work, although when we had to do those a few years ago during the beginning of the covid pandemic, it was better than nothing. In person, in real life sessions in the agency offices is where chemistry may be assessed. An agency is at its most authentic in its own environment, and the job of the client is to evaluate how that agency will fit into the client’s world.

I estimate that, globally (and locally), only 20% of all pitches are managed by intermediary companies, so it’s still low but even non-intermediated pitches need a chemistry stage and assessment. This gives both parties the chance to decide on a number of things:

• Can we (the client) work with this agency?

• Can we (the agency) work with this client team?

• Is the agency team ‘together’ and do they have each other’s backs (teamwork)?

• Is the client used to dominating its agency partners, or is it prepared to work in partnership?

• Does the agency display curiosity, or does it try and ‘know everything’ too soon?

• Do the client team members display solid connections and a chemistry of their own?

• When I (client) look at my meetings coming up in the week ahead, am I excited at the thought of meeting my agency team?

• Did the agency team only talk to the most important member of the client team or did they make sure that everyone was included?

And the list goes on.

These factors are vital to the well-being of any relationship and may become crucial when the ‘chips are down’.

Chemistry isn’t about long lunches or over-socialising. It’s not about gifts or weekends away but about the ability to be able to pick up the phone or send an urgent WhatsApp and know that it will be readily received, trusted and acted upon by either party in a time of crisis.

Chemistry is so important that it can be used as an elimination factor during a formal pitch process. Even the highly structured government processes (and some private sector processes) can accommodate a chemistry session as procurement should, and surely would want to, do a site inspection at an agency before appointing it or asking it to pitch. Building in some time for a chemistry assessment would add enormous value to the much-reviled PFMA pitch process.

Building chemistry

Chemistry may be built or it may happen spontaneously. However, though there might be an instant attraction between both parties the first time they meet, this could easily dissolve during the later stages of a pitch — a case of instant attraction becoming fatal attraction!

I believe that, if the chemistry can be sustained and the agency wins the pitch, then the early start to the relationship will be far easier and will overcome any initial hurdles created through (what can be) a difficult contracting process or the first 90 days.

Great chemistry allows the working relationship to become optimal. The briefs are better; the work or outputs are better; there is more respect. Everyone feels valued and will be ever more proactive in their ideas and inputs into that relationship. Even if there are dips in output excellence from time to time, the chemistry between the parties will allow the relationship to continue unhindered and to enjoy robust discussion.

How to build chemistry is something that can be learnt and all of the great pitch consultants who I know globally include these learnings in their processes, as do I. It always surprises me when we run a masterclass on “the magic of chemistry” at how well-received and popular it is.

Contract renewal time

We spend a lot of time working and, in my many years of experience in advertising and marketing, agency and marketing professionals often work longer than most (12-hour days are nothing unusual). Imagine how hard it is to retain enthusiasm and chemistry if the relationship has broken down and one is starting to feel like a slave.

If that breakdown continues, when it’s time for contract renewal, then there’s little chance that the agency will be renewed automatically and, indeed, it might not even want to be renewed, let alone repitch.

There’s value in the relationship management exercises that all intermediaries conduct for clients and agencies but, without chemistry, no matter how often or thorough those exercises are, the client-agency relationship will not survive.

Agency Scope: Top creative and media agencies according to marketers

Creative agencies Ogilvy, Joe Public and TBWA\, and media agencies Carat, OMD and TheMediaShop are all standouts in the Agency Scope as rated by marketers.

The biennial research looked at how marketers view both creative and media agencies. "Each was given a category outline and asked to submit three agencies," explains Johanna McDowell, Scopen partner and CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS).

"Here, we show the outline and the results of each.”

Spontaneous awareness category

Under the title “spontaneous awareness”, respondents named three agencies they are aware of.

Creative agencies

1.     Ogilvy

2.     Joe Public

3.     TBWA\

Media agencies

1.     Carat

2.     The MediaShop

3.     Mindshare

Creativity category

Creative agencies

1.     Joe Public/Ogilvy

2.     none

3.     TBWA\

Attractive agencies category

Attractive agencies provided a list of the agencies marketers would shortlist in a pitch.

Creative agencies

1.     Joe Public

2.     Ogilvy

3.     TBWA\

Media Agencies

1.     Juno Media

2.     M&C Saatchi Connect

3.     The MediaShop

Ideal Agencies category

“The ideal agencies category is an analysis of how the overall market, along with the particular clients of an agency, rate that agency,” explains Cesar Vacchiano, president and CEO of Scopen International.

Creative Agencies

1.     Ogilvy

2.     Joe Public

3.     Accenture Song

Media Agencies

1.     Carat

2.     OMD

3.     The MediaShop

Market perception category

In the category “market perception”, a combination of spontaneous awareness, creativity, attractiveness and ideal agencies gave rise to the following responses.

Creative Agencies

1.     Ogilvy

2.     Joe Public

3.     TBWA\

Media Agencies

1.     Carat

2.     Mindshare

3.     The MediaShop

“Market perception is probably the most important rating,” says McDowell. “The agency that wins in market perception is the closest to a perfect agency, and noted as such by the industry.”

The final two categories in the research looked at Client Satisfaction and Competitor’s Opinion, both important in a marketers' choice, Vacchiano asserts.

“We know overall satisfaction is vital to clients, but having competitors list their competition as notable agencies is invaluable.”

Client satisfaction category

Client satisfaction saw the following agencies take top spots.

