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The same thought has occurred to me lately, and how it feels like increasingly we know about the work that’s happening in the industry through marketers and agencies posting about it on Linkedin, primarily for the benefit of other marketers and agencies.
I think agencies (and top-down communications from brands in general) functioned better when we had more of a monoculture. When everyone showed up at a certain time each week to watch TV shows on the same network, or even used one site as their primary gateway to the Internet. The media landscape and consumption habits are so fragmented, mosaical and frankly messy now, it’s hard for advertising to get its arms around consumers unless they target the few big cultural or media moments that are essentially holdovers from the monoculture, like the Superbowl.
Everyone seems to want to leave the industry
Rising Star
I’ve gotten the same feeling and in part it’s because everyone is struggling. W+K has been trying to find its footing for the last 3-4 years, GUT has been quiet, Mischief is still doing cool things but not as unignorably splashy as before. Meanwhile Publicis has been winning a ton but based on capabilities and tech stack, not on the creative merits of their work. Seems everyone is waiting for the other economic shoe to drop. Again 😔.
When you work at one of those, you realize they are not that hot/different/leading. Well, let me at least speak for GUT as I haven’t worked at the other two yet.
The only difference with other agencies as far as I’ve experienced is the amount of opportunities and interesting briefs. That makes it easier to score.
“Yet” lmfao
I think more and more of us are waking up to the fact that a job is a job. Yes, some agencies are doing more killer work than others. But they’ll all let you go at the drop of a hat no matter how many awards and pitches you win.
I have places I’d like to work and accounts I’d like to work on, but I have great direct leadership and mentorship at my current agency, and I don’t take that for granted. Not everyone is cut out to be a manager.
That being said, I hear great things about Tombras these days!
The whole industry cooled down if you haven't noticed.
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It seems to be changing shape, and not in a way that a lot of creatives (or anyone other agency role in its traditional form, for that matter) would be excited about or necessarily be able to make a pivot towards without some resolute upskilling. Anecdotally, I hear a lot of interest from clients in the types of services an entity like, say, Monks provides — more than big brand ideas that can’t seem to cut through the clutter, they want partners that can build platforms, systems and software. Feels like shortsighted investment to me but at least for the moment, it seems as though the nerds have won.
You are sensing it correctly. Unfortunately, my sense is we are now in an era of permanent change in marketing services. In an era of “hyper personalization at scale”, AI & algorithms are simply going to become a bigger part of how marketing gets done. It’s the only way to get all the different “versions” of everything that is now required on the quick timing and costs that clients are willing to pay. Most pieces of communication last for only a short while in the market, so the investment in developing and producing them has to be super efficient. Some creative/media/experiential boutiques will always be hot and fashionable for a period of time, but basically I see most organizations in our industry learning to do more with less people. And the clients are expecting the “productivity increase” to be passed along in lower compensation. Agencies are starting to push harder on the notion of faster better outcomes should mean more profits for the agency, but clients have typically won those debates in the end. In AdAge this week it was reported that procurement people are now showing up at marketing and advertising trade conferences…
While I obviously wish it were different, It has become harder (in the eyes of clients) in many cases for us to provide enough “added value” to support higher wages. For much of the advertising output, what once required legitimately “magical” writing or art direction or production skills can now be done well enough (at least by the standards of many clients) by many (or by AI) for less. While it is not exactly the same thing, this is what has happened to a lot of industries; lots & lots of companies can now make quality architectural designs, interior decorating concepts, pro level photography and graphics in short amount of time and very efficient cost.
Chief
WK and some of the indies can still be top shops, but I’m sure they’re still fighting against clients moving towards “efficiency” not wanting to make real brand work.
Mischief releases something fun almost every week. WK delivers a stunner every so often the Nike work is great.
they def overused theit bit SAD1
One of those things is not like the other lmao