Constant Reinvention

Agencies are at present in a "sticky wicket". Like most everything else in this economy, they are pressured to do more for less. But often this places them in a reactive, order-takers mode which in turn can render them obsolete over time. "Strategery" is certainly called for then. But given a tightening of the belts, many clients won't pay for the time and resources required to do this. In fact, I have heard one client say "we don't pay for strategic work, only deliverables that get approved for execution." Ouch.

For an agency, building an integrated strategy - whether that is for the brand positioning or the strategic marketing plan, or the strategy behind certain concepts or big ideas -- this is time consuming and requires a specific, custom set of skills and team members. So, agencies that seek to evolve will have to decide if they are in the service / communications business, or in the strategic consultancy arena. With both, clients get what they pay for. The former is a commodity, the latter is not. Consider that, as the below video echoes on the progression of technology, we as a society are "preparing college students for jobs that do not yet exist, using technologies not yet invented, to solve problems we do not know are problems." (This video was developed by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod and Jeff Benmar.)

To be a valued strategic partner, we need to not only embrace this change but stay ahead of, or at least keep up with this staggering change. This requires almost constant reinvention and continual evolution. To enable this agencies or consultancies must continue acquiring a unique collective skill set that makes thinking differently both possible and pervasive -- every day into the future, not just today at this moment in time. As the MasterCard commercial states, this is priceless.