I've been doing a bit of thinking around the core competencies of an agency lately. Considering what makes an agency great and all that.
At first, I was just looking at the idea of thinking vs. making after seeing a booklet/brochure created by MCAD about Kinji Akagawa and some of his views on design and art. I really liked this way of looking at it. Thinking and making need each other. A great idea can't get past being a theory until someone can bring it to life brilliantly, and very few people can actually do both of those well. The agencies that do, get rewarded.
Then I recalled experiences in the past, observing client / agency relationships outside of my own agency (but with my clients) and recalled the importance of service. There are some agencies out there who do very well financially simply by being great at service and good at making. As I thought this, I asked myself if this kind of agency still had a place in the world.
From where I stand today, I think the days of getting by on great service are done. If I were a client, I'd nix the retainers and pay for ideas and execution of those ideas. I'd hire people and agencies great at thinking and get them to give me their best ideas. Then, I'd find the best makers and get them to bring them to life. I wouldn't want to pay an agency to suck up to me with a bloated staff. Just bring me great ideas and if you can't make them, help me find someone who can.
Anyway, just a thought or two I wanted to share here and see what you had to say about it, if anything. Would especially love to hear from those on the client side of the world...
