In recent years, both creative agencies and their clients have changed the way they do business. Here are seven steps a creative agency can take to become more efficient, remain relevant and not get left behind. This presentation is based on an earlier blog post I wrote for Adpulp, which you can check out at http://www.adpulp.com/seven-steps-agile-agency/.

1. SEVEN STEPS
TO A MORE
AGILE AGENCY
Nathan Archambault | nkarch@gmail.com | @nkarch

2. Theoldagencymodelisfacinga
forced retirement.
Client relationships have splintered. The traditional methods by
which agencies profited are shrinking or disappearing. Clients want
more effective work and they want it faster and cheaper.

3. Agencieshaveachoice.
Becomemorenimble,flexible
andcost-effective...
or fade away.
If an agency doesn’t adhere to heightened
client expectations, its clients will
find an agency that does.

4. It’s time to build a more agile
agency. Here’show.

5. Reduce logistics.
Today’s agency doesn’t need the same
departments that were once a centerpiece
to the creative offering. Maybe that means
folding project management into account
management. Maybe it means closing your
studio and relying more on outside vendors.
Every agency is different, but every agency
process needs to be looked at, evaluated
and simplified however possible.
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6. What departments are redundant,
outdated or inefficient?
Ask your agency:

7. Operate like
a newsroom.
It’s time for agencies to get out
of the meeting business and
get into the making business.
The old model has too much
overhead, too much process and
too many barriers getting in the
way of the work. An agency should
feel like a living organism with the
sole goal of producing great work,
and nothing else should matter or
get in the way.
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8. What can we do to get out
of the way of the work?
Ask your agency:

9. Replace
perfection with
experimentation.
In the past, clients demanded perfection. The
agencies that delivered it thrived. These days,
experimentation returns more on investment.
Google launches everything in beta and future
updates are expected and (mostly) welcome.
The important thing today is to get your
product, service or campaign to market.
Once people have access to it, gather feedback,
revise and repeat.
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10. Ask your agency:
What can we make today and
worry about making better
tomorrow?

11. Hire doers,
not thinkers.
Agencies used to be able to hire
creative teams to sit around and think
of big ideas. But teams that lack the
craft to build the ideas they come up
with aren’t pulling their weight. They’re
requiring the agency to hire someone
else to execute and bring the vision to
life. The jig is up, big thinkers: Being
clever and having good taste is no
longer a job.
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12. Who actually makes
things around here?
Ask your agency:

13. Cast for talent.
Interpersonal relationships and unique skills matter more than
staffing plans. When filling an open position, be open to any creative
solution, not just the title you’re looking to fill. An agile agency wants
to find people with the right mindset, regardless of whether or how
they fit into a particular department. When an agency hires people
instead of titles, it can cast for projects, not staff for them.
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14. Are we hiring the best people first,
and determining their role later?
Ask your agency:

15. Deconstruct
the process.
Unlike when advertising meant TV
and print, each project is different
from the last. And it doesn’t make
sense to implement the same
process for every project. Michael
Lebowitz, Founder and CEO of Big
Spaceship, gives his teams a
framework instead of a process.
This allows each team to operate
as a mini-agency, bubbling up
unique processes that lead to
more unique work.
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16. Are we finding new paths to
the end goal of creativity?
Ask your agency:

17. Integrate every department.
The different stages of any given project shouldn’t feel like a baton pass. The brief can’t sit with strategy before
being handed off to the creative department before being handed off to production. When strategy, creative and
technology work together from the start, each team becomes more invested at every stage of the process.
The end result is a better agency product.
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18. Is each team member a
stakeholder from the beginning?
Ask your agency:

19. Conclusion
As the agency model evolves,
the inflexible will be left behind.
Maybe you’re not in a position to change the way your agency operates.
But there is something you can do. Find an agency that believes in agility and
hop on board. That’s exactly what clients are doing.

20. Nathan Archambault | nkarch@gmail.com | @nkarch
Thanks