I read this recently.

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'The future of the marketing agency is not the Hollywood studio model of everyone under one roof. It is pods of creative and differently-skilled people coming together on projects, disbanding, coming together again in different shape and form to work on something completely new, then disbanding again. Breaking when they want to break, travelling when they want to travel. Working from home one day, from a co-working space the next, from their Airbnb loft on the other side of the world the next. The people change, the projects change but the community that binds them all together stays in place.

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At the centre what remains of the old agency model are client relationships, people- and project-management skills, possibly high-level creative direction, and culture. That’s it. Everything else it outsourced as needed. Access instead of ownership, gigs instead of jobs, mobility instead of roots, entrepreneurs coming together to make something great. And at the heart of it all is something that older firms driven by anachronistic thinking lack: a true culture of collaboration and sharing. A positive-sum mindset that whatever we might do together is likely to be greater than what any of us might do on our own.'

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It resonated.

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It's reference to Hollywood arguably positions it as American. (They are actually based in Canada). Yet the principle is . It was written by someone at Communo, a new platform for clients and creatives to collaborate in their search for talent, solutions and work. I write 'new' because, as a platform, it is. And although there are other 'market matching' platforms for specific sectors and skills eg video, contractors or freelancers, as an exchange, offering the broad, and burgeoning, services and expertise within marketing services, I guess it is 'new'.

The idea, however, is not. The creative sector has, for centuries, been 'coming together' to create, perform and play. Think Troubadours. A concept adopted by the modern age creative sector for some time now. Because creative beget creative. However, as a platform approach it may have missed some fundamental points.

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Much is talked about technology. Which is good. Because, as an enabler, we are able to do more. And more of the interesting stuff. And as Marketing people we like this. Marketing has been at the fore front of technology with the assimilation and segmentation of data and the deployment and measurement of creative and content to attract, inspire, engage and convert customers. It seems an age ago now yet where would we be without our customer and digital journeys, conversion funnels, ability to manage large sets of data or products via e-commerce platforms, personalisation, location services, algorithms, AR, VR, Ai and so on. The list goes on. It is a fast changing and burgeoning space. Arguably, of all the business disciplines, the most so. There are now over 7,500 marketing technologies (in 6 short years) according to the Martec(h) maestro, Scott Brinker.

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So technology is now a part of our lives. Unequivocally. Yet such market matching platforms are 'self serve'. And whilst they may make it easier to find talent, skills and possible solutions they have a tendency to commoditise creative - and people. Successful brands differentiate and invest in their brand, aided and abetted by great creative because they are people centric - they think and act 'customer'. And great creative, as an emotional connection between brands and customers, needs an understanding of the brand, marketplace and customers - and this, based in the insight, comes from people. People buy from people especially when a complex solution or value add sell is required - such as a client/agency relationship at enterprise or SME level. Because brands and stakeholder management can be complex, relationships help to simplify them. And often that takes experience. And we know that people can make or break a brand promise too. Or a relationship. Trust is key. Trust is what people seek. When they have it they can be creative and do great things.

The article resonated simply because Pimento have been doing this since 2005. And having read about the #NewWorldofWork before the turn of the millennium, I've been doing it since 2004. Therefore it seemed right that I joined Pimento. One agency, many flavours. A network of creative, marketing, data and technology specialists. We aim to make the complex world of fast changing marketing services simple for our members and clients. And cost effective because you only pay for what you need - and when you need it.

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Our difference? Based in a growing network of specialist members, as a team, we pride ourselves in the passion we have for our members and clients. Driven by the same attitude to do the best work they can, we are inspired by them. We have the same hunger for their mission as it reflects ours and an experience to support them underpinned with a resilience and reliance borne out of experience. We enjoy facilitating their connection, their creativity, their specialism and their success. We also help them with a range of members' services and benefits so that they can focus on what they're good at. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, as the saying goes.

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We form. We focus. We create. We may stay. We may go. Again. We stay fresh.

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Pimento believes in people and their energy. And their independent success. Together.

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Pimento. One agency, many flavours. For our members. With our members.

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This blog first appeared on Linkedin. 

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HUHO Consulting is a Pimento Partner for the South West of the UK.

 

Contact us on +44 (0) 7946 730319, email me on andy@pimento.co.uk or meet us in one of our 25,000+ global 'offices' (AKA coffee shops) for a discovery meeting.