Creative Agencies

1.     Promise

2.     Brave Group

3.     Black Powder

Media Agencies

1.     OMD

2.     UM

3.     Initiative

Competitors’ opinion category

Creative Agencies

1.     Ogilvy

2.     Accenture Song

3.     Network BBDO

Media Agencies

1.     Meta Media

2.     Initiative

3.     Mindshare

Scopen 2023 trend: In-house agency heading for the out house?

The trend of in-house marketing operations is starting to wan, as marketers start to respond to the post-Covid world.

 Agecny Scope 2023 has found that the trend of in-house marketing operations is starting to wan, as marketers start to respond to the post-Covid world

Aided and abetted by Covid19 restrictions, companies of all sizes set up in-house marketing operations at a time when work from home (WFH) and creating remote teams provided a solution to business continuity.

“It was a trend that had started before Covid and then accelerated during the pandemic,” says Johanna McDowell, Scopen partner and CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS).

“Evan if people were not physically in the client’s building, they were operating as part of its team. It was a compelling trend that happened rapidly and globally,” she adds.

However, the results of Agency Scope 2023 show this growth has waned and marketers are stepping back from in-housing.

“Among the reasons for the growth in the first place was clients wanting to be closer to their data,” McDowell asserts.

“They needed to access their data quickly and respond accordingly. Many felt that their agencies were not close enough to them to be able to action data results with enough speed to take advantage of trends.”

Creatives are generally at their best and happiest when working on a variety of brands with different target audiences to stretch themselves creatively

Why the decline?

The Scopen research shows while the need for speed that existed at the time is still there, and clients want to follow data with action and agility, clients have noted the expense of setting up an in-house agency.

And – importantly - that creatives are generally at their best and happiest when working on a variety of brands with different target audiences to stretch themselves creatively.

“Marketers acknowledge that in-house work usually comprises working on one brand, or even a few - but still all within the client’s stable,” says McDowell.

In-house managed by an outside agency

President and CEO of Scopen, César Vacchiano, adds, “There will always be a need for in-housing, but how those structures will work in the future will be interesting to see.”

Currently, it may be a department set up by the client staffed directly by the client.

“Our research is showing a preference for an in-house agency that is managed and staffed by an outside agency that controls the running of the entity and employment of its staff,” he explains.

McDowell suggests the latter option gives both the client and the agency flexibility, meaning that if a creative gets bored working on the same brand, fresh eyes and ideas can be brought in to switch places.

“All responsibility from an employment point of view is carried by the outside agency,” she says.

“Obviously the client remunerates the agency for the overseeing of staff, and there are specialist agencies who excel at building in-house departments or agencies.

“So, while we don’t see these going away, our study shows little to no growth of this nature at this point.”

The effect of remote work on in-housing?

Current indications are that a lot more marketing agency personnel are in their offices than just after Covid, and there’s a gradual return to more days in the office McDowell asserts.

“This may also be a contributing factor to the in-housing decline, along with the space factor in a client’s offices. Many corporates downsized their offices because of the pandemic and with people heading back into the office now, lack of space may make in-housing a tight squeeze.”

She further adds that several marketers have seen their staff not working as cohesively as they used to, with productivity levels down and quality of thinking stilted.

“The realisation they’ve come to is that so many once-fluid creative teams have spent so much time apart that the innovative thinking that once bonded them has dissipated.”

The strategy now, says Vacchiano, would be to see if it is valuable to leave some agency personnel in the client’s office and, if so, who would work best there.

“Responses post-Covid are likely to start driving marketers towards a Plan B in future, coupled with massive learnings from the recent past, he adds.

Wavemaker's Merissa Himraj tops Agency Scope's Top 10 media professionals rankings

Agency Scope’s Top 10 most admired media agency professions have a wider spread across agencies than the most admired creative agency professionals, with half of the top 10, being women.

The marketers’ choices saw the following media gurus take their place in the latest study as follows:

1.     Merissa Himraj, Wavemaker

2.     Chris Botha, Park Advertising

3.     Celia Collins, Publicis Media

4.     Kate Carlisle-Kitz, Mindshare

5.     Gareth Grant, Meta Media

6.     Adrian Naidoo, Mindshare

7.     Kevin Ndinguri, UM

8.     Graham Deneys, Carat

9.     Lerina Berman, Dentsu

10. Lynette Naidoo, Publicis Media

“As the only study in South Africa where marketers rate their personal choice of media agency professionals, this year’s study has turned up a reasonably diverse group, each of whom stayed top of mind with marketers to be named without prompting."

This is the word from Johanna McDowell, Scopen partner and CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS), who emphasised the value of the top ten list due to Scopen’s methodology that is based on the service marketers have received from this group.

César Vacchiano, President & CEO of Scopen, says that by merely asking marketing decision-makers to name their choice of media agency professionals, the responses are a “reflection of the work media personnel do, rather than their popularity in the industry”.

In congratulating the top ten, Vacchiano says results like these are precisely why marketers are not asked to vote. “We believe Scopen’s system gives a true representation of the industry’s key players and we hope to see more proof that efforts are equal due to ability.”

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Unlocking agency methodologies: Why understanding operations is crucial for clients

The brief goes in, cogs whirl and a campaign comes out... but clients want to understand agency processes, what is the creative process and how it works.

The perception some clients have of agency environments is often ‘creativity coupled with chaos, overseen by someone called traffic’, writes Johanna McDowell, CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS) and Scopen partner

What should we expect and when can we expect it? When does strategy get involved, and when does creative get involved?

Then, once a campaign is produced and launched, how does the agency track it?

What steps are taken to find out how the campaign is doing, and how do agencies act on that information? If all is well, is the campaign recycled? If not, is it amended to fill in any gaps the agency has noted?

