Agency 3.0: what does a high-growth company want from a partner?

By Ryan Stoner, serial entrepreneur and head of branding and marketing. He is currently Director and Chief Strategy Officer at Dendro.

The strategies and tactics that got us here today are not the ones that will carry us forward tomorrow. Today, advertising is just one touchpoint among consumers. From digital to customer experience to community engagement, to respond successfully, senior executives must adapt to the new business landscape and the capabilities needed to succeed.

C-suites face intense pressure to drive profitable growth, meet changing demands, and cope with increasing complexity. Looking closely at how the structure of the C-suite has changed to meet the demands of the next decade, 82% of CEOs say they have added a C-level position in the past five years, ranging from chief digital officer to chief information officer. data. , and brand manager. The composition of the Fortune 500 has also changed dramatically; since 2000, 52% of Fortune 500 companies have gone bankrupt, been acquired or ceased to exist.

Yet there have been the same “big four” advertising holdings since 2000. The evolution of agencies needs to change to reflect the new wave of high growth companies. It's time to recognize the changes in business and take action.

Giant brands are a go-to clientele for large agency conglomerates, with their complex needs and big advertising budgets. But traditional agency models are often bogged down by overhead, talent costs, and time-based compensation models.

And for growth-stage small businesses living in a data-driven business environment, marketing and creative talent are increasingly being recruited internally as they seek specialist partners to meet specific needs. As reported by InsideRadio, Gartner, Inc. found in its annual CMO Spend Survey (registration required) that 10% of marketing dollars are spent on brand strategy and activation.

Moving forward, I think we can count on companies to revisit what it means to have a roster of multi-hyphenated talent and creative partners, a combination of corporate partners or of individuals who have dual skills or extensibility. In today's high-speed world, so much can change...