03/12

Agencies need to think and act more like software companies

Susan Spaight

If one is going to write about the SXSW session on the agile agency, one should do so quickly, right? Well the session was yesterday and a party – I mean, networking – took precedence until now. Agile networking, if you will.

“Do Agencies Need to Think Like Software Companies” was a hot topic, packed with hundreds of mostly agency people and a line out the door. The panelists were some great thinker-and-doers, including Allison Mooney from Google, Ben Malbon from Google Creative Labs, Matt Galligan from SimpleGeo, Rick Webb from The Barbarian Group and Rob Rasmussen from Tribal DDB.

Allison shared this great quote from Contagious Magazine that sums it up so well:

“Digital exploration is more than a fad…it is a business strategy. Adland is emulating Silicon Valley where agile beats perfection.”

I believe there are so few truly agile agencies, that it represents a huge competitive advantage, and the best way to serve and inspire our clients.

Here are the key points from the panel that I found reinforcing and inspiring:

Agencies need creative technologists – and strategic technologists – to serve as translators between the concept and the execution, between marketing and technology.

The agile mentality must be part and parcel of agency culture, not just one person or a few people. “Everyone in the agency should know what the hell is going on with technology.” We should be “on the ground” at conferences, meeting the startups, knowing what platforms already exist to fuel our creations. (Which is why I am here at SXSW of course.)

The creative process should be open and inclusive, because with the myriad technologies available good ideas can come from anywhere even more than ever before.

As software companies move quickly into prototyping, agencies should “think by making”. And, we agencies need to get better and faster at killing stuff if it is not going to work.

Technology platforms enable campaigns, yet budgets are still allocated from a campaign mentality. These platforms, such as the American Express swipe-for-a-discount, can be powerful long-term investments and should not be short-shifted.

Agencies must have flexible, loose structure and be willing to change frequently to make it work better. Build the right team one great person at a time (something Jigsaw definitely embodies IMHO) and don’t confine them to a single “department”.

This, I believe. A resounding “amen” on all counts. What do you think?

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| Tags:
#agileagency, #SxSW, #SxSWi, Allison Mooney, Ben Malbon, Matt Galligan, Rick Webb, Rob Rasmussen, think like software companies

Swold

Thanks Sue. It’s a humbling experience to try to change constantly after the industry trained us all to be the same for so many years. Used to be media mix. Now it’s…well I won’t name it… cause by the time I post this comment it will have changed.
- Sue Spaight
  
  Hi Steven and thanks. It IS humbling, and very difficult. That, I believe, is why it is so important for us to constantly open ourselves to new developments and have our ears to the ground in a variety of ways, attending events like SXSW being just one of them. It’s much to easy for an agency to stay in its bubble and get stagnant. Thanks for being committed to that not happening.
http://twitter.com/addy_dren Andreana Drencheva

I guess this is not a very agile comment either, but here are my $0.02 on the topic.

1. The idea itself needs clarification, agencies should think and act more like start-up software companies, not just software companies. Start-ups are powered by a small group of incredibly talented people with contagious passion and strong belief that whatever they are producing will change they way people behave, think, speak, etc. Talent is not an issue for the agency world, however, passion is another story.

2. Creative and strategic technologists sounds great in theory. In practice, it is almost impossible to take advantage of the concept. Those people usually get pulled into a project (more on how we approach projects in a bit) at its early stages then everything gets crazy busy, the deadline approaches and they get left behind on their small technology island while others, with little or no experience, decide how to use technology and that is the time when you need those technologists the most.

3. Hence an agency shouldn’t have a digital/interactive/new media department. As you pointed out, everyone in the agency should have not only knowledge but also experience in digital. Of course, that again sounds great on theory, but how do you find time to educate everyone? A few suggestions: University that everyone has to attend, rewards for people who learn outside of work, give people time for pet projects. And I am not talking only about the creatives, but also the media, strategy and, most importantly, the account team. The account team should play with the tools as much as the creative team does. <– This is probably the hardest part.

4. Teach clients and account people to think long-term commitment and initiatives, not short-term campaigns, which also affects how budgets are allocated and where these budgets come from. The differences between marketing, product development, services, customer experience, etc. are blurring so why would only the marketing department pay for such initiatives? All other departments benefit from them.

5. Your point, or the panelists' point, of having the right team with the right culture is nails it and will probably work in every industry other than this one because of the low employee retention rates. 30% of an agency's employees will leave within a year, you can see how hard it is to build the perfect team and foster the start-up culture. Even if you hire only people who already think and act like employees of a start-up software companies, they might have trouble with the specific agency process. This is much easier for smaller agencies like Jigsaw, but I really can't imagine an easy way to make it work in a larger agency.

Thank you for sharing the highlights of the discussion and sorry for my rant. It is a very interesting topic and a very exciting time to be part of this industry.
- Sue Spaight
  
  I love your critical thinking and wish you would have been presenting the critical thinking session I saw yesterday. Have I mentioned there’s no coffee here? I’m going to keep this reasonably quick so I can procure some (and hopefully get to the Alcatel developer lounge in time to snag some Angry Birds for the G-man.)
  
  I agree that this is more applicable to start-ups, tech startups in particular. And while I agree that in day-to-day practice, using technologists in this manner is a challenge, the onus is on agencies to figure that out and staff appropriately so they are available to participate. That would be aided by infusing technology thinking throughout the agency. And yes, that too is a real challenge. We can do some education, but I believe the onus is on the individual to take initiative; digital/social is learned by DOING. When Edward Boches spoke at Adworkers, he told a story about how CP&B told employees to figure it (digital) out, or leave. They offered support and minimal resources. Learning this is part of everyone’s job; it is not any agency’s responsibility to spoon-feed. But yes, support should be provided.
  
  Short-term campaign thinking is indeed an issue. This is the point the panel was trying to make with the American Express swipe-for-discount example; that was a huge, long-term technology investment that will fuel marketing for years to come. Encouraging most traditional marketers to think that way is a tectonic shift that needs to happen; it won’t happen overnight.
  
  While the average agency may have a 30% turnover rate, the ones with really good culture and ethic do not. This is true of even some mid-size or larger agencies. But you’re right, it is surely not easy. As someone on the panel said, “Culture is the answer.”
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