The agency that responds to these questions succinctly makes the process transparent and easy to understand, enabling clients to realise how important timing is.

Their methodology is vital; clients need to understand there is one - nothing happens by chance and that there’s a practical strategy in place that can be tracked throughout.

From an agency perspective, having the client understand their methodology means clients can work with required timelines.

Conversation and collaboration

Whether it’s a quick retail ad or a major campaign for 2024, there is a methodology involved which is brought to bear on every brief.

Sometimes it’s even more complicated - perhaps the marketer doesn’t have a brief, but instead poses a problem to the agency: “We haven’t sold a widget in three months. It’s our core business. What do we do?”

Here, agency methodology must incorporate the business solution and – more importantly – an explanation of their logic, with simple diagrams outlining the problem, followed by a calculated and rapid path to the fix.

This shows the marketer their agency is supportive and is a professional organisation that knows its stuff. Moreover, it enables collaboration between client and agency to reach the most expedient path to actual widget selling.

Delivering the solution: Checkers and 99c

A superb example of a client-agency strat session that began with a potentially crippling hit on sales and culminated not only in an immediate solution but created a whole new industry, is the collaboration between Checkers and 99 Cents when the global pandemic looked set to strangle sales.

The client’s problem: A dearth of shoppers due to lockdown.

The solution: Discussions with the agency which likely began with “let’s take the groceries to the customer”, and grew from there to include the creation of an app; branded delivery mechanisms; a service that gave customers a virtual shopping experience and rapid drop-off of groceries at their homes; and the blossoming of a delivery industry that has created employment, ongoing sales for Checkers - and a two-wheel source of Sixty60 pride for all involved.

By engaging with their agency, a marketer who highlights a request or problem should be met by the agency applying its methodology to the business issue, noting the specialists they will bring in to create a strategy.

Although marketers may still be required to gather their briefing templates and other data and present it to the agency, it is most likely the two parties will be creating the brief together using the methodology the agency has.

Without giving away too much, subscribers to Agency Scope 2023 – 2024 will see data that shows the value of internal processes and working methods, which now stand shoulder to shoulder with strategic planning and quality of presentations as criteria clients look for in an agency.

When a client’s primary concern is having to sell a thousand widgets in the next few months, having faith that their agency’s methodology, alongside it’s creativity, will provide a solution is what makes their collaboration valuable.

Joe Public United's Pepe Marais and Xolisa Dyeshana lead Agency Scope's top creative professionals

Pepe Marais, Joe Public United is Agency Scope 2023 – 2024’s top creative agency professional, with his agency colleague, Xolisa Dyeshana in second and the Odd Number’s Sibusiso Sithole in third.

The Agency Scope 2023 – 2024’s Top 10 top creative agency professionals are:

1.     Pepe Marais, Joe Public United

2.     Xolisa Dyeshana, Joe Public United

3.     Sibusiso Sithole, The Odd Number

4.     Pete Case, Ogilvy

5.     Luca Galliarelli, TBWA/SA

6.     Fran Luckin, VML SA (previously Grey)

7.     Neo Mashigo, M&C Saatchi Abel

8.     Mike Abel, M&C Saatchi Abel

9.     Camilla Clerke, Ogilvy

10. Carl Willoughby, TBWA/Hunt Lascaris

Out of the Top 10 creative agency professionals, there are two each from four of the agencies, Joe Public United, Ogilvy, M&C Saatchi Abel and TBWA (SA and Hunt Lascaris).

“The winners are also mainly made up of creative directors – seven of the 10 are chief creative officers (CCOs),” says the president and CEO of Scopen, César Vacchiano.

“Within the named professionals, there’s not as much diversity as we may have expected or would like, with only two of the top 10 being women,” he adds.

Judged by jury of their peers

The AgencyScope 2023 – 2024 questionnaire posed the simple question to marketers, unprompted by names or a list of possible contenders, “Which creative agency professionals do you think stand out?”

Unlike most rankings of the top professionals in the creative agency space in South Africa which is usually determined by a vote, with a panel choosing their key players from a list of names.

Vacchiano, says Agency Scope’s methodology makes the questionnaire the only one in South Africa that encourages marketers “to think about their specific choice without any limitations’.

“By asking this way, we have found that some exceptionally talented agency creatives are remembered by marketers for work they have done together, and often for their reputation in the industry.”

Johanna McDowell, Scopen partner and CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS) adds, “If you’re a big marketer with a big budget, you may remember more than one. Our researchers note the names and the top ten are chosen from the final list created by the marketing professionals.

“It’s a judgement by a jury of peers and provides insight into the winners for the work they’ve done and the esteem in which they are held. Scopen feels being chosen through this method far outweighs the value of panel voting, and those who make the cut know it’s due to the value they bring to real-life business.”

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Partners top of mind for marketers in 2024

“In 2021, the average number of agents a marketer worked with in South Africa was 12.7, a figure that has risen to 15.2, according to the AGENCY SCOPE 2023/24 study,” says SCOPEN president and CEO César Vacchiano.

”Here partnerships and agents include both advertising and below the line (BTL) agencies; digital platforms; media and PR agencies; partnerships with industry giants such as Amazon and Meta; and consultancies such as Deloitte, Accenture and others.”

The latest AGENCY SCOPE research shows the biggest growth for marketers has been in the number of digital platforms they now work with directly, which has leaped from 4.4 in 2021 to 5.3 today, Vacchiano says.

