Ad Agency

As if three simultaneous pandemics (a health-related, the social tension of racism and inequality and the global economic recession) weren’t enough, over the last ten years or so, our industry has gone through a “pandemic“ of its own. This “virus” has affected mainly multicultural marketing and branding, and ultimately, companies who have suffered from sales, their share of the market, and other KPI’s declines. It is known as “Total Market” and it’s both dangerous and damaging! The main symptoms are indifference, lethargy, laziness, shortsightedness or even blurry vision, which results in overall brand weakness and connection fatigue.  By Luis Miguel Messianu Founder-Creative Chairman-CEO at Alma

It’s a strange time, and we are getting a lot of conflicting signals on the economy’s health. On the one hand, marketing budgets are thawing, some agencies are making a return (of sorts) to the office, and new business is underway. There are signs that we’re moving in the direction of normalcy.  By Mark Duval – The Duval Partnership

There’s been a raft of articles published this year making a strong argument for continuing to advertise through the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the recession that will follow. You may or may not agree but perhaps an understanding of just how much you stand to lose could help when thinking about your short to medium term plans. Where and what are the risks of stopping or cutting back on advertising and how do you mitigate against these risks through the worst recession on re

Following a recent IPA report on The Future of Account Management, there have been a number of articles questioning the role’s value. Its future is in doubt. The conversation is troubling, and agencies should pay close attention to the underlying concerns.  By Mark Duval – The Duval Partnership

For various reasons, not all agencies have prioritized diversity initiatives, and not all of them will. But by now, agency leaders have considered where they stand on diversity and inclusion (D&I), whether they are willing to commit to change (publicly or internally), and what resources they will make available to their cause.  By Mark Duval / The Duval Partnership

As consumers use more and more connected personal devices to organize, curate and discover media, the opportunities to reach them through advertising has exploded.  By Steve Davis / Global Director, Advertising Intelligence, Media Division

Advertising agencies are exceptionally complex businesses, driven by digital / social media innovations, large and fragmented scopes of work, procurement-led fee reductions, holding company-led downsizings, and client pressures to get brands moving again. Agencies have developed hyper-targeted digital executions and ROI tracking tools to help their clients. What they have not done is develop new and better metrics for managing their own businesses.

Agency search consultants can provide a valuable service to marketers and agencies by running a well-structured agency review. This guide provides the industry with ten Best Practice Guidelines for agency search consultants, with the goal of creating an environment where all parties are clear about the role of search consultants in the agency search process.

The biggest advertising agencies can be found in the largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. Since the days of Mad Men, Adland has been firmly centered in cities where trends are set, where art and culture thrive.  Somewhat ironically, for an industry stunted at diversity and inclusion, advertising feeds on the vibrant cultures that coalesce in urban America. So, what does the advertising industry look like without big cities? That’s a question we may be asking ourselves as the pandemic radically changes our ways—and locations—of working.

The issue has bubbled up recently in both, Hispanic Agencies and clients and HispanicAd is only too happy to address it.  The term “LatinX” is used as a self-identifier by only around 2% of the total U.S. Hispanic population. So, 98% of the Hispanic population self-identifies as Latino, Latina and/or Hispanic. So why is the term being used in advertising and marketing conversations as a term to categorize or represent all US Hispanics instead of “Hispanic” or “Latino”?  By Marcelo Salup – Principal at CEO Analytics, LLC – Increasing customer retention & revenues through advanced statistics & algorithms

The United States Census Bureau has engaged the integrated digital agency Sensis to provide enterprise-level social media and digital marketing support services to tell the story of the U.S. Census Bureau. Sensis, along with partner Deloitte Consulting LLP, will create engaging and educational digital content to tell the story of the U.S. Census Bureau and how its data powers American society.

You don’t need a smart-arse blogger to tell you that these are uniquely difficult times, nor that some things won’t ever be the same again. All of us have examples to hand – from our attitudes towards home working, to how we feel about walking into shops or eating in restaurants right through to the likelihood of ever again paying for anything with cash.  By Brian Jacobs / The Cog Blog

The 4A’s announced that the organization is challenging Nielsen’s decision to combine national in-home and out-of-home television viewership into a single data stream*.  This stream will be used in calculating ratings and inventory pricing at the start of the 2020-21 broadcast television season – and will also affect C3 and C7 ratings.  This decision will negatively impact both agencies and marketers and their ability to distinguish data streams to support pricing, analysis and audience understanding.

Evolving perceptions, however, also requires changes in the way procurement works with its stakeholders inside and outside each company: evolution to procurement processes, improving people’s understanding of procurement, building new performance KPIs beyond just savings and involving external partners to ensure a true perspective.

Numerous studies and guidance papers advise marketers on how to react during a recession to come out ahead of the competition, but very little has been written about agencies.

Real change needs empathy, not sympathy. It takes life experience, not advertising expertise. And it requires rising leaders to re-imagine the ‘fit it in or get out’ industry we’ve inherited.  By William Esparza –  CEO of hyphenated

The Axis Agency announced that its leadership team, Armando Azarloza, CEO, and Carmen Lawrence, COO, has acquired ownership of the brand from its parent company, Interpublic Group (IPG).

‘The Agency of the Future’ gets a lot of attention in the press and at industry conferences. ‘The Agency of the Future’ partners with its clients, solves brand problems through enhanced creativity, provides digital/integrated solutions, attracts the best industry talent, and competes with consulting firms. It is a wonderful dream that will be realized only if ‘The Agency of Today’ is fixed. This is not happening.  By Michael Farmer

LA-based Acento has added advertising veteran and digital innovator, Vicent Llopis, to its cross-cultural team. In his role as VP/Executive Creative Director, Llopis brings a proven record of fostering innovative thinking, particularly in the digital space with some of the top agencies in the business.  

The last few Cog Blog posts have wandered around what the agency of the future might look like post-pandemic, and the degree to which this coming recession will likely reshape the industry, as opposed to simply making it smaller. But what about the tools it will need to work?