The Freedom to Collaborate

Adam Cahill over at ClickZ wrote a wonderful article recently that really resonated with me on The Traits of a Collaborative Agency. Adam talks about how complicated and sophisticated marketing - especially digital marketing - has become. Tell me about it.

And, Adam says, if a client is really serious about taking advantage of all this potential, there's no way one agency can do it all, especially if they're expected to do it all and do it well. He goes on to explain:

Multiple agencies are required, and the major holding companies [think WPP, Omnicom, Publicis ...] own all of the various assets in question. Unfortunately, holding company agencies can't work together productively, and aren't going to learn how.

That's because holding companies are about risk management, not client management. They are creations of the financial world that exist to serve the interests of shareholders, not individual clients that need to solve marketing problems.

Agencies within holding companies are like pit bulls: it's not their fault they bite, they're just doing what they've been trained to do, which is deliver on their own financials at all costs.

He describes the idea of the agency of the future being a collaborative one, one that will successfully bring together the best of the best agencies among channels for the best end result for the client. Traits of a collaborative agency would include:

• Driven by a core culture of collaboration
• Led by a visionary leader
• Focused on long-term growth
• Privately held
• Chooses to bring in better-suited experts when appropriate
• Leadership demonstrates humility, and rewards employees who do the same
• Is generous with introductions and creating opportunities for friends and partners

In short, it will strive to facilitate, not dominate.

I've posted in the past about the benefits of being an independent agency, and Mr. Cahill's article prompts me to add another point to my list:

The freedom to collaborate.