Agencies need to focus on what adds value to consumers' lives rather than expendable assets in order to survive, reckons AnalogFolk's global founder, Bill Brock.
Brock founded the agency with Matt Dyke eight years ago around the philosophy of creating “valuable interactive experiences” rather than traditional advertising and he hopes this concept continues to evolve and that the industry follows suit.
“I hope in the next eight years we'll be more obsessed with the quality of the user experience and the customer journey, than by the quality of a disposable assets that doesn't create any value for anyone,” Brock explained.
“I do think some people will falter,” he added. “It's hard, what we do is a process, it's not a skill set. The process for creating interactive experiences is very different than the process of creating linear experiences, and agencies and creative businesses which have spent 70 years creating linear experiences are going to struggle.”
Brock believes another pitfall for agencies is being pushed into competing in a space where the large majority of agencies are and not holding onto their unique perspective.
“There's a famous cliché in ice hockey, and it's skate towards where the puck is going, if the puck is moving in a direction don't skate toward the puck, skate toward where its going to be when you get to it. I think we're where the industry is going and the one thing we just can't do is get suckered into moving backwards.
He explained the things that he believes push agencies into moving backwards are trying to grow too fast and doing things too fast, with Brock saying being in control allows agencies to get ahead.
“We've made lots of mistakes over the years but the most common one is that we try and chase a number, and try and grow really fast and we end up doing work where the puck is now. We end up competing in the bloodiest water, where everyone is trying to win. We always aspire to be the agency in the room with a unique perspective about where the world is going, as opposed to trying to be the same as someone else.
“Most of the bigger agencies where they fail is they try and become something they're not in order to grow and keep pace, and we try not to do that,” he said.
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