Comments on: Here Comes The Connected Agency

By: Meredith Gould

Meredith Gould — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:35:51 +0000

And one of the big challenges, speaking/writing as someone immersed in social media, is protecting clients from agencies who claim to know when and how to use these tools. . .but do not.

Especially aggravating are extravagant claims about measurement to appease the ROI beast.

By: Tom Martin

Tom Martin — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:05:15 +0000

This post is the perfect argument for why agencies SHOULD be the leaders in SocMe and Community Management for brands… though sadly, I fear they won’t if they don’t get on the ball and get up to speed quickly.

The key to this kind of connectedness to consumers is a single voice managed across all channels, which not even today’s modern brand manager is equipped to handle.
@TomMartin

By: Peter Kim

Peter Kim — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:37:29 +0000

Doug – I get the sense that if Connected Agencies emerge, it will be more from necessity rather than choice. In conversation after conversation, agencies tell me tales of so much holdco infighting that true integration is more of a pipe dream than realistic roadmap.

By: Doug Wick

Doug Wick — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:29:38 +0000

@John, hear hear. It should definitely be mentioned that while the big guys are responding, smaller agencies are gaining traction as they demonstrate a nimbleness that the big guys have difficulty emulating. And really, if a small agency is able to help smaller clients get connected to their customers Zappos-style, then that client could experience Zappos-style growth and take the agency with it.

By: John McTigue

John McTigue — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:13:18 +0000

As a principal at an agency in transition to become a connected agency, this is near and dear. We’re small, so we haven’t gotten any calls from the big confederacies, but there’s plenty of connecting to do at the small end of the business spectrum. Our clients are used to the personal service but they want to leverage the exciting social technologies and strategies available today. Our (new) job is to help them achieve those objectives and make a difference in their success.