I was recently a member of the opening keynote panel for the iMedia Agency Summit discussing the topic “How to Remain Agile in the Face of Change”.
Key Commentary from 15:08 – 19:00
We discussed many topics including what the agency of the future will look like, mergers and acquisitions and I went into detail outlining cross-company collaboration and innovation.
Here is an excerpt from an iMedia panel recap and my additional commentary:
Tom Edwards, EVP of digital strategy and innovation at The Marketing Arm, stressed looking to develop subject matter expertise horizontally as well as vertically within your agency, and what he viewed as the three most important elements of success:
Curation, Creation, and Education.
“I’m a big believer in content creation, especially at the junior level, and developing their own personal brand,”
The agency of the near future will be highly consultative. “There needs to be a shift in strategy from transactional to transformational”
“Our role is to be the digital navigator and strategic partner with our clients. This includes mapping against a non-linear path to purchase that aligns with data, content, channels and value.”
RE: Innovation, “Ultimately we are focused on aligning the art + science as well as develop future models to enable brand partners with new methodologies to integrating emerging technology that provides business value”
Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360
