Latest Marketing News

Filed under: Digital, News | Written by Charlie | November 8, 2009

According to Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP in New York claims that brands are not spending enough online because people who run their agencies are too old and resistant to change

It’s true; there is a real lack of understanding of e-marketing and online marketing, so why would a company invest their media budget into an area they know little about?  In fact Sorrell goes on to say that brands only invest around 13% of their total marketing budget despite the rapid increase in digital media.  He continues ‘The people who run agencies tend to be of an older vintage – to put it politely,” said Sorrell. “They tend to be resistant to change and want to spend the last three to four years of their careers travelling around the world rather than dealing with fundamental strategic issues on a daily basis.’

However not all marketing agencies are too old and resistant to change.  There are many agencies that now specialise in digital and online marketing and young marketing agencies which offer a more integrated approach to marketing by offering products and services across offline and online.  A good, young, new integrated marketing agency will keep their finger firmly on the marketing pulse and will take a more consultative approach with clients to help educate them and advise about what marketing activities will work for them and what won’t.  With clients more focused on cost than ever before the shift from more traditional forms of media to digital and online media provides clients with more quantifiable and measurable results and greater ROI.   

In turn better client product and service education from marketing agencies will lead to greater opportunity for innovation, product confidence and media budget investment.  Maybe with greater client investment Sorrell’s claims of digital media budgets increasing to more than 20% but 2015 are to be believed. 

If more marketing agencies adopt a more consultative client approach then maybe we will see the sharp decline in the ‘old agency’ mentality.

Comments (0)