By Carey Finn. Should media and creative work together more closely? How does their separation into different agency environments affect the efficiency of campaigns? Industry leaders weigh in.
Research shows over half of global marketers want integration, with media and creative at the same table. “The two working closely together enables a more focused campaign which can be optimised, for both above the line and digital,” says Johanna McDowell, founder and CEO at Independent Agency Search and Selection Company, and managing partner at Scopen Africa—the group behind the Agency Scope study.
Bridging the media-creative gap makes sense for strategy and streamlining, McDowell notes. “The data that media agencies have about consumers and their media habits has a direct bearing on media strategy and resultant creative content,” she explains. “Managing agencies is time consuming. If that can be done with one agency team fully integrated, it’s much more efficient, particularly when marketing teams are shrinking.”
Wayne Wilson, COO (media and tech) at RAPT Creative, shares these sentiments. “When media and creative operate from within a single agency, playing for the same team, the integration is seamless,” he says. “The alternative can be challenging, as the direction, values and culture of the separate businesses—even when these are within the same group—inevitably result in misalignment.”
The biggest inefficiency that comes from separation, according to Wilson, is that creative is conceptualised without considering where—and how—you reach customers. “This disconnect translates to creative that is made-to-fit, instead of being designed to feel native to the environment,” he says. “Also, perhaps more importantly, it is designed without consideration for the available creative options and desired user behaviour. Knowing who your audience is, and how you can engage with them, leads to delivering truly impactful campaigns that are woven into your media mix.”
Symbiotic relationships
“It’s not an either media or creative situation,” says Brian Muguto, MD of PHD SA in Johannesburg. “There’s more emphasis from clients on realising the benefits of symbiotic relationships between their various agency partners. You’ll notice a trend among the larger agencies or agency networks, who are responding to client needs with networked solutions, consolidating duplicated and complimentary agencies, and housing multi-disciplinary agencies in single campuses, to foster collaboration and fuel innovation at scale.”
“Referencing my client experience, I’ve seen firsthand how much more powerfully an idea lands when the practicality of media has been considered,” adds Tumi Rabanye, MD – strategy at Leagas Delaney. “Being back on the agency side, I believe some of our best work has been delivered when we’ve demonstrated consideration of all the permutations of a campaign.”
Rabanye believes true integration means all disciplines, including media, at the table from day one. “If anything, I have found the media strategist along with my ECD to be my best collaborators from the get-go,” she says. “Though work is ultimately sequential, the cohesion and alignment from the outset, as well as input from different perspectives, goes a long way.”
Siloed regret
“The irony is that the process of pulling media out of creative agencies was to grow efficiencies in media,” says Tanya Schreuder, CEO of the media division at Juno Media. “The focus was on building media capabilities, better media thinking, and procured efficiencies in how media agencies buy—[leading to] better discounts and monetary value for clients. However, this thinking did not take into account how consumers and the media landscape would evolve.”
Schreuder believes that eyes were easier to catch when the advertising environment was simpler. “Media that is planned in isolation of creative cannot give creative the best place to shine, or ensure that creative is crafted for different environments,” she says. “This siloed approach will always fall short of truly maximising consumers’ attention.”
Pepe Marais, group chief creative officer at Joe Public, agrees. “If creative effectivity is the ultimate goal of an advertising campaign, then media strategy in close collaboration with creative ideation is as critical to a successful outcome as brand strategy is,” he says. “Unfortunately, the idea to dislodge the media thinking from the agency was one orchestrated to grow profitability for advertising group owners, rather than to serve the growth of their clients. Since then, this siloed approach has harmed the overall effectivity of communications campaigns, as it is only possible to integrate holistically if everyone has the same objective. For example, the media agency may often strive for reach, while the creative agency strives for impact. And if you are not part of one environment, committed to one vision, this is very difficult to reconcile.”
Finding ways to reconnect
How then to bridge the divide? Wilson suggests education and integration. “The people working in [media and creative] are not as far removed as some may think,” he says. “Both are logical thinkers and creative problem solvers; what separates them is the lack of understanding of the other’s discipline. Solving this along with bringing the teams closer together, preferably under one roof, is the key to making that collaboration work.”
For Rabanye, it’s about appreciating a shared interest in the success of campaigns. “More often than not, media sits with data points that can enhance creativity,” she says. “I think the trick is to extract insights that really bring ideas to life. A big idea is largely media agnostic, but nothing beats a client’s eyes lighting up when creative and media demonstrate how the magic all comes together.”
The onus is on media agencies to find ways to work more closely with creative teams, proactively, says Schreuder. “The creative agencies won’t always drive this process,” she says. “It is a media agency’s responsibility to get involved and not only create, but build these relationships.”
To Marais, the solution is simple: merge the two again. “That is the way it used to be,” he says. “And that is the best way to serve the brands of our clients. Networks that own media agencies and advertising agencies could strategically reintegrate these agencies into one. The economies of scale will be substantial, and the ways of working, seamless. Independent agencies are already on this journey. Clients could also play their part to demand this reintegration, as it ultimately will be the way in which we serve the growth of brands best.”
Carey Finn is a contributing writer to MarkLives MEDIA.
Subscribe to MarkLives MEDIA and receive a new edition in your inbox every Tuesday.
