The Weekly Wrap
Richard Jones, operations director - Fantastic Media, rounds up the week.
It's been another week of doom and depression with a huge hike in energy prices creating more panic about an impending recession. Our industry has always been one of the first to suffer because of the misconception that marketing is not a necessity when times are tough. Traditionally this is the time when marketing agencies worry about clients making kneejerk decisions and slashing their budgets. However, maybe lessons have been learned from past mistakes?
It's natural for companies to review their marketing in uncertain times to ensure they have the strongest plan and the best possible team in place. As a result of this we're seeing lots of activity within the industry at the minute. There are lots of contract wins, some contract losses, the regular churn of agency staff and even a few new agencies springing up.
This suggests that there is plenty of marketing work out there, and in the face of a recession agencies will have to be even more creative and clever in response to a brief if they want to secure a piece of that work. Standards across the industry will rise, which can only be a positive.
There also seems to be a lot of new activity in the Yorkshire region, suggesting the credit crunch hasn't quite bitten yet with more and more companies investing in marketing for the first time.
One trend we have noticed is increasing numbers of clients looking for an integrated campaign. Integration is nothing new but many clients have been cautious in the past and worried about putting all their eggs in one basket. However, the one stop shop approach really seems to be in favour at the minute and it really delivers results. Or perhaps it's just that we've found a formula and team that works for our clients?
It's an interesting time for the industry and the more innovative we can be, the more we will thrive. This is a great opportunity to rise to the challenge of approaching marketing in a different way; pushing the boundaries of how the industry currently works. Over the coming months it would be great to see regional agencies taking the lead on this and getting a head start on the London crowd!