Accenture released the results of a study today saying that changing consumer habits and digital media are revolutionizing the ad industry and that agencies are threatened by these changes. These results are based on a survey of 70 advertising decision makers at agencies, media companies, and technology companies.
According to the Adweek story:
The challenge agencies face stems from the rise of performance-based advertising and the technology tools needed to execute highly targeted campaigns, rather than mass-media pushes fueled by a singular “big idea,” according to Charlie Symmons, senior manager in Accenture’s media and entertainment practice.
“It used to be content was king; now it’s very much context is king,” he said.
For that reason, Accenture sees a threat to agencies from technology companies, which can provide the tools that allow clients to better know their customers. This could displace agencies’ value to their clients, the report warns.
Basically, the survey respondents think that tech companies have the technical and mental firepower to adapt to the increased reporting, increasingly complex analytics, and digital media vehicles, and agencies don’t.
In part that is true, both for the general market and multicultural agencies. Agencies who aren’t smart, and who aren’t driven to keep up with the changing media landscape are going to get left behind. They won’t go out of business this year, or even next. They may keep chugging along indefinitely, doing the same things they’ve always done. But they won’t be the ones growing and getting cutting edge work and competitive accounts.