• by Beth Johnson , January 6, 2010

Two thousand nine was a year that many marketers and agencies would rather forget. While the effects of the "great recession" will likely be felt throughout 2010, agencies have an opportunity to become more valuable to their clients. As marketing departments are dealing with reductions in resources, their challenges are increasing by the day. Brands are struggling to adapt to the new realities in consumer behavior and to keep up with the rapid-fire changes in technology and innovation. All while the classic marketing mantras that got them where they are no longer apply.

It's a new world. And who better to navigate uncharted territory than an agency? We built our careers on fresh thinking, creative ideas, challenging the status quo and ultimately solving business problems. Agencies need to lead the way in educating marketers by providing tools, expertise and consumer understanding to help them create relevant interactions with consumers.

But in order to thrive in 2010, we need to think differently ourselves:

Advertising tactics come last
Rewrite your creative briefs. Re-train your people (or hire new ones). Many people in our industry still think in the form of storyboards and headlines, where brands interrupt consumers. Those days are gone. What matters most is what consumers say about your brand and how well you motivate them to share your content within their networked community of like minds. Think about the implications of your ideas (press potential, participation, etc.) before you default to "making great ads."

Focus on creating great content
Social Media is the focus of a lot of marketers' attention, but I'm not sure how much energy should be spent there. The potential impact of social media is really the OUTCOME of providing great content. Focus your energy on creating useful, relevant and engaging content for your clients' brands -- and consumers will do the rest.

Invest in Analytics
Marketers are in a state of data overload. However, few have mastered analytics and consumer intelligence. Agencies can add value by providing better tools, and most importantly, better interpretation. Understanding, tracking, benchmarking, optimizing and predicting financial returns is critical to budget preservation.

Experimental Budgets are Critical
In your business plan, make sure you have room to fund trial and error. The best ideas were unproven. Take risks and encourage your clients to do the same. You'll get instant feedback from consumers and make changes as you go along. The new marketing world is more iterative than ever.

Do more with less
Budget rebound is going to take a while. In 2010, be smart with how you invest your resources. Spend more on talented creative thinkers, and less on getting the work out the door. Transformational ideas don't come from a manufacturing plant.

If there is one thing we can all count on in 2010, it's how tough the marketing environment will be. Like consumers, we have to do more with less. Like our clients, we have to find new ways to achieve better results with less resources, fragmented audiences, and even greater pressure on the bottom line. What better circumstances to be more valuable to our clients? As they struggle to understand and apply to the new realities of consumer behavior and leverage the rapid-fire changes in technology and innovation, forward-thinking agencies are in an ideal position to help navigate the unknown and redefine the new marketing mantras the work today.

Nimble agencies are best suited to adapt and produce results, doing more with less. Creative agencies who can generate powerful ideas that fully engage the 2.0 customer and make every marketing dollar work better and faster will survive and likely thrive in this new paradigm.