interview with the founder

Why is it time for a new agency approach?

Start with the facts. Budgets are being slashed and agencies are downsizing but ironically, agency business models just aren't changing. So the reason is simple - clients need a better option. Most of the world of large and small agencies has not changed substantially since the fifties. Despite the explosion of different forms of media. Our culture went from three television channels, a few national magazines and your local paper to a million different ways to receive information - often instantly - marketers have never recovered. It's business as usual in the ad community. idea34 is designed to offer an alternative. We're inventing tomorrow's agency model. A model based on developing strong marketing ideas and defining processes, budgets and execution from the ideas themselves - a bit like film production. Most agencies operate the opposite way and waste a ton of money and time. As I like to say, 'Marketing needs a new brand.' That brand is idea34.

Can you make the argument that global consolidation, the rise of specialty divisions and specialized agencies have adapted to new cultural realities?

Off course they have. And I would never argue that they are not very good at what they do. They are. idea34 is not designed to compete with traditional models directly. They simply scale up or down in staff and work harder. What we are is a creative development company. So much of what we offer is traditional marketing materials like advertising, response, websites and collateral - it's how we develop those materials and other broad promotion and brand ideas. Instead of just taking projects - we focus on turning a client's 'what-ifs' and turning them into 'how cans.' Usually for less that traditional approaches. So you get strategic brand thinking even in the scope of today's reduced budgets. And stretch limited funds for amazing results.

What does it take to get such great results?

A commitment. From great clients who are open to new thinking. Should we in-source your agency to cut costs? Should we develop a web-based system to manage sales materials globally? Is an ad the best use of our budget? Are we working closely enough with sales? For clients who are comfortable with that sort of dialogue, anything is possible. My feeling is that as marketers we often talk ourselves into the most conservative course of action, even when the market demands bold action.

You mentioned in-sourcing agency services. That sounds pretty bold. How could that work?

The reality today for most clients is that they are faced with slashed budgets and staffs and even higher expectations than ever before. Many are bringing more and more marketing work in-house with freelance or hired resources. Outside agencies are formal, somewhat expensive and often inflexible and process driven. Our model allows for a team to work full or part time at a client, or on behalf of a client. So you get all the benefits of brand consistency, specialist in certain disciplines and a team that is close to the business realities - at a reasonable cost. It's a model we're experimenting with but we see more and more clients heading toward in-house resources. And idea34 is here to augment and manage those realities. So great marketing efforts can still be fun, despite budget and organizational limitations. We even partner with traditional agencies. Basically, we've decided to continue to manage brands - in a way that makes sense for today's business environment.