Facebook wants to help agencies deliver competitive advantage
Facebook is planning to invest with agencies to enable them to deliver competitive advantage in the digital marketplace, according to the social media platform’s director of agencies, UK and Ireland.
Speaking on a panel at Mediatel’s Advertising Pathfinders event, Nick Baughan admitted that Facebook has been “poor historically” in enabling agencies to demonstrate advantage to advertisers, and acknowledged that was putting some agencies into a “difficult position”.
“Where you’ll see us develop in the coming weeks, months, [and] years is investing with agencies to look at how they can build on top of our business,” he said.
“We want to help agencies and advertisers get the best out of our platform that they possibly can. It’s good for us because it improves efficacy, it’s good for advertisers because it delivers results, and it’s good for agencies because it improves their relationship with their advertisers.
“So the more that we can do to create competitive advantage… I think that all ships will rise.”
Baughan’s comments were made to address the question of whether GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple) pose a threat to agencies. The growth of the digital marketplace – led by Google and Facebook – and the consequential rise of in-housing, adtech and big consultancies such as Accenture moving into the advertising space have all contributed towards the disintermediation of agencies.
Last year, Marc Pritchard – chief brand officer at the world’s biggest advertiser, Procter & Gamble – said he was “re-thinking” the FMCG giant’s relationship with agencies and promised to “take back control” of the company’s marketing by in-housing much more of its functions.
However, Susan Kingston-Brown, chief product officer EMEA at ad network IPG, denied that the digital behemoths were still a threat to agencies, as the likes of Facebook and Google do not want to be “mediators” and do not want to provide the audience insights and communications strategies which agencies do.
“We’re all working to one agenda,” she said.
Meanwhile, Rachel Forde, CEO at media agency Universal McCann (UM), argued elsewhere that agencies should be less concerned with what is happening in the digital marketplace now, and more concerned with looking ahead. Agencies have to be “one step ahead”, she said, keeping clients informed and future-proofing their businesses by investing in futures deparments and transformation teams.
“Agencies have to be that voice,” Forde added. “GAFA will only ever talk about their own products and developments, so they cannot compete with agencies here.”
However, according to Google’s agency head of WPP, Jo Baker, agencies will need to shake up their skill sets over the next five years if they are to make the most of the “huge opportunities” GAFA can offer their businesses.
“Technology creates opportunities for the entire ecosystem, so it’s important that agencies have the right skill sets to meet the ongoing developments in technology,” Baker said.
“If you look at the makeup of skills in agencies now and what they’ll look like in five years’ time, they will be very different. Agencies will need to blend the craft of good planning with more data scientists, with people who can build, code and build products on top of technology.
“This is the change that is needed in our industry.”
According to a poll conducted by Marketing Land this time last year, 72% of respondents from US marketing agencies expect data science and analysis to be the technical skill most needed by digital agencies worldwide by December 2020.