What Is a Social-Media Agency?
Looking for Answers in the Midst of Building a New Kind of Shop
Back then, my chief concern was that the established ad agencies were going wake up one day and realize that they had all the client relationships and that building websites wasn't rocket science and then they'd smoke us. Guess what? Never happened.
Why? I'd welcome other people's opinions here. Here's a starter list:
- Traditional agencies were in the process of distancing themselves from production work.
- The web looked crummy. Ad agencies are about beautiful work that wins awards. Bad fit.
- It kind of was rocket science: At least from the agencies' perspective. Tech was critical to success, and they were primarily creative organizations.
Let's fast forward to 2009 -- and to my question "What is a social-media agency?" First of all, only a small percentage of the large interactive firms from 2000 still exist. Those that do include Organic, Agency.com, Digitas and Razorfish. Some great ones, like Schematic, launched during the bust. In the intervening years, there's been a broad acknowledgment that the skills and value delivered by interactive agencies are different that those of the lead agency, and the two have learned to play together much better.
As Mark Twain once said, "History doesn't repeat itself, it rhymes." And boy is it ever rhyming now.
Again our markets have melted and are reconstituting in unpredictable ways. Again consumer behavior is evolving at a dizzying pace, accelerated by changes within the larger economy. Again the web is at the crux of this change. There are 3 things I'll call out here as significant:
- The web has become social; 75% of U.S. adults have contact with social media, according to October 2008 data from Forrester.
- Television viewership and periodical use is down, online consumption is up.
- Users are making and consuming each others' content.
Clearly this is meaningful for brands and marketers. Assets from media they used to control (print, broadcast, online publishing) are migrating to ones they don't. Even worse, the new online party is invite only.
Clearly, the risks of not adapting to this shift are great as are the rewards for getting it right.
The reason I'm interested in this subject is because I am trying to build an agency that can serve as dedicated "social-media agency" for a brand. In doing so, I need to define what "social-media agency" means, what skill sets are required, what services we offer and and how we measure the value delivered. And what it costs.
In my next blog, I'll incorporate feedback from this one and begin to discuss:
- Why I think brands need a dedicated social media agency.
- How an effective social media implementation requires combining the skill sets of marketers, game designers, film makers and technologists.
- What goals we're setting for our clients and how we measure them.
- Why earned media is becoming more important than paid media.
In the meantime, I'd love to hear feedback as well as the names of other "social-media agencies."
~ ~ ~
Reuben Steiger is CEO of Millions of Us.
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(What is RSS?)
Simple - http://wearesocial.net/
;)
A social media agency understands the true landscape and understands how to strong bonds between consumers and brands online.
There is also commotion, a small shop in Toronto dedicated to this area. http://com.motionpoll.ca/
There are tons of agencies opening social media divisions including Radar DDB (part of Tribal DDB)
I started in the interactive business a couple of years before you did. Back then, I found interactive to be the ghetto of the mass agencies the way that social media is now. It's funny. A little research into the biz, you will find TV also went through a similar period of being placed in other floors, buildings and even cities from the mother ship agencies. Like you quoted, it's a rhyme.
Most of the interactive shops that remain are not doing well in this space. Once you have defined a box, it is hard to rework it I guess.
cheers
collin douma
http://www.radicaltrust.ca
Ryan
http://www.viget.com
Discussing Ideas With People In Communities
http://admaven.blogspot.com/2008/12/social-media-discussing-ideas-with.html
An agency that understands how to discuss their creative ideas about their client with people in online communities (social media outlets) is a Social Media Agency.
http://admaven.blogspot.com
I don't think that this is a case of history repeating itself. And I believe that people who think that "social" is another channel like "digital" became are going to miss the really important underlying truths about how business is changing.
Allow me to echo Doc Searls in turning his description of himself in Cluetrain Manifesto into a rallying cry for change --
DEFECT FROM MARKETING AND COME JOIN THE MARKET!
Best regards,
Ted Shelton
http://www.theconversationgroup.com
http://ileonardo.com/notebook/631776_/Social%20Media%20Agencies
Ted -- with all due respect, in the early days of the web I'm sure you remember talking about people who "got it", who comprehended that this was 2-way communication, interactive, non-linear, etc. In other words, it wasn't just a channel, but a philosophy as well. And while "marketing" is a word that you associate with 1-way communication, it will always describe the art of communicating ideas to change minds and sell products.
Nicholas -- well put.
It shouldn't be a case of the social media agency, but rather something built into ALL existing activity carried out by the existing agency.
In the word's of Google's David Bell, "interactive isn't a group, it's everybody's job" (http://bit.ly/3YNLEu)
Its essense of collaboration, community and conversation has to be at the heart of a business. Especially if you are an advertising agency pushing social media.
Now, I would like to make lots of friends, so here is my twitter @themarketeraus handle, here is my corporate website http://www.stickyads.com.au and if you would like to read my badly written posts and correct my spelling mistakes go here to my blog http://themarketer.typepad.com
Advertising Agency has always been a generic term for what we do- that the masses can understand. Realistically, advertising has always been about conversations- it just was more one-way before the advent of the web. The great ad agencies (including some that never called themselves agencies- like Pentagram) got it- it was about every aspect of the connection with the market- from what goes on the bag at Burger King, to what they say when they take your order.
Advertising was only one part of the equation- as is "social media."
