In the early 80s, once you had reached the peak of your creative career, you'd start up your own agency, lured by the idea of autonomy and, maybe one day, a hefty pay check.
But in the last five years, the rate of independents opening up in Australia, and around the world, has slowed. The appeal of owning your own agency has somewhat lost its shine, with margins shrinking and client demands ever-increasing.
At the same time, consultancies are on the acquisition path and in the last year, three Australian independents have been acquired by consultant businesses.
What the industry is left with is limited independent agencies and the ones that are left may not be around for much longer. But there are a select few that are promising to never sell up and believe in the true power of independence, explains Wieden+Kennedy co-chief creative officer Susan Hoffman.
"We will never be sold," Hoffman tells AdNews on a recent trip to Australia.
"Our founder, Dan Wieden, has been talking about independence for more than 20 years and at first, I didn't understand why he was so obsessed with it, but now I see. Because we are not that large it's easier for us to change."
Being an independent agency definitely hasn't hindered W+K, which opened in Portland, US, in 1982 and since then has opened offices in Amsterdam, New York, London, Tokyo and briefly, Australia.
"We had an Australian office 30 years ago to service Nike," Hoffman says, when asked if Wieden+Kennedy would ever venture Down Under.
"We did it for a few years and then decided we didn't need an office here - so we beat 72andSunny in opening an Australian office."
W+K has produced its most famous work for long-standing client Nike, also working with Old Spice, KFC and Bud Light.
In the last year, it earned itself the reputation of being the agency of the new modern economy, picking up the accounts for Airbnb, Instagram and Lyft, which led to it being named AdAge's Agency of the Year for 2017.
Last week W&K won the media account for KFC, further cementing its position as a full service agency.
"We have figured out what new economy clients want and need and I don't think big structures are the thing for the future," Hoffman says, when asked what she thought of the holding group model.
"There is just a different thing that happens when you're independent and you're not beholden to the bottom line as conglomerates are.
"Not that this would be our goal, but can you be 10,000 people at W&K and independent and still successful? Probably that's way too large."
Having previously worked at network agencies, like TBWA, Hoffman admits she didn't always believe in the power of independence, but now she recognises its importance.
"Like anyone in the industry, W+K also has to figure out how it stays relevant and change its structure to work in news ways. I just want to make sure we stay creative, that's our biggest challenge. Creativity does not always need a lot of money but it does need craftmanship," she says.
Hoffman presented the Chair's Choice award at the Communication Council event last week. On stage, she called for more diversity within Australian agencies.
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