The APG's most recent Noisy Thinking event debated what strategists should do in the face of changes to our industry.

1. GET STRATEGY
SMART WITH APG
If the structure of our
industry is broken,
what should strategists
do next?

2. GET STRATEGY SMART
What should strategist do next?
The APG’s most recent Noisy Thinking event debated the question: If the structure of our
industry is broken, what should strategists do next? Guy Murphy, Global Planning Director
at JWT, started the discussion by outlining the several factors he believes indicate our
industry is “broken” – for example agency group share prices are all down since last year.
He believes clients are also being increasingly critical – for instance, P&G taking agency
services in-house; we only get paid if “we can do something better than clients can do
themselves”, so we face the challenge of constantly needing to prove our value.
So the APG wanted to help strategists understand what they could do in the face of a
potentially broken industry. The event brought together a range of viewpoints – we heard
from Guy Murphy of JWT to give the perspective from a large holding group; from Stuart
Smith, Partner at independent shop Anomaly; from Sally Weaver of Craft Media; and from
the perspective of freelance journalist Ian Leslie.
HOW ARE AGENCIES REACTING?
As it was the structure of the industry that was in contention, several people spoke of
changing models. Guy pointed out that different agencies have developed different
responses to the future of the industry – for instance, WPP has chosen to consolidate,
aiming to become “leaner, faster, more agile”; Publicis has looked to simplify, with its
Publicis One model; most agencies have looked to add some element of diversification;
and we have also seen agencies looking to specialise, or to offer some degree of vertical
integration.
Another agency that has tried to rectify its model to meet the realities of the industry
today is Anomaly. Stuart Smith explained that the model of Anomaly formed as a reaction
to the changes in the industry. One of the biggest differences Stuart explained was that
Anomaly has no timesheets, instead charging clients on a “value-based fee,” which drives
the onus on performance, rather than hours billed. He explained that this need to perform
“forces you to think – is this the right question?” Sometimes it will lead you further
upstream than the client brief, and this is OK. It also makes you “more open to creativity,”
as your response can’t be based on your preferred way of doing things, it can “only be
based on what is right.” It can also force you to be more collaborative – “the right answer
might be a media partnership;” or in certain instances, the right thing “might be to do
nothing.”
SO WHAT SHOULD STRATEGISTS DO NEXT?

3. GET STRATEGY SMART
What should strategist do next?
WE SHOULD ALL TAKE RESPONSIBILTY
Guy Murphy, Worldwide Planning Director at JWT explained that, as he saw it, strategists
had three options: Help fix the industry, Leave the industry, or Don’t leave, but also don’t
fix the industry. When you put it in this way, option three sounds almost ludicrous – but
Guy predicted that the most common response to the challenges to the structure of the
industry would be to leave it to industry leaders. But the industry is made up of the work
that all of us do, it is the sum total of the decisions and processes we all interact with on a
daily basis – as Guy put it, “It is possible to influence [the industry] as it is only us.”
We all need to “get involved in the question, because it’s not a question for other people.”
We need to think outside the box when considering this challenge – and on this point, we
need to be brave - “Don’t ask permission - this is a creative business,” we need to be able
to try new things. And not just when it comes to the work we produce:
“We need to innovate as much in how we work as what we
produce.”
WE SHOULD CHALLENGE THE BRIEF
Stuart’s advice was to delay the brief, where possible – to get everyone round a table to
talk about the rough shape of the answer - for instance, is it creative, is it media - before
writing a specific brief. This will help you to focus on the right challenges and the right
outcomes.
He also advised strategists to place high value on media, as it highly valued by clients; to
seek out truly collaborative relationships that challenge our own ways of thinking; and if
possible, to work fewer than five days. Stuart wasn’t the only speaker to suggest that
strategists consider a side-hustle, not necessarily to protect yourself from an uncertain
industry, but because the space away from the day job can also make you a better
planner.
WE SHOULD LOSE OUR EGOS
Sally Weavers recently formed Kraft Media, another example of an agency forming due to
frustrations with existing models, this time in a media context. She stressed that one of
the things that we as an industry need to do is “too lose our egos” – the world has

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What should strategist do next?
become ever more complicated, and we need to “stop pretending you can do all things.”
This argument is particularly valid when viewed in the context of Guy’s earlier point on the
number of agencies diversifying.
WE SHOULD LEARN TO WRITE, AND LEARN TO TRUST OURSELVES
The final speaker was Ian Leslie, an ex-planner-turned-journalist, who explained that he
didn’t think the industry was broken, in part because of the “astonishing demand for
stories, for content, for IP” – Ian used the examples of Netflix, which plans to product 700
shows in 2018. He encouraged us all to write, not just those who want to follow his path
into journalism or to develop a side-hustle of writing Netflix shows; but writing is a skill
that makes us all better planners, planners which are better placed to add to the current
landscape of stories.
Writing has many benefits for a planner – it makes you smarter, as Ian phrased it:
“Writing is a form of thinking… any writer understands this
intuitively.”
It can also help you to understand that the process is the magic – in advertising, he
explained, we are prone to the fallacy of the big idea, but “the execution and the idea are
always woven together.”
Ian also had some wider words of advice, taken from his many years of freelancing. He
urged us to stop worrying about being original, and just be ourselves, particularly when it
comes to re-evaluating something that already exists. We are all unique, all have unique
takes on the world – and so by filtering a problem or a story through our unique brains, it
becomes an original execution.
The final piece of advice, especially in times of doubt – for instance, when it is late at night
and we can’t see the value we are adding to a brief we have spent too long on - was to
“trust in yourself, just not right now”. Ian told the story of Francis Ford Coppola, who
apparently had complete doubt in his ability while creating Apocalypse Now – which went
on to be what is arguably one of the most well-regarded films of all-time. We have to
distinguish between the long-term trends versus how we feel in the moment, or
“emotional weather and emotional climate.” We all experience emotional fluctuations and
doubt, but we need to trust ourselves to get through them.

5. GET STRATEGY SMART
What should strategist do next?
WHAT WE TOOK AWAY
It seems our industry is at a time of change, but the key advice from the event was to be
excited by this change and to take responsibility for driving it – that or leave, don’t just
allow yourself to be swept along. We have control over our own destinies, and we need to
ensure we skill up, give ourselves space to think, and spend time considering the wider
conversations with regards to our industry as we go forward. As strategists, we should be
used to looking at big challenges for our clients – now it’s time to do this for our own
industry.
If you are interested in learning more about the subject of this article, please contact
Sarah Emmerson, Insights Planner, emmersons@bbdoknows.com,
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