At the start of the crisis we saw many advertisers having the knee jerk reaction of pulling retainers and slashing budgets, however as the weeks have gone on and we’re becoming much more accustomed to this new way of working, brands are working with their agencies to make quicker decisions and producing a lot more real time activations.
We will see a divide in terms of the brands that have outdated business models and will therefore struggle to survive v’s the brands that have embraced digital. There is a real opportunity for brands to work alongside their agencies who can guide them through the digital transformation process.
Over the last few months we have seen everything move online from consumer spending to education, an increase in music and streaming services as well as health and well being.
This rapid acceleration and adaptation by all generations has seen many brands needing to pivot their businesses models, I anticipate that the clever brands will continue to work alongside their agencies and specialist teams to continue this.
The relationship between marketers and agencies has been evolving for the last few years, the in-housing trend will not dissipate and indeed is the right path for some brands. However ‘going it alone’ shouldn’t be a knee jerk decision and definitely isn’t a quick fix solution.
Once a brand has addressed their internal questions as to why they want to in-house and what they are aiming to achieve by doing it they will need to work closely with their agencies to establish a timeline and staged process. In many cases this will mean an adaptation of the marketer agency relationship rather than it ended completely.