In February, our agency participated in the EMEA EXEC CIRCLE Briefing. In this event, Alice Mansergh (Managing Director of Google Customer Solutions, UK & Ireland) and Forrester VP Principal Analyst, Jay Pattisall, delved into agency partnerships, testing and learning, and tools and tactics for change management.
In general, most agencies have been affected by the pandemic and inflation. In this study, conducted by Forrester on behalf of Google, in August 2022, they answer a pertinent question on what brands most want from agencies in the future. The good news that came out of this research is that 79% of brands intend to invest more with agency partners.
The study helps us understand the next wave of agency growth coming out of the pandemic and times of uncertainty. These are the main takeaways from the study:
- Brands and agencies are focused on consumer behavior shifts.
- Brands seek agile, result-driven agency partners. 75% of brands said it was very important for agencies to have the ability to adapt services and capability to brands changing needs.
- To be a strategic partner, agencies need to prioritize capabilities, talent, and tech to meet client needs.
In this study, they discuss the 5 top challenges brands face with their agencies:
- Skills and Talent: onboarding new talent is a key bottleneck to growing faster.
- Creative capabilities
- Effectively using customer data within privacy requirements
- Ability to measure ROI from marketing initiatives
- Lack of innovation at the agency
As an agency, we have pivoted during the pandemic and have focused on adapting our services to include the below, which will also be part of our strategic focus for 2023 in order to better cater to our client’s needs:
- Acquiring and Building Talent: Growth opportunities
- Harness automation and AI tools.
- Capitalize on opportunities in creative data and analytics
To learn more about the research and additional resources:
