Media agency set to push into creative
A Sydney media agency appears set to undergo a radical repositioning, a newly posted job ad suggests.
The unnamed agency is advertising for a communications director, part of whose brief will be to educate the market about its push into creative.
According to the ad: “This agency is currently categorised as a media agency. However, the goal over the next six months is to change this perception with proof of work. The agency is in a unique position to activate ideas through either a traditional creative process, or through accessing media owner assets. This rare position of being able to leverage media budgets to create campaigns is an absolute point of difference.”
The ad was posted on the Mumbrella jobs board by Keeley Pope Media Recruitment.
At the time of writing, Mumbrella had been unable to speak to the agency in question.
Here’s a tip for said agency, if you wan’t to make proper creative work, hire proper creatives. There simply is no other way. If there were, clients would have done this themselves a long, long, time ago.
The unpacking of the traditional agency model and separating media from creative was always a dumbfuck idea in the first place.
Glad to see the two being brought back together.
I think BMF is already going down that path.
that clients benefit from combined media and creative models is a myth. Such arrangements only benefit the bottom line of the agency, which can now slip one hand around each side of the client’s neck for the shakedown
When I started in the industry creatives and media people worked in the same place.
We would go to client meetings together and discuss creative/media ideas together.
It worked a treat. The clients got some really good ideas.
It sure isn’t a new idea but I welcome its return.
Sven, I think you generalise slightly.
Pre-supposing that every, single agency would take this slimy approach to extending a client relationship is wrong.
It also doesn’t respect the intelligence levels of clients at all. Most of whom know exactly how to manage agencies and know a “shakedown” well before it arrives.
Tim – what exactly do you mean by ‘proper creatives’? Why on earth should good ideas only come from traditional ‘creative agency’ creatives?
I agree with Shabby- if we simply changed the title of every person in a creative role across media and creative agencies to “creative ro art director” woudl they then become “proper creatives”?
I agree Tim, the way to deliver creative is to hire creatives and we have.
I agree Tech Wreck, I also remember and this is why we have decided to take this direction.
I agree Sev, we don’t want everyone taking this direction, it’s our POD and we realise that’s not for all clients but I believe they know what works best for their business.
Please contact Keeley if you’re interested
I’ve heard a lot of negative feedback about clients “working in silo’s” with one department not communicating with one another. It seems to me that most agencies work this way too.
Why do they do this? To make more money, to look better than the other or just because they don’t like sharing !!
Working together and sharing knowledge can only benefit all concerned – quite simple really….
Advertising Advantage making another run for the bright lights?
As someone on the client side who has to spend far more time than I’d like making sure the media and creative agencies are speaking to each other and working together, not to mention managing the egos of who came up with the best idea, I’d welcome a move back to having them under the same roof (the ego thing may still be a problem!)
Whether this is a good or a bad thing is based on multiple variables: The People, The Client, the incentives (i.e are they aligned if different companies for Media and Creative), the brand itself and the marketplace.
The key reason it doesn’t often work are the incentives / goals of a Media Agency versus a Creative Agency are by their very nature/existence different.
One controlling immediate R.O.I and placement, one controlling the actual message strategy.
But it would be massively wrong to say it can’t and doesn’t work.
Let’s also not forget that their separate niche’s/role can be a positive ingredient in the push-pull of getting the best out of both mediums, and therefore the client.
Like any relationship – it’s give and take and as long as the top level goals are aligned then it can work under one roof or many.
Bring it on.
I think this is fantastic. I don’t see any reason why both creative and media agencies can’t operate as one business. Having one key account manager and point of contact would free up time for planners and designers to come up with the best work possible.
@AdGrunt
LOL