“The impact of this growth on marketers is the hefty task of having to manage anywhere between nine and 20 agents across the ecosystem, in an economically turbulent market. Some marketing leaders have appointed a lead agency to assist with the heavy lifting.”

The trust factor

Says Johanna McDowell, CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS) and SCOPEN partner, “Ramifications will not only be felt by marketers. With the growing number of different agencies and agents comes more responsibility and accountability required by each partner in the system. Agencies need to be far more able and willing to collaborate with their clients, as well as all the other agents in the mix.”

McDowell adds that the trust factor becomes far greater than ever before, “with each agent adapting to a new level of confidentiality and integrity, while dampening any sense of competitiveness that may arise within the larger circle of partners”.

The brand is boss

Marketers will be looking for all participants to understand that their loyalty is to the brand.

Says  Vacchiano: “To work together with peers you may have always seen as competition takes honesty, transparency and  emotional intelligence (EQ) to unite as a single team in support of the marketer and the brand.

“The ability to manage this often comes only with experience. Then add the various personalities working across marketing, communication, advertising and media, and you have a recipe for one of two things: Disaster or discourse.”

Noting that marketers in Brazil work with an average of 17 agents and China tops that with 25.6, Vacchiano points out that South Africa is not far behind at 15.2, and the UK with 9.1.  “As long as markets keep changing and platforms and new agents are added at speed, we believe we’re going to see more collaboration in the ecosystems and even greater trust required among the appointed agencies.”

When seeking partners, Vacchiano and McDowell concur: Marketers will be scouting out those who can place principles above personalities and show up for the brand.

Agency Scope 2023-2024: Industry respect for Nando's marketing three times that of nearest rivals

Analysis from the Agency Scope shows an interesting trend arising from the responses to questions designed to determine the best campaigns, most respected companies, and advertisers with the best marketing strategy.

As it turns out, the results of the best campaign tend to be quite similar to the most respected companies for their marketing.

Agency Scope analysis notes that the top three companies – Nandos, Chicken Licken and Checkers – saw Chicken Licken leading in the “company with the best campaigns” section, followed by Nandos, then Checkers.

Nandos takes flight

These top three brands are consistent across all three charts, but the standout came when marketers were asked about the most respected companies for their marketing, and advertisers with the best marketing strategy.

Here Nando's takes flight, outpacing all rivals as the strongest in the top three by far.

“Outdoing a rival brand by three times is a big deal,” says César Vacchiano, president and CEO at Scopen.

“Although Nandos campaigns may not be scoring at the same level, the company’s marketing strategy and the industry’s overall respect for their marketing is still way ahead of anyone in the top three and even the top 10.”

He adds, “It is also noteworthy that Checkers gained the most mentions among the top 10 companies most respected for marketing, moving from 10th position in 2021 to third in 2023.”

Best marketing strategy

A new question to marketers in Scopen 2023-2024, asks them to identify the advertiser with the best marketing strategy.

“The results bear out previous learnings mentioned in 2023, where we noted that agencies were being urged to place more emphasis on strategy,” says Johanna McDowell, Scopen partner and CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS). “What marketers are looking for from their agencies is strategic capabilities.”

While marketers themselves may have a good business strategy in place when their agencies assist with the same strength, it provides another opportunity for marketers to be kept up to date with market trends and opportunities, she asserts.

“The value of agency relationships is buoyed by their strategic planning abilities.”

Nando’s: Demonstrates cohesion between agencies

McDowell further notes that Nando’s’ positioning as the most respected company and advertiser with the best marketing strategy demonstrates cohesion between all the various agencies in the brand’s ecosystem and that they’re all working well together.

“Once again,” says Vacciano, “we’re finding that the participants in the Scopen study can offer immense learnings to the market as a whole, and by choosing their top campaigns, respected companies and marketing strategy unprompted, they offer a collective insight that other marketers and agencies can review and possibly emulate heading through 2024.”

The biennial study saw researchers interviewing 312 marketers from 220 companies.

McDowell says, “What is important about these particular questions is that they were posed to marketing professionals, not agency professionals, meaning their responses constitute peer recognition rather than adjudication by agencies.”

How content creation is attracting new audiences and revenue streams

Using paid media platforms in an earned media way is great way of making a smaller budget go further, says IAS's Johanna McDowell

The Independent Agency Search & Selection Company explores the uptake in content creation and the revenue streams linked to digital innovation. Picture: Pexels/George Milton via IAS

As budgets across all media continue to contract, digital innovation is quickly becoming the greatest mother of invention when it comes to earned media, says the CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS) and Scopen partner, Johanna McDowell.

“During November 2023, at AdForum in London, we were introduced to a few agencies which were strongly focused on earned media,” she says. “It isn’t PR as we know it any more, but now includes the role of influencers and content creators, and the money is driving a whole new sector.”

McDowell says this trend took off in Los Angeles a few years ago, when a man who had been a YouTuber since he was a teenager set up an agency.

“He made his living from his content on the platform and later set up an agency that helps other would-be content creators professionalise their YouTube activities. His agency manages the whole process, including attracting paying brands to advertise on appropriate content.”

What this provides is a cost-effective way of reaching a certain market, says McDowell. Instead of having to buy a lot of media time or space, the content has already been created and includes the brand. It’s a way of making a smaller budget go much further and in a more focused way, and it’s all about building the audience first.

“It was a particular trend we noted back then and why it is becoming so popular now is because firstly, it’s interesting to a viewer who chooses to watch, and secondly, it’s not advertising,” she says. 

Getting past ad-blockers

The younger generation is not averse to blocking ads online — so how does a brand or marketer get past that? It's simple with this new earned media, says McDowell.

