Independence is a

virtue ANDREW MCLEAN – MERCURY MEDIA

Insights from both holding

companies and independent

MEC

GroupM

PHD

Omnicom

Mercury Media

The journey to independence is

always tough

Independent agencies are growing

faster than holding companies

Ave. Independent

Agency Growth %

Ave. Holding Company

Agency Growth %

Source : Annual reports / Ad Age

Driven by

Digital Growth

Advertisers – Trust and local control

Technology

But more by People and Culture

Driven

Independent

Control

Scrappy

Can do attitude

Not political

Clients first

Proud

Priorities impact people who

create the culture

Holding Company

Shareholders

Clients

People / Employees

Independent Agencies

Clients

People

“ ”

The worst thing that ever happened to

agencies was becoming public companies –

The day that happened clients were

replaced by shareholders as the most

important people in the relationship

RUBIN MARKS

CEO COLGATE

n

A reaction to business challenges

and slow growth?

Culture beats size

“ ”

I saw a red agency, a green one,

purple, blue one…and they

showed be all the same things

GLOBAL CMO DURING RECENT REVIEW

Perceived lack of differentiation at

holding companies

Independence and diversity are seen as

positives by clients and some

arrangements trouble them

Agencies need a good mix of local

and internatonal clients

Media distribution is now

democratized

Advertisers and clients are

complicit in this

Procurement – cost NOT value

Appreciating local market differences

Over focus on small number of large markets

This old phrase is no longer relevant

Digital buying is about outcomes not

audiences – scale doesn’t mean lowest

pricing

Holding companies always buy

rather than building

Digitally connected world

makes collaboration easier

and means we don’t need

physical networks

There is a growing negative

perception amongst advertisers

You don’t need flags in a

map to be part of a network

You need to have a similar mindset

and approach

Independence – more

valuable than ever, hard

fought and worth more