Lachlan James, Chief Strategy Officer, Digitas
2022 was the year that reinforced to me the impact and importance of momentum in a business.
I think many agencies have ebbed and flowed their way through the challenges of the last few years. And while 2021 might’ve been our ‘ebb’ – thankfully, 2022 has absolutely been our ‘flow’. As an agency, Digitas has maintained solid momentum throughout the year. We’ve continued to focus on our people, on leveraging the strengths of our offering across ANZ, on expanding our capabilities, on nurturing existing clients – and have been fortunate to end the year with some great new business wins and double-digit growth.
With that in mind, I’d say it’s never one thing alone that kills or builds momentum. Building and maintaining momentum I feel, really comes down to the combined effort and laser focus of the team, to sidestep those smaller bumps, and be consistent from the start to the end of the year.
Historically, Australia has been incredibly reactive to an economic downturn. Compared to other markets, Australian marketers generally rapidly withdraw spending at the first sniff of economic headwinds.
I hope the last three years have taught the market that stepping in and playing a role to help, guide, nurture or reassure is often more important and commercially beneficial than a withdrawal. The question for agencies is, ‘how do we get ahead of the headwinds and help clients see the uncertainty as an opportunity’?
Downturn or not, to me the opportunity should be an ongoing emphasis on efficiency and experience. It should be on standing out by aiming to deliver better vs. overinvesting in expensive shouting. We all know consumer expectations have changed, and that we live in an ‘experience economy’. In times of economic downturn consumers are even more selective, temperamental and tight when it comes to where they put their hard-earned.
The economic outlook appears murky at best, especially if mentions of "recession" are anything to go by. But with that said – how much bumpier can things get than the last three years? It’s my hope that if the last three years have taught agency-land anything, it is the importance of resilience in the face of a challenge, and focusing on the things we can change, rather than stressing about what we can’t.
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