At ProcureCon Marketing exhibition 2015, senior procurement professionals from around Europe met for 3 days to discuss how to deliver an agile and strategic procurement function in the face of rapid change. Robert Green, OLIVER Managing Partner’s presentation at ProcureCon Marketing 2015 focused on the structure of agencies – amid all this rapid change, have agencies adapted? OLIVER turns the traditional agency approach on its head by creating dedicated agencies for each of our clients. This allows them to be more closely aligned to the strategy and environment of the client, delivering better creative work, faster. Green explained that the OLIVER model centers on the principles of market orientation, where businesses focus on 3 areas - sustainable client benefits, competitor differentiation and operational capability. He identified that while agencies have adapted “what” they do based on changing their specialisms and adapted to market demands through de-coupling and re-coupling their services, they haven’t changed “how” they deliver work. Green challenged agencies to innovate by making “how” they deliver their work align to the strategy and requirements of their clients, not their own internal ways. “To continue to succeed, clients are having to be adapt rapidly, but their agency partners aren’t changing with them. What they need are partners who are strategic but agile, with continual communication delivered at the point of need. Speed and adaptability will win.”

1. Marketing Disrupted.
Right-sizing the
agency model.
Robert Green, Managing Partner
robertgreen@oliver.agency
07812 380 610
Twitter: @robolivermx
LinkedIn: Robert Green

2. 2
Stampy the Cat - 5,818,322 subscribers
Disney animations - 2,255,239
subscribers
Stampy - 3,353,080,883 views
Disney - 1,428,665,972 views

3. 3
CHANGING COMMUNICATIONS

4. 4
“A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention”
Krystal Higgins, Sr UX designer, Google

5. MARKETING SPEND AS A % OF
COMPANY REVENUE
The CMO Survey February 2015.

6. INCREASED DEMANDS ON SPEED
TO MARKET
•Real time marketing & content marketing have completely changed the
time available to plan and manage campaigns
•Campaign lead times are being cut by up to 1/3 and the race to be faster
is constant
•Marketers need to react quickly to events – or their competitors will
•Less time to do things well

7. 7

8. THE PERFECT STORM?
•More demand for content
•More channels to market
•More complexity and sophistication of technology
•More competition
•More testing and learning required
•More pressure on the client / agency relationship
8

9. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR
PURCHASING?
•Purchasing is being challenged to deliver more value
•Right-sizing your supply chain will only go so far
•To really deliver value and efficiency, you need to right-size your agency
model
•How you work with your agencies is crucial to success
9

10. MARKET ORIENTATION
Sustainable
client benefits
Competitor
differentiation
Operational
capability

11. NOT MARKET
ORIENTED
Market share - 30.6% in 2000, 50% in 2007, 3.1% in 2013
Value - $62.50 per share 2000, $7.86 in 2015
11

12. MARKET ORIENTED
16% of revenue is from completely new product sectors – they have
invented categories
Market cap grew in 2014 by more than the complete value of Google
12

13. ARE AGENCIES MARKET
ORIENTATED?
WHAT?
HOW?
Most agencies
deliver their
services in the
same way.
WHY?
What is the
purpose of
agencies?
Type of agency – network,
digital, social, brand,
promotional, advertising etc

14. TURNING DISRUPTION INTO
OPPORTUNITY
Retain the quality of “WHAT” agencies do
But revolutionise “HOW” they do it
“WHY?” Purchasing and marketIng alike can achieve better results by
turning disruption into an opportunity
Failure to adapt in this disruptive world will deliver diminishing results
14

15. AGENCY PRODUCTIVITY
The traditional advertising agency model features:
High indirect costs – Business costs such as pitching, offices and
salaries need to be recovered through high fees
Lack of transparency – The real effort and who is working on a project is
often hidden
Too distant from the point of need – Collaboration is key to efficiency
and productivity
Insufficient reporting – How much performance data does your agency
give you?
Agency structures have remained relatively consistent for decades

16. RIGHT-SIZE YOUR AGENCY MODEL
•Part way there by right-sizing the roster. . .
•Achieve better value by right-sizing your agency model

17. THE RIGHT-SIZED MODEL
•Agencies must adopt lean principles whilst inspiring and harnessing talent
•Built around the method not just the output
•Must be amorphous, adaptable and dynamic
•Communication needs to be continual, fast and at the point of need
•Agencies must change from being introspective…
•… to oriented around the client’s needs to be effective in a fast, disruptive
world

18. 18
“Today's digitally-empowered marketing ecosystem is clearly defined
by a ‘whole different dynamic’ than in the past – meaning agencies
urgently need to adopt new working patterns”
Marc Strachan, VP Marketing & Multicultural Marketing US, DIAGEO, WARC 2015

19. To find out how OLIVER can help you right-size your agency model, get
in touch with us at marketing@oliver.agency or 0203 142 3593.