Hello, agency leader, ad agency CEO, M&A professional, or agency holding company executive. Am I the only one that geeks out on marketing communications or advertising supply chains? What I mean by “supply chains” are the steps, companies and people involved in making an ad. From the client on one end to the consumer on the other.
Here are some recent articles you should check out, along with some perspective on why they’re geekworthy. Well, and even inspiring from a growth or agency new business angle.
Clients are taking an even closer look at how work is getting made, distributed and, yes, “optimized.” When it comes to marketing communications supply chains, that’s the word that can win agency new business.
All this supply chain talk helps explain why there are more stand-alones, holding company solutions and in-house moves. Which has major impact on M&A, agency marketing & positioning and yes, talent.
Martin Sorell’s interpretation of the advertising supply chain
The architect of the world’s largest agency holding company, WPP, has a new venture. This Adweek article’s title is a little overblown. But it does offer up some thoughts on where Mssr. Sorrell’s head is at with regard to S4’s plans. Very telling he doesn’t have much passion for creatively-led, legacy type agencies. If you want the original S4 prospectus, that inspired the Adweek article, here you go. And here’s a recent interview with Martin Sorrell. And here’s another story (published well after the post you’re reading) where he echoes a point made below. Great minds?! 😉
WPP’s new CEO perspective on holding company structure and growth
Out with the old, in with the experienced new. As suspected, Mark Read is WPP’s new CEO. Here’s an article that discusses the holding company’s latest challenges (including North American growth) and hints at some upcoming restructuring.
Moving from $5m to $50M pitches
If you’re looking for an indication that supply chain thinking works, look no further than Accenture Interactive. This article gets at how this company has grown. Hint: it’s much more about platforms, tech, data, analytics and more. Makes sense, given Accenture’s IT consulting capabilities. This can move engagements / deals from $5 million to $50 million. And has the added benefit of being hard to unseat.
What these guys are missing
While that’s a strong statement, it may not be fair to say. After all, agencies keep many secrets to themselves. But what’s missing is talk of how great ideas move through these links! That should be all be in capital letters. And let’s also keep in mind that ideas can mean any kind of agency deliverable: strategy, creative, execution and more. Using any channel.
Speaking of executional ideas and strategy, if you’re looking for some definitions of supply chain terms like accuracy, visibility, velocity, variability, consistency and more, shoot me an email. Happy to share some notes on it, as I’ve worked with a couple of marketing communication supply chain companies.
Anywho, hope this post gets you thinking a bit. And if you’ve got something related you’d like to share, please do!
Thanks!