“It’s not free advertising, it’s not like getting the media to run a story for you. It’s actually paying influencers who already have a following of several hundred thousand — or millions — in their community to tap into that following and generate brand exposure,” says McDowell. 

“In economies, whether globally, the UK or SA, where budgets are declining, we believe we’re going to see more and more of this type of content agency emerging. 

“By finding these already-popular YouTubers, TikTokers and even X-ers, and attaching them to brands that are relevant for them and making certain the storyline is still authentic, content agencies already have creators with a following who wouldn’t want to damage their reputations by taking on ads for products with no relevance.

“It is fascinating,” she says, “while being extremely complex. How on Earth does a brand manage it? Well, that’s what this new type of agency is starting to do more and more of, with very effective results.”

Tracking mass messaging

A key advantage the content agency has is how tracking can be implemented and presented to brands with the vast number of systems available to break down stats in any number of ways to show return on investment.

The content creator has built their platforms from the ground up, so they have the data on everything from growth trajectory to viewership per minute at their fingertips. 

“It’s a whole new way of mass communicating,” says McDowell, “and South African agencies are taking the content platforms seriously already, including them in pitches for brands looking to attract younger consumers at scale.”

She notes this doesn’t negate the need for big brand building and advertising across all channels.

“Using paid media platforms in an earned media way is now providing much interest from both content creators and brands, while generating a new revenue stream from agencies nested fully in the paid media space,” says McDowell.

“What this means for the marketer is that within their agency ecosystem, the need for the content creation agency specialism needs to be closely integrated with both the media agency and the creative agency, without diluting the sharp focus of this specialist area and the audience it reaches.” 

Content creation captivates audiences and revenue

#BizTrends2024: Johanna McDowell - Agency ecosystem trends that are defining future working methods

To manage marketing and agency ecosystems in a post-Covid world, marketers and agencies will need to adapt and build more flexible models.

IAS founder & CEO and managing partner Scopen Africa, draws 5 conclusions to help agencies and brands define future working methods

As the IAS we are in a unique and privileged position at the heart of the marketing industry where brands and agencies intersect.

We have many conversations with CMOs and agency leaders about the marketer agency ecosystem as we help all participants work together to deliver effective marketing that will drive growth.

One of the biggest surprises and learnings from the Agency Scope 2023/2024 study, the results of which are currently being presented to various industry players, is the growth in the number of agency partners/platforms that a CMO interacts with. On average this number is more than 15.

When I look at a recent report from our partners, AAR Group in the UK, they have identified in more detail which types of partners these 15 are and have tabled that growth from what was more usual less than 10 years ago when the average number of partners in a marketing agency ecosystem was five.

Fluidity and flexibility

This trend on its own requires much closer examination.AAR talks about fluidity as well as flexibility and they comment on the fact that the growth in this has happened for both individuals in how they work and for brands in the number of specialist agencies that they have the option to work with.

A lot of this fluidity has come from the opportunities that were created during - and because of Covid - when working from home or remotely meant that companies had to build in more flexibility into their businesses and this then became the new normal.

For brands, this also created a fragmentation of their customers and an evolving media landscape that required an increased number of marketing specialists to create successful marketing campaigns.

What we have seen already is that great talent no longer wants to live exclusively in a world of permanent agency roles. It seems that fluidity and flexibility are here to stay.

The focus is on accessing talent regardless of where it chooses to work.

Agencies: Following the trends

The agency ecosystem is evolving to follow these trends so that brands can access a greater number of specialists either via an open talent network through increased agency contacts or within a holding company offering.

With economic uncertainty now cited as one of the most fundamental reasons for the need for a more flexible marketing ecosystem, clients are less able to commit long-term to having large teams available plus they now wait longer before approving projects in case of last-minute impacts on their side.

This means that the need for freelance vs permanent staff goes up.

Not easy for agencies to manage without building in far more flexibility – and yet perhaps capitalising on the benefits of a more fluid talent pool.

Management of the increased number of partners

There is no simple formula to lay out what agency ecosystem is best for a brand.

Scale and business category are two of the biggest factors in defining how many partners a brand will best work with. And whether the brand will command and control all of the specialists or if one of the agencies in the system might be better suited to integrate of the different resources.

5 conclusions to help agencies and brands define future working methods

The debate will continue throughout this current decade in our view, and we draw a few conclusions now that may help brands and their agencies define future working methods:

1.     Brands will have the appetite to increase the fluidity of how they build their internal and external capability.

2.     More systems are now in place to allow greater access to more specialists and build them into the marketing ecosystem for a brand. If brands are not doing this they may well be missing out.

3.     There is not a one-size-fits-all solution. The right agency ecosystem changes according to marketer capability, category, scale and culture.

4.     The need for media-neutral leadership that puts the brand’s customer first has priority over the remuneration or leadership of one type of agency.

5.     Agencies need to leverage freelance expertise from a skillset and economic point of view, but without losing the culture and passions of the agency itself. The industry has been built on the differentiation of groups with different expertise and points of view - these key attributes need to be maintained for a sustainable future.

What this has meant for the IAS, is that, increasingly, marketers are seeking our counsel when it comes to simplifying their ecosystem structures without losing any of the benefits of the increasing need for specialisms.

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#BizTrends2024: César Vacchiano - Sustainbility and DE&I will gain relevance

Two trends, already huge in the US and the UK, that will gain relevance in the rest of the world are sustainability and Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DE&I).

