Elevate Consulting | Jake Johnson | Phoenix Copywriter & Ghostwriter

Be An Agent For Change.

Interesting article by Wayne Arnold over at Advertising Age on moving from being a creative agency to being agents of change.

Sometimes you have to look to the past to take stock of the present and change for the future. There is no doubt in my mind that, just as in Mary Wells’ day, what will help agencies survive these tricky times are ideas — brilliant, business-focused ideas.

Being an agent of change means looking at “business issues.” So for me, the real starting point of a campaign is not the client brief but the company report, because in those first few pages is every brief you’re going to need for the next three to five years. How a company operates is far more revealing than what a brand is doing and saying.

According to Arnold, the concept of the agency as a middle man between media owners and brand owners is a dying one. The agencies that are surviving and thriving are those that don’t just provide a slogan or an ad, but those that provide “creative business ideas,” those that actually become partners and provide real and tangible value from within their organization to their client’s organization.

I’ve seen this in my own work, as clients aren’t simply looking for a good campaign but have also brought me in on development of systems and structures as well. If Arnold’s thoughts are true, it stands to reason that creative types who have a solid understanding of business and management will do well, while those who have good and creative ideas, but can’t think on an organizational-wide level will falter.

So, what are you doing to bridge the gap?