• June 21, 2013

At the MediaPost Brand Marketers Summit, Cramer-Krasselt executive Lori Laurent Smith said she moved to the agency from larger holding company entities because she wanted an independent shop that has more integrated offerings. Also, in holding companies, there can be pressures to use specific vendors in, say, the data space as well as put certain executives in front of clients.

She says she thinks integrated agency models are "the way forward," where there is "freedom to construct that client-centered solution."

At Barclayscard, marketing executive Laura DeGraff says the company has moved the day-to-day management of social media in-house. There used to be one person doing it part time. Now, three people are working on it full time. The company still uses the agency, but a lot of that involves back-end work.

Cramer-Krasselt's Smith said the agency has a term tabbed "stratecution," apparently a combination of helping clients with strategy and executing initiatives. It could offer social media strategy, as well as respond to loads of Facebook posts for clients.