How to survive in the current economic climate?

For the larger more traditional agencies this can be problematic. They’ve got huge monthly wage bills and need either retained business or lucrative new partnerships or deals to keep things ticking over during the recession. The bigger creative firms have got to keep everyone happy – shareholders, their staff, existing AND new clients.

For some the notion of a virtual agency seems not only more viable today but also quite possibly a more attractive proposition allround. The inspired ‘agency’ Universal Everything has functioned as a virtual hub for years turning out award winning work and industry legend Michael Peters has recently been discussing why ‘small is the new big’.

Peters has gone from one of the biggest agencies in the world to a home studio of just one. He describes how clients are ‘sick and tired of the bullshit in our business. They want to connect around the ‘kitchen table’. They want the killer idea, not the Mayfair address…it has to be a partnership, not a client-servant relationship’.

Agencies must realise that the way forward is by mutual collaboration rather than the more traditional B2C relationship. Clients now demand attention, they want to get involved and they too have ideas that may stray into the remit of agency staff or directors. Instead of resisting increased involvement agencies should take a step back and examine how such participation can help leverage a project to completion or indeed produce a more exciting and dynamic creative or profitable result.

The increased hours may lead to slightly raised client costs but the ROI is incomparable. Clients now feel more involved and are willing to pay for a more mutually benefical working relationship. This is especially true in climes such as these where a small incremental cost for dedication and hard work rather than simply management is more appreciated.