Why are advertising agencies dying? The advertising industry is in crisis. Ad agencies are being squeezed out by the big holding companies who want to control all aspects of their clients marketing, which includes buying media on social networks and search engines.
These media agencies have no interest in working with creative agencies because they can’t be bothered to work with them or pay for quality creative services. Smaller independent ad agencies are struggling to compete against the big holding companies that dominate the market, which means many talented people will find themselves without a job if this trend continues.
What’s happening are advertising agencies?
Are advertising agencies dying? From the dawn of advertising itself, there have been agencies. The first was Volney Palmer’s 1841 agency in London that dealt only with newspapers and not any other form of media like TV or radio at all; instead they could be reached by just one company – their client! This single-point approach made things easier for advertisers because it simplified everything: creating ads through this 1 stop shop became much simpler than having to deal directly from thousands upon a thousand different sources across print medias as well internet content delivery networks (CDN). It also meant less time wasted on irrelevant material which might never even show up again if left unchecked – so many argue these were good reasons enough back then where we are today too.
Data poor, targeting imprecise and shelf space limited – this is the time for agencies to thrive. With artificial loyalty from customers now an endangered species with their survival only guaranteed by big companies’ funnel inefficiencies due to lack of alternatives on consumers’ behalf across media channels; these days it’s all about hyper-targeting niche audiences who can be marketed directly at them through social platforms or search engines instead (with unlimited inventory). Brands that figure out how not just serve one audience at a time, but several smaller groups simultaneously, could see success unprecedented since before digital advertising even existed!
The old model where brands had mass appeal because they were able to affordably bundle prices into bundles has given way thanks solely.
In the past three years:
- $17 billion in sales has evaporated from 10 U.S.-based packaged food companies
- 90% of top 100 CPG brands had decreased market shares by 2015.
- Meanwhile, Gillette saw its share drop to 54 percent within a decade as consumers shifted their attention away from high level marketing tactics towards middle of funnel offerings with premium design capabilities.
How can we save our beloved advertising agencies dying?
Finding clients
From a potential client’s perspective, agencies have the same look and feel, they all act in similar ways to help with services offered. So there’s not much of an opportunity for clients who want something different from one another or even just some type of personality variation when they come into contact with your company. However, this might be seen as beneficial by many companies because it can save them money on branding campaigns needed throughout their organization due to various employees having diverse personalities, which is costly (and time-consuming).
Getting clients to pay on time
Some genuinely forget. Maybe they’re busy or have a big payroll department where things get backlogged, but if you’re running an agency, it’s your job to stay afloat and make sure the money keeps rolling in, without which everything else falls apart: staff unpaid gets angry at clients who don’t pay because there are no other jobs out there since everyone has been laid off from all those companies whose business we helped take over; bills go uncollected as customers stop buying what was being produced before our client paid up while others start using them for free.
Feeling disconnected from employees
Your co-workers are often in different places. Different time zones! Working on different projects can make it hard to connect with them, but everyone requires some human contact now and then. Here’s what you do:
- commit yourself daily or weekly online meetings
- operate an effective chat room through Slack (or another messaging app)
- create contests that award those who work hardest within the company – this will help keep people feeling connected while also motivating others about their performance at work
What better way could there be for us all working together as one team towards success?
Getting more done with less
It’s tough out there, and that means everyone is fighting for their own piece of the pie. But don’t worry – you can still do more with less if we all work together!
Here are some tips on how:
- Assign tasks to people who have what they need
- Make sure deadlines aren’t too ambitious but give yourself enough time just in case this helps motivate or hold them accountable (deadlines should set expectations from day 1).
- Use project management software like Trello, so every task doesn’t get forgotten.
Adapting to a rapidly changing environment
It’s a tough time to be an agency creative. The market, technologies and business philosophies are always evolving, which means you have constantly changing challenges on your plate! However, there is some good news: Freelancers can help out with these changes if they’re hired correctly or freelancing at bottom dollar rates, like in the past when it was difficult for agencies because companies didn’t want them handling their advertising campaigns. So now everyone has gone freelance anyway, thanks largely due to social media becoming such a huge part of peoples’ lives. Unfortunately, this leaves room open again where one could take down another, as we’ve seen many times before undercutting each other by charging less than what should really cost just because someone else will do it.
A list of what needs to change in order to save them
The Upwork platform is designed to make it easier for all parties involved in the process. The discovery dashboard aids companies, who can use this as an interactive map that provides them with information on what type of projects they need or want based off their specifications and needs. Meanwhile, agencies will find more clarity when browsing through curated listings by clicking into one category (such as graphic design) rather than scrolling endlessly through pages upon pages looking at everything under “design.” And finally, Bring Your Own Agency allows individuals or organizations already using up work’s services to access API features, so these same contractors become fully integrated staff members without any additional cost!
The traditional advertising agency model is not dying. It’s dead
As we know, Covid has greatly accelerated what has already been happening to our society—social distancing. As it relates to the ad business and especially through social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram where people post their life all day every day. More content faster in a time crunch is how you have seen your agency operate over these last few years because that’s just how things are moving nowadays; but there may be an issue…
The problem? Well It’s not so much about fitting into this new model of constant updates (although who could really keep up?), rather than anything else, maybe those pesky customers require attention too! Not sure if I should.
In the near future, I do hope that agencies and clients alike take time to get to know each other better. It doesn’t have to be done over a fancy steak dinner or floor seats at an NBA playoff game; it can happen by participating in things like social responsibility efforts or donating together at your local food bank
In this day and age, there is so much emphasis on professionalism- but let’s not forget about being kind! By taking some of these simple steps we’ll all feel more connected (literally) which will only lead us down paths towards success.
Advertising agencies are in trouble because there is no longer a need for them. The internet has changed the way advertising is done, and they’ve had to work hard to keep up with new demands. With so much information available on how to advertise, it’s easy for small businesses who want their own marketing campaigns without having to hire an agency.
Agencies can’t survive by simply adding more services or trying different things; they need to figure out what people actually want from them if they’re going to last another generation of business.