Two huge trends in the US and the UK that will gain relevance in the rest of the world are sustainability and DE&I says César Vacchiano, president & CEO at Scopen

Our industry will increase its focus on sustainability, and reducing its carbon footprint.

This affects all - brands, agencies, and media owners - and they are starting to calculate carbon emissions, establish positive impact initiatives and identify the most sustainable partners.

Companies that demonstrate their sustainability will grow more in the coming years.

DE&I are the other huge objectives in our industry. Agencies are showing how they are focused on solving this issue in their credentials.
Brands win more and more awards with campaigns that show their commitment to achieving these objectives.

Awards now have very balanced positions among jury members, and the Jury Presidents of different categories show just how diverse our industry is.

Artificial Intelligence

When 2022 was coming to an end, everyone in our industry was thinking about Artificial Intelligence (AI), and it certainly proved to be the hottest topic in 2023 - and will continue to be in 2024.

Nearly 50% of marketers in South Africa (and other countries) believe this is one of the biggest challenges for agencies.

One year ago, we were feeling a mixture of sceptical, worried and, especially, uncertain, about what AI would mean for our industry.

Today, we are all more aware of the opportunities and help AI provides when properly used.

As with all new technologies, it requires understanding and training, and the best output comes when experts use it, and creativity is amplified.

Agencies have invested in creating security walls and training their teams in legal issues, and now AI is being used as a practical and useful tool to save time on mundane tasks.

It is already utilised to produce and distribute content at scale, quickly explore creative territories, and help clients refine briefs.

AI will increasingly also bring benefits for clients, especially efficiencies.

Growth of digital investment

Understanding and engaging with consumers is becoming more and more complex since we are all distracted, watching multiple screens.

The ability to connect with Gen Z is even more complicated, especially when encouraging younger audiences to engage with brands.

Brands are investing less in Paid Media in favour of organic strategies. The creation of precise and creative content is becoming crucial to reach specific targets (particularly Gen Z).

The growth of social media, influencers, KOLs… etc. is highly impressive.

Digital investment is approaching 50% of brands´ total investment. And 30% of that Digital investment is going towards social media and Influencers.

Consumers are increasingly relying on influence. Influencer specialist agencies are growing fast, not only working with brands but also closely with influencers, becoming their agents and advisors. Influencers represent a large percentage of their income.

Agencies trends

Marketers want ideas coming from any type of company they work with.

Globally marketers work with 15 different partners to solve their communications needs (five of those being digital platforms).

Orchestrating those partners is becoming more and more complex, which is why we see an increase in the significance of leading agencies.

A Lead Agency is not only an agency that comes up with the big ideas; it is the agency that identifies insights and builds solid strategies that become the base to create those solid ideas.

Marketers are increasingly considering Strategic Planning as the most important skill when selecting agencies and defining the ‘ideal’ agency.

Media agencies keep reinforcing their position in this territory, which is easy for them due to their strengths in research, data and analytics, combined with the economic resources to hire the best planners.

Marketers trends

More than 70% of marketers invest in and use marketing tools.

Salesforce is the leading tool, and, with 40%, Adobe Marketing Cloud is the runner-up.

Using these marketing tools is a challenge for marketers and, once they have them, they do not know how to use them properly.

This is a big opportunity for agencies, who can help their clients in the use of these tools and more and more agencies have certified employees to help brands.

When reflecting on these trends, we realise how agencies are reinforcing their capabilities, leading to a dramatic increase in the contribution to their clients’ growth, and how all companies operating in our industry are focused on building a better world.

Gradually, we will achieve it. The talent and passion in our industry are difficult to find in others.

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Scopen announces SA’s top 10 most admired marketing professionals

In November last year, Scopen announced the top three marketers. Now the full Top 10 have been shared.

The top 10 most admired marketing professionals in South Africa:

1.     Khensani Nobanda, Nedbank

2.     Sydney Mbhele, Absa

3.     Vaughan Croeser, ABInBev

4.     Doug Place, Nandos

5.     Nontokozo Madonsela, Momentum/Metropolitan

6.     Firoze Bhorat, Discovery

7.     Thulani Sibeko, previously Standard Bank

8.     Chantal Sombonos-Van Tonder, Chicken Licken

9.     Abey Mokgwatsane, Investec

10. Sadika Fakir, Absa

“My congratulations go to these top 10 marketing professionals. While accolades from industry bodies are always welcome, there’s little to beat a jury of your peers naming you their top-rated professionals,” says president and CEO of Scopen Global, Cesar Vacchiano.

He adds, “In naming the most admired marketing professionals as rated by both marketer and agency professionals, I must highlight that this was entirely spontaneous, with no prompting whatsoever from researchers.”

Information included in Agency Scope 23-24 covers companies noted for their marketing initiatives, and campaigns that achieved peer recognition, including the best marketing campaign as well as the best agency to work for and the most ideal client to work with.

Valuable data for all sectors of the industry

In response to the immense interest around the upcoming Agency Scope 2023/2024 results, Vacchiano says: “The excitement for the 23/24 Agency Scope results has been more than heartening to note, with 315 marketers interviewed, representing 220 brands compared to 235 interviews across 158 brands in 2021 – a marked increase in participation.”

He adds that the 200 agency professionals interviewed, comprising 155 creative and 45 media agencies along with 16 media owners solidifies Agency Scope as “among the most valuable data for all sectors of our industry”.

During his time in South Africa, Vacchiano presented confidential reports to some of the agencies that had already subscribed to the study, giving local and global insights into what the country’s top marketers think about several issues and how this drives industry change and growth.

More presentations to agencies will take place in the coming months.

