‘Nothing is as constant as change’ as Heraclitus already knew, 2,500 years ago. The digitalised world makes this truth more tangible every day. Today, advertisers are faced with far more and faster-changing communication challenges than they were two to three years ago. Only those who understand these challenges and are in a position to tailor their products and services accordingly can meet the expectations of today’s clients – and even more importantly – tomorrow’s.

One thing is clear: agencies cannot fulfill their roles as advisors and sparring partners by stubbornly following traditional KPIs. New disciplines demand new expertise and new characters. The key aspects for forward-looking collaboration can be easily summarised: adaptability, data-centricity, creativity, proximity and communication. As a partner to advertisers, we constantly adapt the nature of our work and develop individualised and flexible processes and team configurations at a strategic and tactical level.

Data science as a basis for strategy, creation and media

Colourful images, emotive spots, provocative headlines: while the focus in the past was often on the loudness and geniality of individual figures and characters, today we see a growing need for people who have more in common with analysts than advertisers. Of course, this is an exaggeration and should not diminish the relevance of good impulsive ideas and concepts. Nevertheless, it is striking that, in a digitised world full of data points, streams, user, movement and behavioural profiles, we need people with not only the ability and expertise to collect this information, but also the ability to interpret it and translate it into operations.

One of the great opportunities of this data-driven work lies in the continuous interplay between creation, technology and media. In the coming years, this symbiosis will become even more of a key component for delivering brand messages – both efficiently and effectively – to the right target groups at the right time and in the right context.

Agencies must be able to measure, evaluate and optimise the quality of their activities at all times – in real time. But if everything is measurable, verifiable and evaluable, then there can be only one basis on which to define the success or failure of a measure and, ultimately, the agency: impact. How effective are strategies, concepts, ideas and campaigns? In what way do they contribute specifically to the clients’ business success? What part does the agency’s work play in achieving the client’s objectives?

Better a partner than a king

The ‘client is king’ attitude fits very well with what we have been able to observe over and over again for many years – especially in Germany. Unfortunately, many agencies and decision-makers wait for briefings, which they then try to answer with the concerted efforts of their respective teams and ask themselves, above all, how they can stand out against their competitors.

Here, however, contrary to what was previously assumed, clients who are offered the best possible solution are by no means king. They are only provided with what they think they need. In our agency group we take a different approach to client relationships: partnership, honest consulting services, expertise, proactivity and drive. Creating hand-in-hand instead of just managing tasks.

Clients appreciate the serious interest in understanding their challenges and the ability to offer personalised solutions. Client satisfaction arises from the client relationship, and this relationship arises from positive experience and established trust. Companies sense the degree of passion and commitment with which agencies approach their tasks. These are aspects that create real added value for clients.

Agencies offer added value for brands primarily through:

• Willingness to discuss: The ability to wrestle over content and ideas
• Open discourse: Different positions lead to new ideas that go far beyond the briefing
• Innovative spirit: Agencies should provide answers to questions the client didn’t know they had
• Individuality: As an agency, we have to offer individualised solutions, not standardised construction kits

I like the image of the agency as an ‘extended workbench for the client’. A place where we dedicate ourselves to our tasks together, where every one of us contributes their own expertise, experience and personal quality, and where we search for and work on the best as equals. With Mediaplus as part of the House of Communication, I experience a place where exactly this happens. Passionate engagement with clients’ challenges, goals and KPIs. This is also reflected in client satisfaction, which, for us, is the most important KPI of all.

Author: Matthias Brüll, CEO of Mediaplus Group