Synchronisation and integration are key words — both for business processes and relationships. When picking machines, businesses always prioritise integration and use the entire line from a single manufacturer.
In fact, this is true even in daily life — whether it is picking clothes or going out for dinner. We don’t go to three different restaurants for starters, mains and dessert, nor do we prepare different cuisines for the same evening.
Oddly enough, this basic principle is forgotten for something as crucial as communications. Today, very few agencies offer integrated communications and even fewer clients seek a single agency for their communications needs. There are many benefits clients are missing when not opting for an integrated communications agency.
If an agency caters to all the communications needs of a brand — branding, above the line (ATL), below the line (BTL), online and public relations — professionals with all these different expertise come together to brainstorm and identify a solution that will allow a brand to achieve its goals.
The outcome will more often than not be a seamless and intuitive campaign that inherently delivers a singular brand voice and experience. More importantly, the campaign will precisely balance the different tools to effectively meet communications objectives.
This is possible as the agency understands each medium’s limitation, including in reaching the audience and the target’s inclination to absorb messaging from each medium. The campaign is designed keeping in mind these shortcomings and enabling the brand to speak seamlessly, consistently and effectively.
The different vehicles no longer vie for a bigger piece of the budget — as stand-alone agencies. Instead, the channels truly complement each other in the right proportions leveraging each communication channel’s intrinsic strengths for an enhanced impact as compared to what each channel delivers individually.
Then there is space and opportunities for receiving added value and bonus. This becomes more true given that the rise of new media has led to an overlap between different communication tools — for instance social media, PR and online advertising have all come closer. When a team works in sync, it becomes easier to identify the opportunities and translate them into effective added returns for the client.
Decision-makers on the client’s side have a simpler task at hand — picking one service provider with a comprehensive solution rather than picking different vendors and fitting them together like jigsaw pieces. Daily coordination is also far easier — from a one-point contact to adapting the same creative ideas and artworks for different mediums. This could also translate to cost savings throughout the creativity and production processes.
The friction between different agencies, which may not always be visible, is also completely eliminated allowing for faster turnaround and keeping conflicts at bay. During a crisis, a single agency coordination would also allow for shortened response times and seamless coordination.
Until now, brands have opted for stand-alone agencies that specialise in a certain discipline. With the boundaries between communications vehicles blurring, clients are fast realising the need for an integrated communications campaign and working with one agency.
It may not be too far when most agencies will move from specialists to integrated communication. In fact, heavyweights in advertising are fast establishing PR and social media departments. As the dynamic communications landscape evolves, it is yet to be seen if all agencies will manage to break the bonds of specialisation.
The writer is the Chairman of Verse Group.
