Digitization brings new opportunities and challenges for marketing. Thjnk board member Anke Peters explains in the GWA column what needs to change in processes and customer-agency relationships and why a pitch is no longer enough.
Marketing is changing. This applies equally to customers and agencies. Both face the great challenge of having to develop and change in order to survive in this complex and ever faster changing world. The challenges are complex, especially due to digitization and changing customer needs, the market is becoming more complex.
60 percent of those responsible for marketing state that their own role and area of responsibility have changed significantly in the past two years (Forbes Insight, 2016). In addition, marketing in companies is increasingly under pressure to justify budgets. KPIs make success measurable, but the direct connection of KPIs and measures requires complex handling of data.
Collaboration on the test bench
Data management and technologies therefore have a significant impact on our work. Both customers and agencies want to benefit from this, but the “how” is not clear and the question remains whether it is possible to go this way together in existing agency-customer partnerships. The way we work together is being scrutinized and has to change fundamentally in order to be open to new processes and to work together with a different level of transparency.
Under this situation, agency relationships have changed significantly in recent years: long-term contractual partnerships give way to framework agreements with no or only limited order volumes, project business replaces binding retainers and minimum purchases, marketers maintain agency pools in order to be able to be flexible in placing orders. And even these framework agreements are usually limited in time, with the option to extend, but also the possibility of renegotiating prices after they have expired.
The best idea is no longer enough
As requirements increase, the budget stays stable at best. The developments are therefore contrary. Instead of being able to invest, you have to budget well. In the search for a quick, implementable solution, topics are outsourced and mandates are given elsewhere. Many of the influencing actors on the company side no longer feel competent in this changed area of responsibility and hope for help and solutions from outside.
And: where the best idea and greatest creativity used to be one of the most important drivers in an agency decision, today it is only one of several factors. It is also no longer an exclusive guarantee for a successful agency-client relationship. So what is it
The qualifying criterion for marketers and agencies in the future is how much they are able to collaborate with all the experts who are now sitting at the table when it comes to coping with complex tasks. It’s about multilingualism and cultural management – to be on an equal footing, to link knowledge in a meaningful way and to be able to act as a hinge between the trades.
Game Changer: Collaboration
More important than ever is the ability of a good sparring partner between departments and actors and to be able to lead both creatively and strategically, because the demarcation from management consultants and technology providers is dwindling.
But how do you get to collaborative and interdisciplinary cooperation?
The success factors for such constructs are obvious, but not easy to implement. A clear definition of roles and responsibility in the process are crucial. Soft skills are in particular demand, clarification of roles and expectations, but also a professional handling of conflicts, problems and frustration – even outside of your own four walls. In addition, the implementation of processes and the provision of a collaborative infrastructure is essential.
More space for reflection
Another success factor is trust in working together, the ability to ask relevant questions, and being able to constructively question goals and measures. Transparency, the early sharing of ideas and thoughts, and ongoing interaction are also essential. Agencies can learn a lot from iterative process models from the start-up landscape.
Unfortunately, all these skills cannot be tested in a pitch, but could be the result of constructive cooperation that pursues a common goal. In a workshop, for example, it usually quickly becomes apparent whether the soft skills mentioned are available and whether the way of working fits together.
Read all of Anke Peters’ columns.