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#AgencyScopeSA Part 2: Longer client-agency relationships produce great work

On his recent visit to South Africa, president & CEO at Scopen, Cesar Vacchiano shared insights from the latest Agency Scope in South Africa.

The research shows that SA is a little behind in certain areas.

“CMOs are not always up to date on what is happening in their industries. This makes them uncomfortable in making decisions and investing into new products. Because CMOs are behind, their agencies tend to lag as well,” says Cesar Vacchiano.

A key area where this can be seen is retail media, in particular with modern retailers and marketplaces, such as Amazon.

“Instead, this is being driven more by retailers themselves, who are implementing big changes. Checkers is an example of a brand that has evolved and moved into that space, reinforcing it as a brand enormously in a very short period of time,” explains Vacchiano.

However, Vacchiano says, SA is one of the countries where we see great creative talent and SA agencies are winning internationally, such as at Cannes, and this includes both big legacy agencies and young independent agencies.

SA a hub

So much so that the country is becoming a hub for solving certain needs for clients based in other countries. These include not only sub-Saharan African countries but in the UK and other English-speaking markets. This is because local agencies combine two competitive advantages: talent and experience as well as sometimes including competitive cost and pricing.

Same room equals bigger ideas

That said, clients want more and more for their agencies to be in the same city as they operate as they realise just how important it is to work with their agencies live rather than remotely. The bottom line is that being in the same room produces bigger ideas.

Less inhouse, more outsourced

The good news for agencies is that marketers are trying to solve less needs in-house.

Inhouse, across all disciplines, is decreasing, mainly because clients have realised just how difficult it is to identify, attract and retain creative talent.

“Creative talent is not happy working with the same brand and the same challenges every day. They prefer to work with different sectors and categories and challenges within these. They need to be inspired, to attend festivals and awards and participate as jurors, and that does not happen if they are working in a client company,” says Vacchiano.

The people with more technical profiles, such as programming, software, etc. clients have realised they need to invest heavily in training of people with more technical profiles to keep these profiles updated but they are not good at training their employees.

Big corporations and companies also want to reduce their headcount, so the more they can outsource the better.

Longer relationships

Client-agency relationships are longer.

“It was caused by Covid, but also because clients and agencies understand that longer relationships produce a better understanding and more confidence in each other. They know that working on an ongoing basis with their agencies allows for sharing thoughts, strategies, data, and learnings and how this produces good work,” explains Vacchiano.

There are fewer project-based relationships and when we do find these, they are mainly independent agencies and smaller client companies.

How CMOs want to work with agencies

Brands on average work with 15 different partners in SA, choosing one agency to be the lead agency. This is generally an agency that is a strong partner in creativity - the one that produces the big ideas.

CMOs also want to work with agencies that can solve all their needs. “Integrated agencies are difficult to find as they need the best talent in a variety of disciplines, but it is a challenge to identify, attract and retain that talent,” says Vacchiano.

He adds that 50% of clients want to work with a specialist.

At the same time, CMOs want agencies to share clients, with different teams working on one brand.

“Agencies have different types and levels of expertise as well as an understanding of a category and discipline, such as B2B. social, etc. Clients know this and want to tap into this, regardless of the agency,” says Vacchiano.

Awards for inspiration

During Covid agencies could not attend festivals and awards, now they attending these again.

“Attending these inspires creatives and they learn what is happening internationally and in other sectors, and that is inspiring for them,” says Vacchiano.

He adds that clients use awards as a reference when choosing agencies.

AI and its benefits

“Agencies will benefit from AI to work faster and save time as well as save in cost. They are starting to understand that used in a good way, in that AI can produce certain benefits in our world of marketing and communications,” says Vacchiano.

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#AgencyScopeSA Part 1: CMOs want integrated agencies and other key findings

On his recent visit to South Africa, president & CEO at Scopen, Cesar Vacchiano shared insights from the latest Agency Scope in South Africa.

This year Agency Scope interviewed 528 professionals - more than in previous surveys - of which 312 are marketing directors (CMOs, digital directors, media directors, etc.) and 220 were companies.

“We are very proud of these figures because it was a challenge to interview so many companies and professionals,” says Vacchiano.

Location, location

The South African market is concentrated in Johannesburg, with two-thirds of the companies interviewed based there, and 20% based in Cape Town.

“Johannesburg has grown since we started the study in 2016,” says Vacchiano.

Led by women

Of the marketing directors interviewed, 70% are women. The global average is 55% women, so the SA market is women-led.

Where is the money going

The investment into marketing and communication per R100 of client sales has declined from 2022 to 2023. For every R100 a client sold in 2023, they invest R3.5 into marketing and communications.

In 2022 this figure is R4.2. The decline is happening in all markets because of economic conditions.

The budget is split into:

·        Above The Line (ATL)/traditional: 38%

·        Below the Line (BTL): 27%

BTL has recuperated a little bit after Covid as clients invest more into experiential, promotions, activations, and events.

Of this investment, 35% is going into digital. In SA digital investment is still going mainly to digital paid media.

"While social media is increasing, it is still around 23%, whereas in other markets globally it already sits at 30%.

"Social media influencers are quite low in SA but growing fast. E-commerce and marketing automation represent only five percent of investment in SA, (other markets are up to 10%)," says Vacchiano.

15 different partners

A very important figure is that brands on average work with 15 different partners in SA of which five are digital platforms, that is Google, Meta, TikTok, Amazon, etc.

“For context, in China this figure is 25, in the UK it is 17. Bigger markets, such as the UK, where many original global campaigns are produced, have more partners. SA is not far from the UK figure,” says Vacchiano.

