“Would you like social media with that?”Agencies and social media
21st February 2011, 10:44 am by Simon Phillips
Image courtesy of Victor and Spoils
In the last month or so there’s been quite a lot of discussion about what agency models will look like in the future.
In the context of social media, here at FreshNetworks we have seen a shift over the last year. More and more niche agencies, with services such as SEO, PR, affiliate marketing or other digital disciplines, are reinventing themselves as “generalists”, offering social media alongside their former specialty.
Even large ad agencies are positioning themselves as “360″ or integrated agencies, using social media within their core services.
This is hardly surprising given the rise of social media. As it continues to develop, these agencies are starting to see both the opportunity and also perhaps the threat to their existence, considering that social impacts a wide range of channels.
For brands with small, internal teams, a one stop shop can seem like a more attractive option. However, in a recent interview in Marketing magazine, Keith Weed, CMO for Unilever said:
“the easiest thing would be to deal with one agency, which can lead and integrate, but, frankly, I will go for the best before the easiest”.
“Best” can mean lots of things, but to me the successful agency of the future will offer their clients a service that disrupts the norms with new and innovative uses for social media.
Take, for example, US agency Victor and Spoils. They are the world’s first creative agency built around crowdsourcing principles. They have reinvented the pitch process and are using social media and crowd sourcing to come up with creative concepts.
This video shows the Harley Davidson campaign that was chosen by Harley Davidson from over 100 ideas that Victor and Spoils crowdsourced through their existing online community of creatives.
How did they get the attention of Harley Davidson? Through a tweet of course ( see Victor and Spoils’ blog for more info). Could you imagine a large, integrated agency approaching a client in this way?
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alastair walker:
It took an agency to give Harley the idea of customising motorcycles? Are you kidding me?
As a motorcycle journalist since 1987, I can assure you that H-D have been busy offering a phone book sized accessory options list since before the internet, never mind pre-social media…
21 February 2011, 11:15 amTweets that mention Would you like social media with that? Agencies and social media | Social media agency London | FreshNetworks blog -- Topsy.com:
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Shane Jacob, Santi Chacon, copcop.org, SocialMedio, Mike Garnett and others. Mike Garnett said: Would you like social media with that? Agencies and social media http://bit.ly/dJVBJb [...]
21 February 2011, 11:49 amPassword Manager:
Great example of how social media should be at the table when considering marketing. The HD campaign is awesome!
22 February 2011, 4:04 pmTim:
I’d have serious concerns about going to a former pureplay SEO firm who now offer “Social Media” services. How much of their thinking is going to be based around SEO, rather than proper customer engagements. Maybe I’m too much of a purist, but I still see Social Media as a way of driving better customer experience, not as a way to quick $$$s.
I think in a market where more and more people are putting together a “Social Media” offering, that’s where firms want to be position themselves as “different”. If a company comes to you and says “I need to know how to get 10,000 followers on Twitter, they either don’t get what it’s all about, or you’re the wrong company for them….
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17 March 2011, 5:38 amDarf´s noch etwas Social Media sein? | Blog:
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12 October 2011, 5:44 pm