by Johanna McDowell (@jomcdowell) LONDON: Perfect Fools, Lucky Generals and Sunshine were three of the seven agencies we visited in London yesterday, Thursday, 16 April 2015 — day two of the AdForum Worldwide Summit London. Added to this lineup were Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Anomaly, MBA and Fold.
The entire day was devoted to creativity and its role in linking, collaborating and being part of the eco systems of agencies and their clients. We talked incentives, business solutions, alchemy, in-house production growth and igniting people’s imaginations as we walked the streets of London in sunny dry weather.
So many consultants
Forty consultants, representing a record for AdForum Summits, have extraordinary things to share across the world and this group of people represents a thought leadership which is, frankly, new to this industry. Even Sir Martin Sorrell commented at dinner that the era of consultants is here to stay, and that we must be successful as there are so many of us.
What is clear is that clients ( CMOs) have so much choice — there is so much fragmentation — that they need more and more help to discern and decide upon the most-suitable agency partners to take their businesses forward.
Across geographical territories and types of communication vehicles and media types, the role of agencies is more and more blurred — and, with such an abundance of talent in those agencies, it becomes more and more difficult to make those marketing decisions which may have been so much easier 30 years ago.
Ceativity across all channels
The focus of this summit is creativity — across all channels — and yesterday’s agencies provided food for thought at all levels, whether as startups or reengineered establishments; no-one is complacent, everyone is positive and enthusiastic — which can only be good for great work.
We ended our day with the inimitable head of WPP, whose main concern is the rise of procurement and focus on costs by CMOs, when he believes that the reality is that a focus on top-line growth is where both CMO and agency minds should concentrate their efforts.
A long and exciting day in what is probably the hub of global advertising creativity! And so to bed.
Three more agencies on Friday, plus a wrap-up session to share our findings over these three days.
Best
Johanna
@jomcdowell @agencyselection
#adforumsummit
Johanna McDowell is managing director of the Independent Agency Search and Selection Company (IAS), which stands at the forefront of the complex world of agency selection in South Africa, and she is one of the few experts driving this mediation and advisory service in SA and globally. Twice a year she attends AdForum Worldwide Summits as an international consultant, which helps her lead the SA advertising industry forward to keep in line with international trends and remain competitive. Follow her on Twitter at @jomcdowell.
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