At first blush, today’s post by Kendall Allen continues the faddish piling on of advertising agencies as out of touch and increasingly irrelevant. But her piece contains more than a fair share of truth. And ultimately, Kendall makes hopeful, positive statements about convergence and its availability to anyone tireless enough to “evolve during complicated times.”
She makes a number of valid points concerning both how marketers from all disciplines can benefit from cooperation and the entrenched barriers to it. More than anything, her characterization of the entitled attitude at ad agencies reflects the accumulated hubris returning like a tide toward traditional agency people who have long expected online and direct partners to follow our lead. Because as we all know–or should know–traditional agencies can no longer assume that they drive the bus. As marketing tactics grow increasingly driven by pull, engagement and experience, that attitude represents a dangerous assumption and a direct roadblock to true integration. Ultimately, Kendall’s post is a call toward collaboration, across channels and platforms, all in service of cooperating to find solutions.
To be fair, she hardly takes any real sideswipes. So maybe it’s not her. Maybe it’s me. Maybe as a longtime leader at a traditional agency, I’m a touch over sensitive on this topic. After all, I’m looking to evolve, and most (but not all) of my traditional agency is actively trying to grow as well.
But sometimes, the world changes and ‘experience’ becomes another name for ‘habit.’ The business evolves and you gotta figure out where exactly that cheese went. Hmm…
And maybe, just maybe, all of us traditional agencies owe an overdue ‘mea culpa’ to our friends in the disciplines rising to the fore in today’s marketing world.