By Cary Hatch, CEO, MDB Communications
As we close out a decade of disruption and changing marketing needs and roles, 2020 holds even more evolution. There appears to be no holding back when it comes to brand innovation, competition for marketing budgets, the arms race for talent, and pressure-testing client-agency relationships.
With so many competing interests, industry disciplines and players in the marketing ecosystem, it’s really an “every man for themselves” environment. Agencies, publishers and media platforms all compete for their share of client marketing budgets. Add to that, the fast-tracked concept of client in-housing of historically out sourced agency services. The opportunity here is for marketing communications providers to audit their core competencies and augment with best of breed partners to better serve brands leaders in order to retain business. Only the most shrewd providers and partnerships are likely to prevail.
Given the continuing pace of technology and strategic innovation, the need for Omnichannel leaders has never been more essential. From strategic planning to brand partnerships and as UX progresses to include CX (customer experience), securing, training and retaining agency leaders will become an increasing imperative. These are the architects that lead client confidence and contribute to expanded agency relationships and investments.
As brand leaders continue to align agency services, budgets and their in-house services there is an ongoing dialogue regarding how agencies demonstrate ROI on short-term projects. It appears that brand activations (like Whopper Detour) and various projects or assignments will continue to be on the marketing menu for 2020. This can prove challenging for agencies as they produce more content (and results) in shorter timeframes without long-term compensation. Agency leaders will need to adjust and plan accordingly—something smaller independent agencies tend to do well.
For nimble, thoughtful and progressive brands and agencies, 2020 is a time of opportunity – as the proverb goes, fortune favors the brave.
0 Comments