Imitation is sincerest form of flattery

There seems to be a new, highly contagious disease in the ad/pr and media industries at present. Case's of NeedToSurvivitis (otherwise known as BandWaggoning) are increasingly common with more agencies are trying to re-invent themselves as integrated/cross media blah di blah companies.

The thing is, when I set cherish up it was specifically because I could not see any existing agency capable or even willing to change sufficiently to address the needs of the marketplace...cherish was established 2 years ago solely to deliver effective campaigns across any media and using and technique necessary to connect brands and consumers, irrespective of buzz words or convenient industry categorisations. What this means for our clients is that our business model is such that we don’t have large numbers of people in a specific skills area sat around not working if one campaign has no interactive or no TV - this means we don't have to find a way to price campaigns to pay their salaries. We have no pre-conceptions of the advertising industry, no minds needing changing, no egos damping.

So...don't accept substitutes....a pig in a woolly jumper is not a sheep...a transvestite is not a woman (no offence!)...a rebranded/repositioned agency is not..well...cherish.

Why will traditional agencies struggle?

Because there is s battle for hearts and minds of traditional creatives more difficult to win than that the Americans are fighting in Baghdad. The belief that an industry is changing incorporating media that they do not understand means they are frightened and defensive. Buying in interactive talent helps but as I know from people fighting the fight in Amsterdams 2 most famous agencies the politics and egos are making change slow and inefficient, and who is losing out whilst people are rutting like stags internally? Clients and consumers. As always.

Why will PR agencies struggle?

I'm afraid the shock of the complexity of devising, creating and producing campaigns including interactive media is simply not understood by much of the PR industry. The process and structure you need in an organisation is central to the culture of the company and will create conflict and failure before it creates results.

Why will interactive agencies struggle?

Mainly because they struggle to have the gravitas and strategic thinking to engage with a brand on a truly conceptual and strategic level, and even if they have are 'C' level clients ready to engage an interactive agency as a strategic brand partner? Also whilst some interactive shops are trying to break into TV this is a tough leap to make. I do think if they bring in the right skills and have the right culture to adapt they will find it easier than the traditional agencies to morph but to be honest I respect the agencies in this space that are focussing on increasing their depth of skill and expertise and creativity digitally and ignoring the lure of the integrated world and sticking to what they are good at