We're a "social media" agency- but we've been around for 20 years- and the logo says "The Next Wave, Marketing • Innovation"
Agencies must be holistic if they really want to serve the client.
Now, we just have to realize that the masses can talk back.
Some agencies' egos just can't deal with that.
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Here are a few things a 'social media agency' should keep in mind:
1. Know the proven leaders in 'social media' platforms. It's important to partner with a company that has a flexible enough platform so that each solution can be unique.
2. Know how to plan for value and results...this is where it's important to be working with experience professionals in this space. It's not about the aggregation of crowds, it's about builing value driven networks.
3. Don't forget about tradional media
4. Don't forget about MOBILE! Social media isn't just for the web...it's about engagement.
5. Start focusing more on "intrinsic solutions." Campaigns are sometimes flashy over-indulgences. If you concentrate on long-standing valuable solutions it's hard for them to get rid of you. :)
Ron Duquette - Neighborhood America - rduquette(at)neighborhoodamerica(dot)com
You wrote:
"Advertising Agency has always been a generic term for what we do- that the masses can understand. Realistically, advertising has always been about conversations- it just was more one-way before the advent of the web."
As I read this, I think I know what you were trying to say, but it seems like there's a divide in your mind between the "masses" and the "elite". Can you give some examples advertising's great "one-way conversations" from before the web?
Not trying to be provocative -- I'm really just obsessed with this stuff these days.
In the ideal, one "agency" can have control of and input with respect to everything that touches the customer. My observation is that this is rarely true. Pentagram, for example, while renowned for their rich history as graphic design pioneers is not creating commercials or making media buys, right?
What I've observed is that there's a weird creative hierarchy that's existed for a while. At the top are people making content people want to see (TV shows, magazine articles, etc.) Beneath that is the lead agency, who (theoretically) devises the strategy for messages to append to the content. Then there are the interactive shops who know how to make ads work on the internet. Also PR. My question is where does social agency fit?
I agree with almost everything you've said. One question re. your suggestion that "social" is best matched with the PR agency. Don't you agree that PR is about controlling information and minimizing risk while social is about sharing info, while sometimes taking risks?
Social media is a much more efficient and broad reaching platform than traditional media outlets.
Four of us (all veterans of the London digital agency world) started "Made by Many" (http://www..madebymany.co.uk) in September 2007 to help clients create, manage and monetise community for brands. We've always shied away from the term "social media agency" - although everything we do has a social dimension. I suppose that's because we were wary of jumping on a bandwagon, but it's also because we see 'social media' a quality evolving in nearly all digital experiences.
In London, we see a gulf between "old new media" firms and the smaller, faster, overtly social and more open and agile "new new media" agencies (if we can use that awful term). The qualities that got the old model through the dot-bomb wasteland of 2001-3 seem to be holding them back - they're still living in 2003/4. Many seem addicted to the 'old ways': monumental projects that take months, a limited palette of "technologies we have in-house"; a reticence to partner and embrace OSS; and an obsession with owning IP. Let's face it - they have little incentive to call their clients up and say, "guess what, over the past few years it got quicker and cheaper to make even better sites so we'd like to pass that value on..." I think it's very difficult to go social using 'the old ways'. The old digital agency model is not helpful today. Instead, the industry can learn a lot from social start-ups (like Vimeo - who I am in love with) and work as fast as possible, being entrepreneurial, pragmatic, and nimble - and leveraging the best thing about Web technologies: your ability to make changes if it doesn't work. It's back to basics with the social stuff: use markers and sketching, make the intangible visible, use as little documentation and process as you can get away with, get real people involved as much as you can, work very very fast and 'grow' your ideas like a gardener instead of a factory, launch and learn, rinse and repeat. Let the service emerge. People in traditional agencies - 'old new media' and our cousins in advertising - have told me they find all of the above quite challenging - which is weird because these agencies are stuffed with really smart people. Setting out to "do social" or to "be a social media agency" seems to me to be the wrong way round. If you create the right conditions for the service to emerge (obviously, within a framework of your own brilliant ideas) you will *probably* end up with something social because that's just the way people expect their Web to work these days. Social media can't be an end in itself.
I have to say it's been an amazing experience managing social media marketing campaigns for some of the Worlds leading brands.
Joel
http://www.agency2.co.uk - The Social Media Agency
Our take at We Are Social - http://wearesocial.net/ - is that "we help brands to listen, understand and engage in conversations in social media".
Our clients - http://wearesocial.net/clients/ - seem to think we're heading in the right direction, as do we...
Robin: you wrote about your company www.wearesocial.net
that "we help brands to listen, understand and engage in conversations in social media".
My next post is going to start digging into the mechanics of "how" rather than what. Can you provide some tangible examples of how you help brands listen, understand and engage? What tools do you use? What problems do you frequently encounter? Where do you see your business in 2 years?
R
Coming soon:
http://www.cyentist.com
Sean Dillon, New York
Daniel Kostka, Washington, D.C.
Well I've almost seen a phenomenal growth in the Social Media Agency business and the interesting bit is that all of them have a different flavor, nuance or approach to the medium.
Some think of it to be a technology play, some focus on content production, some on advergames, some on monitoring, some on engagement and some even think it doesn't even have to be just online (like us) ... for me a company like Innocent in the UK is very much Social Media in their approach ... no internet jazz but connecting rt there - well but all of these are Social Media Agencies .. I think we're still exploring integration or rather what works best and what doesn't...