Why very few people like ad agencies.

It's fair to say that the majority of traditional ad agencies simply dropped the ball when it came to social media.

Many argued that social media was not part of their remit, but it was and is that kind of thinking that led them to idly watch that ball they dropped as it rolled down a drain and got swept out to sea.

Likeminded competition.

It's no secret that consultancies pose a threat to many agencies, especially the big ones, they are busy buying up independent creative shops and pairing them with their business nous to woo CEO's and CMO's alike.

But there are other dangers to the big network agencies - some media companies are also posing a very valid threat.

Let's imagine you were a brand that wanted to connect with a younger market, one that is fashion and gadget savvy and understand and live on social media. Why on Earth would you go to a traditional ad agency to reach them? These days their first call may very well be to companies such as Hypebeast, Highsnobiety, Complex, or Vice. All of them are working directly with brands now and the brands in turn are bypassing agencies altogether.

Here's a recent piece in the WSJ about Vice's continued push into direct to brand relationships.

They know the audience, they know the influencers, they understand social media, and they know how to make content for social media. Ad agencies, well the majority of those rooted in traditional media, do not. In fact, many agencies would be reaching out to these media companies for guidance and input.

Ad agencies face the risk of becoming the unnecessary middlemen of creative brand communications in many areas for many brands.

So let's play devil's advocate here. Imagine brand XYZ wants to tap into the above mentioned audience, which will of course require a good understanding of social media. And let's say they are looking at two options. One is to engage an ad agency and the other is to work with one of the above media companies. 

One group knows social media well and how to make the content needed for it, the other not so much. Let's do a basic side by side test.

I pulled a name out of the hat to pick an agency for this example, I did literally write down 12 agency names and put them into my hat. Not exactly scientific but it is a nice hat. 

The winner was Saatchi & Saatchi, so I will, for the sake of making a point, pit them against Hypebeast.

Let's take a look at Saatchi's social media engagement. They were founded in London in 1970 have 7,157 followers on Instagram at the time I wrote this and they have posted 323 times so far. Their Facebook page has 64,135 likes. 

Hypebeast, was a blog founded in 2005 in a student's (Kevin Ma) dorm room at university in Vancouver and is now based in Hong Kong, its Instagram has 4.6 million followers and has posted 19,600 times to date. Their Facebook page has 3,713,447 likes. 

In case you've been living under a rock, here's some more background on Hypebeast.

Now if I was a client and I was targeting the aforementioned audience I would be pretty gobsmacked by the differences there and I think I know who I would be talking to regards engaging with that audience.

No, I do not have a beef with Saatchi & Saatchi, I again am just using them as an example for this not so scientific experiment here. To be fair here are some stats from a couple of other agencies and their Instagram and Facebook engagement.

DDB: Founded in 1949. Instagram - 51,800 followers + 995 posts. I actually could not find their Facebook page, it's not listed on their website and they don't appear to have a page, which in itself seems very odd.

Y&R: Founded in 1923. Instagram - 13,100 followers + 632 posts. Facebook - 13,392 followers.

Okay, so you may say that I have only shown one example of a 'new media' player, that being Hypebeast. Fair enough. So let's look at the numbers on offer from the others I mentioned.

Highsnobiety: Founded in 2005. Instagram - 1.8 million followers + 14,416 posts. Facebook - 2,337,457 followers.

Complex: Founded in 2002. Instagram - 2.3 million followers + 19,201 posts. Facebook - 4,450,856 followers.

Vice: Founded in 1994. Instagram - 1.5 million followers + 2,150 posts. Facebook - 7,359,169 followers.

Yes I know, one group are 'media companies' per se and the other traditional ad agencies. But that's the point. The lines have been blurred and soon there may no longer be any lines, the media companies get this and are now working directly with brands/clients, but it seems the ad agencies, well many, are still scratching their heads.

Some will say that the social media accounts for the ad agencies are primarily for their staff and clients, well if that was the case that shows how much they still don't know or understand.

Their accounts are their chance to show thought leadership, be creative without the restraints of a brief and flex some fresh idea muscles, and it's also a way to engage with not only their staff but potential clients and new talent to work with. Many just show photos from Cannes, award trophies, people sitting at desks, away days, brainstorms, and maybe some donuts and an office dog. They could do so much more.

If I was a client I would be asking agencies some questions.

One of those questions would be - Do you understand how consumers engage these days? The second would be - Do you truly understand non-traditional media?

If the responses to both these questions were 'yes', then I would be asking them to prove it. Show me what they are doing on a daily basis with their own social media engagement. Walk the talk.

To do social media well they need to be thoroughly engaged with it and active in it so as they will truly know how to create and make content for it. That is common sense. If you owned a BMW, who would you trust to work on the engine? Someone who loves talking about BMW's or someone who knows all the mechanical aspects and inner workings of the car and knows how to make it tick and perform with their own hands? Personally I would opt for the latter.

The fact is that established agencies, some of which have been around more than 50 years, have been selling themselves to brands as the creative solution makers and the ones who understood media that connected with the masses. And for the longest time they were the champions of it in TV, print, and radio. But times have changed, dramatically. Social media is now part of the daily life of the masses.

The masses don't turn to their TV now, they turn to their mobile, computer or tablet and look at social media and other online resources...that's not exactly breaking news.

If many agencies continue down this road it is easy to see they will soon be relegated to the antique stores, left on a shelf to gather dust in the hopes someone will come along and buy them. But, people only buy things they like or that are liked by others.

Rodd Chant

I'm a Creative Director / Writer / Strategist / Thinker and a bit more. I work with clients/brands directly and with agencies and production companies. I also teach creative thinking and idea generation to groups and individuals. You can read more of my LinkedIn musings here. You can also find me on Twitter,  Instagram and on Facebook. Or drop me an email – roddchant@gmail.com

#advertising #brands #content #cmo #vice #hypebeast #highsnobiety #complex #agencies #socialmedia