It’s a worrisome time for agencies; with Google and Facebook forming direct relationships with some of adland’s biggest clients, there’s been some speculation among industry commentators that the ‘digital duopoly’ may be looking to remove agencies from the equation altogether.
However, according to Facebook’s director agencies EMEA, Ben Wood, interfering in the agency-client relationship is “the last thing we want.”
“Of course we have teams building direct relationships with clients, as much as we do with agencies, but that’s not because we want to distance or mediate this super critical channel,” Wood said, speaking on a panel at Dmexco 2018.
“It’s because there is so much disruption and, if you’re a major global FMCG or automotive client, you’re trying to navigate that disruption. It’s complicated, you’re looking for help – as we are one of those entities which is doing the disruption, we feel that we have the responsibility to help those clients through.”
Wood said that’s not Facebook endeavouring to build a direct relationship with those clients; agencies, with their “super sharp skills” when it comes to implementation, are Facebook’s “best partners” and can help clients utilise the platform in a way that builds the client’s business and encourages reinvestment.
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Also sitting on the panel, Jocelyn Lee, head of media strategy and ad technologies at creative consultancy Deloitte Digital, was quick to add that “one of our strongest strategic alliances is with Facebook.”
“We go in to pitch to the client together – we bring the ideas, we bring [Facebook’s] marketing team and developers, so that we can actually hack and create something that the client has never seen before,” she said.
“I’m all for [Facebook] going direct to the client and keeping us abreast so that we know what’s going on, and we can help [Facebook] sell it into the client as well.”
Having said that, Wood does think that the word ‘agency’ is “unhelpful”.
“What we’re talking about is an ecosystem of businesses that sits between clients and platforms and publishers, and helps those clients to understand how best to invest to deliver business outcomes.”
The world that clients need to navigate has never been so complicated and what they’re looking for is “simplicity”, Wood added.
“They don’t want to deal with different P&Ls, they don’t want to deal with conflict, they want a team of people who are completely focused – whether they are PR, consultants or media planners – on how they deliver business growth. Keep it simple.”
