The Independent Agency Search and Selection Company (IAS) is a leader in marketing trends and agency consultation in South Africa.
As a subscriber to IAS, Flow was recently invited to a series of masterclasses in Cape Town and Johannesburg, to have a look at the trends top New York agencies are following.
Johanna McDowell, managing director of IAS, structured the sessions around her most recent trip to the AdForum Summit in New York. The summit is an annual week-long event for leading agency search consultants, to meet with top agency CEOs and teams to discuss issues facing industry, discover possible trends and learn about innovative marketing projects.
What is happening in the marketing world abroad
Ogilvy is always an interesting stop for McDowell, who has been attending AdForum for a number of years. Heritage agencies that have been running for a long time, such as Ogilvy, always face the unique issue of reinventing themselves.
Looking at the case study of Ogilvy’s “Visit Mum” campaign for British Airways, it has positioned itself through its built-up expertise in a way where it is able to advise clients on products that will extend to marketing, rather than the other way around. This allows for campaigns on a much bigger scale, standing out in a world filled with content.
This is also seen at J Walter Thompson, with its “Touchable Ink” campaign for Samsung. Instead of creating a marketing campaign for a Samsung printer, J Walter Thompson created a marketable product, in this case a printer capable of printing braille. McDowell mentions that in this case, J Walter Thompson is positioning itself by looking at the trending topic of a changing world to inform its campaign focuses.
Another key trend across agencies is the scale of digital content production. Agencies Vice, Virtue and the Moving Picture Company are leading this content revolution. It’s said that by 2020, 90% of all internet traffic will be video.
Moving Picture Company, a film production company, has fully embraced this fact and used its particular expertise to position itself as an agency that can produce videos quickly, cheaply and effectively. Vice, a media-cum-marketing agency, has also taken this route, but positioned itself as company that understands youth. Vice has equipped itself with numerous small studios capable of churning out content and original shows. Vice’s sister agency Virtue, on the other hand, has taken to changing the marketing landscape to have clients think like media brands. its mantra is content, and if you don’t have anything interesting to say as a brand, you’re only a product, Virtue argues.
Other agencies and companies shaping the marketing and advertising field according to Adforum and McDowell include Brooklyn Brothers, Spring Studios, Wunderman, Big Spaceship, BBDO, Publicis Groupe, McCann, 72&Sunny, Doner, DDB and R/GA.
Key observations and trends from IAS and AdForum
- Evolution is shaping the role of the traditional agency: agencies have evolved to a consultative space involved in business transformation of brands
- Content production is critical: agencies on trend have increased production facilities to be able to deliver results, quickly and effectively
- Reinvention is key: agencies are embracing new ways of doing things and affecting lives
For us as an agency, it’s important to learn about the innovative projects of top agencies around the world. Digital marketing is an ever-changing industry, and we can’t be more excited about our field right now.