A seamless, cohesive approach to campaigns

Chief marketing officers (CMOs) around the world are facing the complex task of managing 12 or more agency partners, according to a recent masterclass from Scopen on the Agency Scope’s global trends. That’s a lot of people and tasks to manage, control, measure, track, finance and co-ordinate.

The suggested solution is to have a lead agency establish areas of responsibility for each agency, and then ensure they stay in their own lanes. The potential for discord and disaster in this scenario seems immense.

A simpler solution, and one that's gaining ground, is the “specialist agencies under one roof” concept. It’s a new take on the integrated, full-service agency but rather than integrated, these specialist services act as unique service lines under one agency umbrella. 

This approach of aligning primary specialist services (supported by out of industry specialists where required) under one banner is a less complex way of being able to assist CMOs with most, if not all, of the advertising services required.

Ebony+Ivory is one such specialist services agency that combines the multiple expert skills every marketing company needs under one roof. 

What does a single, specialist services agency such as Ebony+Ivory offer?

Expertise in all aspects of advertising

This includes strategy, creative, media planning and buying, research and analytics, production, reputation and crisis management, events and activation, social and digital, implementation and measurement. 

Having all these services under one umbrella allows for a co-ordinated and cohesive approach to campaigns, which is essential for success.

Ebony+Ivory works with a brand's marketing team to develop a comprehensive advertising strategy that aligns to the overall business goals and objectives and ensures a seamless and co-ordinated delivery of that strategy.

Advertising campaigns require a significant investment of time and money, especially when managing multiple campaigns across various media channels.

As a specialist services agency, Ebony+Ivory manages all aspects of the campaign, from concept to execution, effectively freeing up the CMO’s time to focus on other critical marketing activities. This will also save on costs through more effective media buying, production processes and digital dissemination.

Access to the latest trends and technology

Advertising is a constantly evolving field, with new channels and technologies emerging regularly. Keeping up with this can be challenging when trying to leverage this information across different agencies to understand the impact, value and implications in each channel but also the integration opportunities they unlock.

Ebony+Ivory is dedicated to staying on top of the latest developments and to understand and implement them across the value chain. 

Valuable insights through data analytics 

A specialist services agency can provide detailed, integrated analysis and reporting on the performance of advertising campaigns, including metrics such as engagement, click-through rates and conversion rates because the data is held under the umbrella of the single agency.

This data can be used to optimise campaigns while they are under way and improve their effectiveness.

Seeing the whole picture

Siloed teams can become entrenched in their thinking and may miss opportunities for innovation and creativity because they are not integrated into the end-to-end process.

As a specialist services agency, Ebony+Ivory delivers on ideas, rollout and tracking that can help differentiate the brand and increase its appeal to customers.

The result is that Ebony+Ivory provides significant value. With expertise in all aspects of advertising, access to the latest trends and technology and valuable insights through data analytics, a specialist services agency can help optimise advertising campaigns, save time, money and resources and drive revenue growth. 

Ebony+Ivory — the oldest independent, specialist services agency — spans more than half a century. It has all the services of a traditional agency married neatly together with the digital age. For more information, visit Ebonyivory.co.za

About the author: Paul Middleton is the MD of Ebony+Ivory.

This article was sponsored by Ebony+Ivory.