‘It’s so unnecessary’: Mark Coad weighs in on indies vs holdcos
The debate of indie agencies versus holding companies has been ongoing for some time now, but according to IPG Mediabrands CEO, Mark Coad, the entire conversation is “so unnecessary”.
Appearing on the latest episode of Mumbrella’s one-on-one podcast series, Coad weighed in on the subject and dismissed any need for hostility between indies and holdcos.
“I honestly don’t know what to make of this, because every time I pick up some other press release or something’s been published, it’s like the indies are waging war against the holdcos,” Coad told host Neil Griffiths.
“It’s so unnecessary. There’s room for everyone in this industry.
“There are clients that are going to be suited to the complexity of a significantly sized agency and all that they can bring and there are clients who are more suited to a hands on, well experienced, probably owner operated independent agency. It doesn’t have to be us versus them.
“And I do get frustrated at the war that they seem to wage.”
Coad said that while it is important that bodies like the Independent Media Agencies of Australia (IMAA) support indies, it’s important to note that holdco’s also do “a tremendous amount of heavy lifting”, particularly in areas like regulation and measurement systems.
He added that any discussion about indies and holdcos being at odds or working against eachother is unproductive.
“I don’t think they need to be at all,” he said.
“I think there’s a marketing agenda that a lot of the indies are driving, to their credit. But I just don’t think it’s necessary.”
Listen to the full episode here.
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Neil Griffiths is the editor of Mumbrella. He joined the company in October 2023.
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Here here mark. At last someone speaking total common sense on a subject that has become weird and self centred to build one persons profile.
In the end clients want great media regardless of the many great options that exist…..and have existed for many many years.
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