Why big clients need independent agencies

Having recently emerged from another Cannes Lions week, and with so much attention on the client/agency relationship and how that bears creative fruit, it’s a good time to look at this dynamic and challenge some entrenched views.

[Big brands] are no longer looking for agencies in their own image.

For where once global clients automatically gravitated toward global networks, now there is increasingly more flexibility in the working relationship and big brands are willing to consider independent agencies more. They are no longer looking for agencies in their own image – to replicate their scale and international spread – and are, instead, looking for experts to partner with, no matter what their size and ownership.

Above: Nike's work with the independent Wieden+Kennedy has garnered many awards, including for 2018's Dream Crazy.

If we look at large companies that have been formed in the past 20 years, the way they are set up and their approach to business is entirely different to longer established enterprises. It is in the DNA of digital native companies to be agile and progressive, so independent agencies can be a better fit. These clients haven’t been brought up with 50+ years of heritage of working with network agencies, but even the more traditional clients are now looking to modernise. As their structures become more streamlined and they adapt, they are looking to create great work faster.

Many independent agencies have been founded - and are managed - by people with extensive experience of working with big network agencies.

For all big clients – regardless of their longevity – there is a trend toward marketers and leaders wanting to be closer to the work. This means they are now structuring themselves in a way that allows their senior teams to be more hands on, and this is replicated in the management teams of indie agencies. Management teams in independent agencies don’t turn over every two or three years – they are primarily led by practitioners who want to be close to the work. 

That’s why there is often a meeting of minds between senior clients and agency leaders. It’s also worth bearing in mind that many independent agencies have been founded - and are managed - by people with extensive experience of working with big network agencies; they know both sides.

Another trend taking place in our industry is for more project-based work, which can offer opportunities for big clients to work with indies. The nature of this work doesn’t necessarily mean short-term relationships (you can do a series of projects that build into a long-standing relationship) but there is more flexibility which, arguably, is easier for independent agencies to navigate.

Above: Joint's long term relationship with Amazon has helped nurture successful campaigns. 

For Joint, one of the great advantages of being independent is the freedom it brings. We are free to do the right thing by the clients we work with and the people who work for us. There is no pressure from a central network to say yes to things that don’t feel right. It means that we can work with more like-minded individuals who are better suited to our way of working and our culture.

Culturally relevant global work can be achieved in a more agile, efficient and effective way.

With fewer departments and shareholders and less hierarchy and politics than networked agencies, people working in indies have more of a chance to present and share work they really believe in, work that hasn’t gone through as many stages. All the things that can get in the way of great ideas, those internal barriers, are stripped right back in independents, and this really bolsters creativity.

For hesitant clients, proof of concept is vital. For us, we can point to our long-established relationship with Amazon, which has been over nine years. Working across multiple parts of the organisation and a huge number of markets. Elsewhere, there’s the hugely impressive long standing Wieden+Kennedy and Nike relationship, for example.

Today global accounts no longer need – nor expect – people in every region. The growth of transcreation companies and cultural agencies mean that independent agencies in one region can easily create global work. Culturally relevant global work can be achieved in a more agile, efficient and effective way.