John Preston is wrong: independents can do data, and do it well
Slingshot CEO Simon Rutherford takes issue with Match Media founder John Preston’s claim it had to sell to Publicis Groupe last week because independents cannot compete with bigger agencies on data and technology.
One can only admire and congratulate the Match team on their recent sale and on taking out the Mumbrella Media Agency of the year award, it’s well deserved and just rewards for all of their efforts.
Over the past 12 years and in particular for the job they have done in scaling their business in the past five years.
However, on behalf of the independents I would like to challenge John Preston’s view of the reasons for the sale.
John Preston (l) and James Simmons (r)
John suggested that his reasons for selling are because he didn’t think an independent of the scale of Match could compete with the larger agencies on data and technology going forward.
All agencies talk up their amazing proprietary toolboxes, however those tools are only worthwhile if they are used in the business day to day and have a direct positive impact on a client’s business.
I’ve seen many a global tool that doesn’t work in this market.
I also have a number of staff who have come to us via a big agency, and who talk of the smoke and mirrors at pitch time, amazing tools that either never see the light of day on a client’s business post pitch or only a few senior management actually have access to, therefore making little impact on the day to day.
I agree that data and technology are hugely important to the growth of an agency, and to scaling your product, however it’s less about data or technology being difficult to acquire, and more about making sure you attract and retain the talented senior staff that know what questions to ask, can interpret the data, make sense of it and apply it quickly and effectively for your clients.
You don’t know what you don’t know – and if you don’t ask the right questions you will never know.
Having and managing real time data is only useful for a client if it leads to effective solutions.
Independents can and are investing in their own data offerings or partnering with agnostic technology partners. Slingshot has itself built a suite of data tools that, now developed, have enabled us to extract meaningful insights for our clients in hours and days not weeks and months.
Beyond bespoke tools, the move to greater automation and machine learning only opens up our industry to better data and technology partners. There are any number of DSP, video and econometric platform partners, all wanting to work with agencies, specialists who are investing in niches and developing great products. As a mid-sized independent we have profoundly changed the way that we work now that we have full data expertise in the agency.
We have not needed a huge agency group behind us to be able to rapidly embrace data into our planning process.
In fact I think we have moved faster into data because of being independent, not slower.
These are exciting times for an independent agency with the agility to avoid becoming embroiled in the arms race to lay claim to each new niche that emerges from a proliferating ad tech stack.
Now back to the Match sale…
Strategically, it’s easy to understand why Publicis would want a great brand like Match in its stables, considering ZenithOptimedia’s recent losses (such as Lion, Nestle and Qantas), Match can become the media jewel in the group.
The rumours about Match being on the market had been around for at least 12 months now, so it was really only a matter of time. Were they waiting for the best partner? Or the one who needed them most? I can think of at least 17 to 25 million reasons (depending on who you talk to) for them to sell. And once again… well done to the Match team!
Simon Rutherford is CEO at proudly independent agency Slingshot.
Smoke and mirror is prevalent in the independent scene too Mr Rutherford. Exhibit A:
“… As a mid-sized independent we have profoundly changed the way that we work now that we have full data expertise in the agency.”
Just how on earth do you have the said data expertise when frankly nobody’s really able to define the said expertise right now?
User ID not verified.
#Funny that……It’s about having the right people. Having people with 30 years experience in data, statistical regression, propensity and maximum likelihood modelling, scientific method, experimentation, measurement, economics, finance and computer programming is a good place to start. There’s a very big difference between having a data scientist and an analyst. We prefer to help our clients in looking forward, not just spitting out historical reports.
User ID not verified.
Well done Simon on a great article and Congratulations to Match!
Indies are growing in number because more clients want to work with us. Why – the freedom to choose the right solution for their business.
What I love about being an Independent agency in this new technological world is that I am able to consider all data and technology opportunities for my client.
If you look at DSP’s for example, clients are wedded to one Global agency trading desk. The trading desk may or may not move fast enough with technological advancements.
Indies have the luxury of utilising any of the best DSP technology to build the most effective client campaign. Currently we have relationships with nine DSP providers and use a number of them to develop the right campaign.
Clients are demanding better recommendations and Indies are well placed to give it because we are not limited by one piece of technology which must be sold to every client. Leading Technology is at our finger tips and we are using it.
User ID not verified.
“Indies have the luxury of utilising any of the best DSP technology to build the most effective client campaign.”
This is not unique to indies. Why do the ‘indies’ trot out these misleading lines?
User ID not verified.
I think that is part of the point – one key factor in recent developments in data analytics and technology is that it has been amazingly democratising. There is nothing in this space the big agencies bring to the game that indie agencies can’t access as it is not the big agency groups that are developing these capabilities.
User ID not verified.
Slingshot do some great work, and independent shops will no doubt have a place for clients that want to play the ‘long game’.
Various forms of ‘data partnerships’ can help the smaller guys achieve scale in their offerings as long as they are the right ones. For any indy to survive in the data/ad tech race, the trust relationship is paramount between client and agency as they both need each other to help navigate it all.
User ID not verified.
Slingshot do some great work, and independent shops will no doubt have a place for clients that want to play the ‘long game’.
Various forms of data partnership can help the smaller guys achieve scale in their offerings as long as they are the right ones. For any indy to survive in the data/ad tech race, the trust relationship is paramount between client and agency as they both need each other more than ever to help navigate it all.
User ID not verified.
Great article and I agree, some of the most innovative work comes through independent agencies who are agile and focused on client objectives rather than operational efficiency at a global level.
User ID not verified.