As this becomes increasingly complex, a key challenge for CMOs is orchestrating all these partners to collaborate.

A lead agency

One way to do this is to choose a lead agency. In SA 66% of marketers work with a lead agency.

“One of these 15 partners assists in coordinating all the other partners. It is normally an agency that is very strong in strategic strategy, defining the insights to give the brand strategy,” explains Vacchiano.

The lead agency shares these ideas with the other partners, especially the ones in other disciplines, who then implement these ideas.

Integrated agencies

The many challenges in different areas mean marketers want more and more integrated agencies that can solve their needs under one roof. “It is difficult to find an agency with the best talent in a variety of disciplines because it is difficult to identify, attract and retain that talent,” says Vacchiano.

He adds that this is especially so in different verticals in digital as CMOs know e-commerce social media, influence marketing, search etc. requires specific expertise.

Competition: a thing of the past?

Forty percent of clients do not care about competition. “This is a change from the past, and is driven by Accenture Song and other consultants, that work with many brands in the same category,” says Vacchiano.

This is an argument for agencies to also share clients, he explains, with different teams working on one brand.

“Agencies have different types and levels of expertise as well as an understanding of a category and discipline, such as B2B. social, etc.”

PR more important

Within the integrated agency, media and PR are becoming more important. More marketers want closer relationships between media agencies and creative agencies and because of social and digital media, PR is also becoming important in that integrated offering.

These clients are looking at PR agencies, whether they are experts in an agency or freelancers, to solve their PR needs. The more integrated PR is in the different partners they work with the better.

“This PR is not traditional PR; it is influence and social media, and especially digital PR that clients believe needs to be embedded in the thinking and strategy that their agencies are presenting from the beginning,” expands Vacchiano.

Awards are important

Awards are becoming more important for marketers as part of their yardstick for selecting agencies to work with. CMOs want to work with agencies that produce big ideas and awards are a reference for them.

AI and automation tools

Marketers are using more and more different marketing automation tools, with 73%, or three out of four marketers, which is quite big, using these tools. Forty-three (43) percent of brands in SA use Salesforce.

Asked about AI, 45% of CMOs stated that AI is a challenge in their own organisations from how to incorporate it into their business and how to benefit from it.

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Key Oberservations and Trends from AdForum London Nov 2023

Here are my key observations and possible trends from the latest AdForum Worldwide Summit, which took place 5–9 November 2023 in London, England. It was a fascinating summit, with many of the best agencies in the world currently.

We pitch consultants met with 20 in total, 10 of which were independents: Accenture Song, Accomplice, Amplify, Anomaly, Assembly, CPB, Dept, Fold7, Iris Worldwide, Kairos, Mother London, MSQ, MullenLowe, Not Perfect, Pablo, Smart Assets, Stagwell, The Beyond Collective, Worldwide Partners and WPP.

#1. Do agency brands matter?

The answer is yes, they do, as long as there are clear differences/differentiating factors that help each agency brand occupy a position. These factors tend to be guided by the history of the agency, its name and its origins, the founders’ way of thinking, and the direction in which they want to take the agency.

This is naturally obvious for the independent agencies — and more on that later. But what happens in the holding group companies?

 #2. Agency brands within the holding companies

What’s next? With the very recent decision by WPP to merge Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R into VML from January 2024, we speculated on other agency brands within the WPP group and, indeed, in other groups. Will Grey remain a separate brand? What about the media agencies in Group M: will Mindshare, EssenceMediacom and Wavemaker all merge into one? And, as these agencies all move onto one campus, what then will happen?

As a reminder, WPP used to have 38 buildings in London for its agencies; now it has three.

Unwittingly, Accenture Song has paved the way for gradual disappearance of famous agency brands. Its acquisitions globally, including South Africa, have resulted in strong agencies all called Accenture Song, apart from the Droga5 micro-network. Clients seem to have less anxiety over potential competitor conflict in this new environment.

Publicis Groupe increasingly focuses on the Power of One, although retaining some of its legacy brands — for now — and as long as there are real agency brand differences within the group.

#3. Agency methodologies

Clients want to understand agency methodologies more and more so that they can trust the agency to manage the complexities of the client marketing ecosystem.

With so many marketing channels and opportunities, how does an agency harness all of these and, indeed, should they? How does the lead agency model work and how do they bring in additional capabilities?

These are the questions that clients have and that they set before their agencies.

#4. Influence vs influencers

It’s all about influence. We met several agencies in London where influence is a key strategy in audience building and with an emphasis on earned and owned media strategies.

This is an area where some media agencies are starting to play a role; this hasn’t come to SA yet but it’s anticipated that it’ll soon be here.

#5. The rise of the independent agencies

In the UK, there are many very successful independent agencies, as there are here in SA. They are successful for many reasons, going back to point one: clear direction, clear points of difference, agility etc. What clients want to know is:

1. Who are they?

2. What do they do/what are their capabilities?

3. How well funded are they?

4. What are their networks like? Do they belong to any of the independent networks and, if so, why?

5. What is next for them?

#6. Budgets

They’re not increasing globally at all. Yet these budgets have to do more and more, and with an increasing range of channels. The danger of spray-and-pray is something that marketers and agencies fear. It’s also one of the reasons that earned media is becoming more and more important.

#7. Events & activations

These are no longer something to be added on at the end. Agencies now are involved from the beginning and are expected to provide strategy, clear success KPIs and measurements. The return of events after the first few years of the covid-19 pandemic is very noticeable and, provided it’s all ground in data, very effective.

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