The document discusses how the future of advertising, marketing, and public relations agencies is changing due to a shifting media landscape. Specifically: 1) Agencies are moving away from siloed specializations and becoming "Swiss army knives" that offer a variety of integrated services under one roof, including advertising, marketing, public relations, social media, and content creation. 2) Agencies will focus more on partnerships with specialized experts rather than large staffs, and on educating and enabling clients rather than just promoting products. 3) Content creation will be a core focus, with agencies helping clients become trusted resources by developing blogs, videos, and podcasts rather than just product pushers. 4

1. What Does The Future Hold For The Ad Agency Of Old?
Unless you're socially isolating under a rock and didn’t get the memo, it is no secret that
the world of marketing, PR and advertising is changing at lightning speed, with a major
paradigm shift in the way agencies function being visibly noticeable over the past 3
years.

2. In a Mad Men-esque ad world, the one that introduced most us to the esoteric art of
advertising, it used to be that things fit neatly into categories as pretty as January
Jones:
An ad agency created ads and if they did media placement/buying, they placed the ads
too.
A marketing agency or a digital marketing agency could do a variety of things
depending on their specialty ranging from brand identity to perhaps creating your
website, some paid advertising and maybe events and activations to get the word out
about your brand.
A public relations agency focused solely on media attention. This used to be limited to
pitching traditional media for articles, placement etc. With the advent of social media,
many of these rebranded as social media agencies, managing their clients' online as
well as offline personas.
As the social and creative web has become mainstream the game has completely
changed. Things are smarter, faster, cheaper as opposed to dumber, slower and more
expensive.
The happy divide between an ad agency, a digital marketing agency and a social
media agency has crumbled.
The digital marketing agency of 2021 is the Swiss Army Knife of communications. Post
2020, with budgets thinning and retainers dwindling, even these one stop shops are
fighting to surving. So what then is the future of marketing, PR and advertising agencies
going to look like?
Here are some thoughts:
1. Jack Of All Trades vs. Master Of Just One
The days of Mad Men are over. Big fat agencies are slowly streamlining to cope with
the new normal. Massive overheads, foosball tables and conference rooms with glass
walls full of hastily scribbled strategy drive up expenses and create an environment that
is but slow-moving. Slow to think, slower to act and the slowest to react to changes in
the market.

3. Sure, it is nice to have “everyone under one roof” for control purposes, but now with
more ways to do work virtually, a team of freelancers can be assembled in a jiffy. Or a
consultant who's worth ten interns.
Does it take more work on the digital ad agency end to do this? Absolutely. The future is
more about partnerships between highly specialized experts as opposed to just more
bodies.
2. Content Is King. It's Creators, Kingmakers
It used to be that if you had a budget, you could just hand over all of your marketing,
advertising or social media requirements and sit back and approve the magic.
The problem with this, and where we are going in the future, is that smarter, faster,
cheaper promotion and advertising requires participation from the client.
The future is all about the client becoming a trusted resource as opposed to a product
pusher. This is where content creation comes into the mix. By creating content ranging
from blogs, to videos and even podcasts for clients, agencies can help max out their
value proposition to clients. Also thanks to the democratisaiton of content, creating it is
much easier than before. It is time for digital marketing agencies to create as well as
promote their clients content.
3. Agents Of Education
Teaching will be another model that will continue to take shape. More specifically,
teaching people and companies. Not keeping the secret sauce secret. This means
educating and enabling as opposed to controlling.
This means agencies/consultants, etc. will continue to create their own content online
and off. And in many ways, this content can be monetized directly. Perhaps instead of
clients, you have subscribers and create a community. A membership site or a
mentoring program.
The end result is part publisher and part digital advertising agency.

4. 4. Not Outsourcing Relationships
Let’s talk about the social media agency for a second. Almost every agency offers
social media services to their clients
But, what exactly is being offered and what should be offered?
Can a social media agency assist with content creation? Can an agency find relevant
articles/other content in your niche to share on Twitter, Facebook, etc.? Can an agency
suggest people to follow? Can an agency set up a Facebook page and Twitter account
for you? Can an agency suggest tweeting topics? Can an agency post content to your
Twitter and Facebook accounts? Suggest blogs and forums you should be participating
in/on?
It's either yes to all the above or you should really consider another line of work.
5. Respect New Media Sources
We're not saying traditional media is dead, neither are we sating the same about
traditional advertising is dead.
But, there are some incredible opportunities online to generate buzz, sales, trust and
more that many agencies aren’t educated on.
There are blogs and new media sources with incredible sponsorship and advertising
opportunities that go beyond print ads. Tiktok, what was once seen as a platform for
buffonery, is now as important to advertisers as Facebook or other media. Same with
podcasts, we grossly underestimated peoples penchant to listen intently to others talk.
Traditional media in many cases is like a one night stand. It is hot, sexy and then it is
over. Online media like content sponsorships and their like are more like a long-term
relationship. Online content is spreadable and can increase in value over time since is
stays up. Whether you're a digital ad agency, a digital marketing agency or a social
media agency, ignore new media platforms and formats at your own perils. Early
adopters who were once laughed at, are now laughing their way to the bank.
Xebec has been around for the past three decades, and we're always looking at the
future with our commitment to creativity and great service rooted firmly in the past. This

5. is why we've adopted a holistic model of operations that makes us part digital ad
agency, part digital marketing agency and also a bit of a social media agency, in doing
so we've always stayed at the cutting edge of brand communications and strive to walk
a holistic path without clients where one function perfectly complements the other. From
brand design to content creation and much more, bring your business over to Xebec
and get a taste of the future.