How important are agency brands?

Group M folded EssenceMediacom X, which was originally set up to solve conflicting client issues after the Essence and Mediacom merger. 

Omnicom consolidated the leadership of its creative shops through the Omnicom Advertising Group.

Publicis.Poke rebranded as Publicis London and VML came back into existence after WPP merged Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R, which were themselves products of mergers.

New agency brands launched this year include Uncharted Studio, You're the Goods and Arc Agency.

Amid all the reshaping and remoulding, how does this change the advantage of individual agency brands? What is the impact on clients and importantly, their work? 

In a brand marketer special edition of Campaign’s question of the week, adland is asked how important are agency brands.

AJ Coyne

Vice-president of marketing, Monzo

Agency brands can be crucial for opening doors, but what truly matters is the work, creativity, people, and knowing your client's business and category better than anyone else. A strong brand helps to give confidence before clients have even spoken to you. Agencies without that reputation often struggle to get meetings, regardless of their capabilities. However, once you're in the room, the brand alone won't carry you – it's your expertise, insights, creativity and team that make the difference. In short, an agency's brand may help get you noticed, but it’s the quality of your work and relationships that drive success.

Richard Warren

Director brand, marketing and corporate affairs, customer brand and engagement, Nationwide

Agency brands are priceless, and are expressed in the form of their "reputations". Fundamentally, the best agencies attract the best people and the best people do the best work. So while some clients might not be conversant with which agencies are hot, and which not, everyone who works in advertising is, and it’s this that can determine the talent on your account.  

But, just as with any brand, agency brands have nuances too – some are happy to have the brand at the heart of any communication, some favour it on the endframe; some say they can do multichannel, some can; some have had experience of certain types of accounts, some haven’t. I’m biased, because I used to work in advertising, but I think the better you know agency brands, the better your output will be.

Zoe Harris

Chief marketing officer and executive director, On the Beach

Differentiated agency offerings, communicated by brands, are incredibly important. It’s most definitely not one size fits all when selecting creative partners. As clients, we are, of course, super keen on efficiencies that will give us great work at good value, and sharing expertise and innovation across wider groups makes sense.

But losing the heart and soul of what makes an agency special with too much "centralisation" is a recipe for disaster. A case in point is moving agencies into the same buildings – practical maybe, but it smacks of corporatisation and saming, the very thing our agency partners advise us against with our own brands.

Arjoon Bose

Global chief marketing and digital officer, Bel

Simply put, agency brands are mission-critical. Reputation is crucial, as it builds credibility and can mean the difference between maintaining your existing agency relationships or commencing a review.

A brand that instils confidence, reduces perceived risks, offers consistent quality and transparent communication to lay a solid foundation of trust over time, which is undoubtedly the secret weapon.

Let’s also not forget that brands are powered by people. The reputation of the agency brand leadership and team is equally important. It's like choosing a doubles partner in tennis – the agency brand is a big indication of whether they will be the winning fit for your Grand Slam efforts. Game, set, match.

Toby Horry

Global brand and content director, TUI

Agency brands are still vitally important. Most clients spend a very small amount of time analysing agencies, so strong agency brands (as with consumer brands) act as a shortcut to help understand the landscape. And (also similar to consumer brands) those associations can last for years, giving strong agency brands an "unfair" advantage when it comes to new business. The agencies that do this best are able to position themselves succinctly and distinctly in the market and have a handful of great campaigns to evidence that positioning with successful business results.