In this series on managing the digital revolution, Ari Aronson and Stephan Argent collect insights from both the agency and the brand sides of the street.
This week, Marketing contributor Ari Aronson reaches out to Grey Canada president Stephanie Nerlich to get an idea how the agency is navigating its way through the digital marketing revolution.
Stephanie Nerlich
We have seen a shift from standalone digital agencies to a more integrated agency offering. How has digital impacted your org chart and agency offering? Is Digital a separate P&L?
I feel like this is an old model discussion. I hope most agencies have figured out some degree of integrated offering by now. The agencies I’ve run for the last seven years, as an example, have been totally integrated with one P&L. Any agency still set up in fiefdoms would be at an extreme disadvantage – spending more time discussing revenue splitting than problem solving for clients, digital or otherwise.
I think there are some amazing standalone digital agencies (both big and small), but the role and the work they do has likely changed as creative agencies have developed greater expertise in digital communication – big ecommerce web builds etc. and app development still seem to remain the domain of these shops. There is room for lots of different models and multiple partners for any one client.
Digital and social is core to our service offering, but other than the addition of a hand-full of key new roles (such as, developers and UX), I would argue that we haven’t seen a dramatic shift in our org chart. Our model is still built around using creative solutions to solve problems for clients. We move the people, not the project — creative tech minds are critical and complementary skill sets on any creative and production team.
What’s your vision for the future of digital in your agency?
For us, the next frontier of digital is where the digital world intersects with the physical world. As consumers, we’re now used to buying, banking and doing business online. But, the reality is, you can’t separate out the digital world and the bricks and mortar world any more – the lines have blurred and, at Grey, we’re focused on the complete consumer journey. So for us, this means a greater focus on mobile, as the consumer is now walking through life with the universe in their hands.
But that doesn’t change the fact we still need smart story-telling that emotionally and rationally connects our client’s brand and product to their consumers. That part hasn’t (and won’t) change – the challenge is to develop the right message at the right time along the consumer journey. And we can use digital data to help identify that right message/time, as well as use digital solutions to deliver that message.
What are the biggest challenges you’re facing when it comes to working with clients from a digital perspective?
It can sometimes be challenging for clients to invest in digital ideas in an impactful way when the majority of their budgets are previously committed to more traditional mediums. That said, we are slowly seeing budgets being reallocated and clients becoming more agile as they understand the shifting consumer demands.
However, sometimes an idea is challenging to implement on a local level. Often with Canadian clients that operate within large multinationals, creating original content specific to Canadian consumers is not an option. From a cost perspective, it makes the most sense to utilize global assets where possible. However, to create meaningful relationships with consumers, localized online content could be more effective. We have to help our clients balance these two competing priorities; save money, make meaningful connections.
Are clients generally open or cautious when it comes to pushing digital boundaries?
If the idea is truly exciting, clients get excited. Smaller or Canadian owned organizations tend to be set up to actually take a leap more quickly though as global multinationals often have too many roadblocks. It’s not about whether our local clients are open to great ideas or pushing boundaries, they most often are, it’s that they don’t necessarily have the mandate to make them happen.
What advice do you have for senior marketers when it comes to getting the most out of their traditional and digital agency partners?
Trust your partners. All good agencies are working 100% to make their clients successful. Sometimes this is a short term goal: drive sales in promo period “x” and it’s always about delivering longer term objectives – brand building for the future. Trust them enough to give them transparency into the business. Too often we are asked to do “x” without a real understanding of the business problem we are trying to solve. The business problem needs to be fully understood by everyone for the right solutions, digital or otherwise to be developed.
How can clients help your agency do even better work for them?
Don’t be too prescriptive in the solution. We do our best work when we’re briefed with a great problem (or allowed transparent access into challenging the brief if we don’t believe the problem communications can solve is clear). We’re removed from the day to day which helps get us out of what would be the organizations default solutions. And, we make sure we’re closer to the consumer. That lets us design solutions that are people oriented, not organizationally oriented (unless the problem we are trying to solve is an internal communications challenge of course). Sometimes that forces process and internal structures to change, which can be uncomfortable, but it gets us to a place that really drives innovative and often, category changing work.
What key lessons have you learned when it comes to doing great digital work?
Digital is best when it’s allowed to be developed iteratively. It’s actually easier and cheaper to ship fast and then make improvements and changes based on user behaviour. That could be a simple A/B test when it comes to digital banners, or big changes in user experience when it comes to web or app builds. We have an incredibly talented UX team and of course working really tightly with our clients is imperative, but really nothing tells us what works like live software. We’re trying to get our clients to a place where they believe in the “minimum viable product” philosophy, which is about just making digital pieces and figuring out how they best work afterwards. This is a major hurdle, however, as clients are used to approving final everything. Living with imperfection is tough for anyone.
How do you stay at the forefront of digital and social media, and how do you lead clients when it comes to innovation and creativity?
When it comes to staying at the forefront of digital we’re focused on building it into our DNA. So, it’s an important part of our hiring process. It can’t come from top down or bottom up, digital aptitude has to be woven through the agency or it falls apart. You can’t have someone in the meeting not know what everybody else is talking about. That being said, you can’t see and know everything (I am the worst offender on the team), so we run internal workshops around the latest and greatest. Being part of the global network is also a blessing in that sense. Every department is tapped into their global teams so we’re seeing great stuff, even small stuff, from around the world that just wouldn’t travel as well otherwise.
The leadership piece is interesting because it’s different for every client. Some client’s are trying to figure it out all internally to mixed results. Those who are open to us being a big part of the internal education process take the pressure off themselves of having to be experts in yet another realm. We’re running innovation workshops not only designed to affect their communication, but also their business models. We brought in a new VP of strategy and innovation because the sea change of digital is not just about how we communicate, but how we help to build businesses.
Ari Aronson is founder of Ari Agency, a boutique executive recruitment agency specializing in digital
