What Do Marketers Want From Agencies?
ADOTAS – More and more CMOs want agencies with a deep knowledge of the digital space, according to a survey sponsored by Sapient.
After polling marketing executives, Sapient Interactive created a Top 10 Wish List for Agencies of the Future:
1. Greater knowledge of the digital space. With more than a third of marketers surveyed revealing that they are not confident that their current agency is well-positioned to take their brand through the unchartered waters of online digital marketing and interactive advertising, it’s clear that agencies need to have a greater knowledge of the digital space in order to thrive. In fact, nearly half (45%) of the respondents have switched agencies (or plan to switch in the next 12 months) for one with greater digital knowledge or have hired an additional digital specialist to handle their interactive campaigns. Further, when it comes to an agency’s area of expertise, 79% of respondents rated “interactive/digital” functions as ‘important/very important.’
2. More use of “pull interactions.” When trying to engage consumers with their brand, 90% of respondents agree that it is becoming increasingly important that their agency uses ‘pull interactions’ such as social media and online communities rather than traditional ‘push’ campaigns.
3. Leverage virtual communities. An overwhelming 94% of respondents expressed interest in leveraging virtual communities (public and private) to understand more about their target audience.
4. Agency executives using the technology they are recommending. Ninety-two percent of respondents said it was ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ important that agency employees use the technologies that they are recommending. For example, it is important that agency executives regularly use Facebook, Flickr, wikis, blogs, etc. in their personal social media mix.
5. Chief Digital Officers make agencies more appealing. Forty-three percent of marketers surveyed said that agencies with chief digital officers are more appealing than those without.
6. Web 2.0 and social media savvy. Sixty three percent of marketers surveyed said that an agency’s Web 2.0 and social media capabilities are ‘important/very important’ when it comes to agency selection.
7. Agencies that understand consumer behavior. Seventy-six percent of respondents deemed this as an ‘important/very important’ aspect of their agency’s online digital marketing and interactive advertising area of expertise.
8. Demonstrate strategic thinking. Seventy-seven percent of marketers surveyed ranked strategy/brain trust capabilities at the top of their agency wish list.
9. Branding and creative capabilities. Sixty-seven percent of respondents ranked branding at the top of their agency wish list while 76% ranked creative capabilities as ‘important/very important.’
10. Ability to measure success. It’s no surprise that marketers want an agency that can report on where campaigns succeeded, fell short and where they should be fine-tuned. Sixty-five percent ranked analytics at the top of their agency wish list.
The survey polled more than 200 chief marketing officers and senior marketing professionals, all of whom are either directly or indirectly responsible for managing digital marketing budget allocation across multiple channels, to find what they want from their advertising and marketing agencies in the next 12 months.
Reader Comments.
No comments yet
Leave a Comment
Article Sponsor
More News
Spotlight
Mobile to the RescueADOTAS EXCLUSIVE — The industry is still wary about mobile advertising — does it work, how significant is the ROI [...] more...
Latest News
- Email Marketing January 8th 2009 ADOTAS — Erick Mott, communications director for Lyris, gives some [...] more »
- UGO Entertainment Buys 1UP January 7th 2009 ADOTAS — UGO Entertainment, a unit of Hearst Corporation, is [...] more »
- Yahoo Burns Advertisers * But Might be Taken Over Anyway January 7th 2009 ADOTAS — As Google sucks up more market share by [...] more »
- Facebook Becomes a (Really Big) Country January 7th 2009 ADOTAS — Heh. I loved this line from the new [...] more »
- JPMorgan On Ad Performance, Online Video and Bankruptcy ECommerce Boost January 7th 2009 ADOTAS — The Internet has moved toward a performance-driven advertising model and [...] more »
- eXelate’s founder predicts more direct response advertising January 7th 2009 ADOTAS — Some insights for the new year from Meir [...] more »
- Satyam Chairman Resigns; India’s ‘Enron’ Surfaces January 7th 2009 REUTERS — The head of Indian outsourcing firm Satyam Computer [...] more »
Features
- Honesty Is A Great Marketing Policy January 7th 2009
- Interactive Advertising Cometh January 6th 2009
- Fighting Fraud and Saving Money January 5th 2009
- Mochi Media’s Online Gaming World January 2nd 2009
- OVGuide On Online Video Search December 31st 2008
Reader Favorites
Classifieds
Recent Comments
- Edward Barrera: Reshall, Yes. Thanks. It's fixed.
- » Web Marketing: 10 predizioni per il 2009 - the big list> Search Engine Marketing e Advertising. Andrea Cappello Blog: [...] Adotas: New Year’s Resolutions for Digital Marketers [...]
- Reshall Jimmy: "There are users in 170 different companies and at least 35 languages..." - did you
- Troy: I agree. Site's like http://bidboxr.com have even create an ad network/auction site that might

