Agency Scope is a biennial study conducted by international research consultancy Scope, and has taken a firm hold in South Africa with marketers who want their requirements met and agencies looking to meet them.
“This year, a key focus will be on what impact the digital giants like Google, Amazon Web Services and Facebook, as well as digital consultants, are having on what agencies are doing, as they strive to meet a burgeoning need to feed the digital space. We are looking to see what marketing requirements are being sold by the ‘other than agencies’ sector,” says McDowell.
The question that will be put to CMOs will be: How are you using ‘other’ partners and integrating the various offerings into a marketing plan that is consistently effective?
The answer to this, Agency Scope analysis will show, is likely to drive what action agencies will need to take to adapt. “Hearing requirements from the horse’s mouth means Agency Scope 2019/20 facilitates a different mindset among marketers,” she asserts, adding that clients’ digital desires call for marketers to look at what they have been doing and what they haven’t.
The face-to-face interviews with marketers conducted by researchers across South Africa are supplemented by online surveys among agency professionals and then sent to Scope analysts in Spain.
Cesar Vacchiano, global CEO and co-founder of Scope, continues: “In making digital a focus this year, we will be asking CMOs to define what ‘integration’ means to them, given the trend we’re seeing where agencies claim to be ‘fully integrated service providers’ in a world where this is not an easy thing to be.
“Where some marketers prefer to have a single point of contact, many find they cannot get everything they want from a single source. The multi-disciplinary agency is a rare creature indeed,” he says,” and the more offerings they put on the table, the more pain-points may emerge.”
McDowell says a critical aspect for marketers is trusting that their single contact in the agency has their finger on the pulse of every aspect, from social media to analytics and – vitally - security. “The training required for one person to be all things to their marketing client is colossal.
“We believe that the Agency Scope analysis after this fieldwork will show whether striking a balance between existing expertise, training and outsourcing is a better business strategy than expecting single entities to integrate the many different aspects into a one-stop mega-shop.”
Agency Scope is a unique tool that enables agencies to up their game and provide new services, while showing them how their agency positioning is seen in the marketplace by all marketers, not only their clients.
“With more South African organisations asking to participate and subscribing to Agency Scope, we believe we have hit the marketing sweet spot in a way that brings immense value to the industry as a whole,” Vacchiano says. “We look forward to bringing robust, personal information from marketers to the market, and the opportunities this offers allied industries.”
