• by Sharon Napier , Op-Ed Contributor, July 24, 2024

Truth is, if you think agency brands don’t matter, you’re in the wrong business. 

Our business is more competitive than ever. Relationships matter more than ever.

How we as agencies are perceived, and how we connect with clients and employees matters more than ever. 

According to an ad industry report, nearly 60% of agencies say it’s been markedly harder to obtain new business this year, continuing a three-year trend. And 38 percent of ad agencies reported a decrease in new business opportunities, a significant jump from 26 percent in 2022. 

Meanwhile, the CMO role is now one of the fastest-growing agency jobs. In what was once a “cobbler’s kid has no shoes” situation, agencies are now waking up the importance of marketing themselves. And not a moment too soon! 

Just as we stress to our clients, it's companies that have a clear sense of purpose and identity – that authentically stand for something – that people want to work FOR and buy FROM. 

I once heard that a brand is a promise made and a promise kept. And the act of creating and keeping a promise, and a brand, takes work. A brand isn’t a static, two-dimensional blueprint. It isn’t just a style guide or an aesthetic, something simply designed. It’s something that’s done via a million macro and micro actions all the time. Brand is a verb. It’s what we do. 

So as agencies, it’s time we took our own advice and craft brands that matter. Here are five things to focus on to make magic with your agency brand: 

1. Know where you come from. You’ve got to know and then hone your own story. You may think about your founding story as a static note on your About page. But at our agency, we intentionally draw on it as a constant reminder about who we are and how we came to be. We talk about our original “Brave 40” employees who put their livelihoods on the line to create Partners + Napier alongside me. We tell the Brave 40 story to each and every one of our new hires during our welcome presentation. Sometimes, we even include the story in our pitch or client decks because it shows we’re a challenger brand, fiercely independent, and do things our way. Hopefully, it triggers a desire to join us and be a part of the magic too. At the end of the day, we’re all storytellers and actively crafting and telling our story matters. It’s what great brands do. 

2. Know where you’re going. Chasing your North Star is an active piece of building your brand. Now, more than ever, it’s essential to set your sights on a goal that you never waver working toward. It requires self-awareness, intention, clarity, and constant action and course correction. Nothing ever happens in a straight line. Be prepared to embrace pivots but never detour from your brand’s heart and soul. 

3. Know why you’re in it. Define your agency purpose – why you do what you do, and why others would want to join you. For us, it’s truly about leaving a mark. We come to work every day to leave a mark on people, on business, and when we do that right – on culture. Great work has this kind of impact and influence. It drives results. It makes a difference in people’s lives. It gets remembered. 

4. Invest in your positioning. It feels kind of crazy to debate whether or not investing in your agency brand matters as branding is, literally, what we do. But it’s a cobbler’s kids have no shoes situation. We must approach our own brands with the same rigor we do for our clients, because the selling part of our business is more important than ever. There’s a reason CMO roles are growing at agencies. With retainer relationships becoming ever more scarce and project-based relationships becoming more common, we need to make sure we’re part of the conversation when clients are thinking about adding a new agency to their roster. 

5. Be your own client. Treat your agency like an account. Put your best people on it. Know your business, how you make money, what your brand stands for, and understand how you are perceived. 

At the end of the day, a brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room. But you can’t get into the room if they don’t know who you are. Amplifying your voice is a must.  Being and staying relevant requires lots of action. The way you stay relevant depends on your work and POV, in addition to your ambition and purpose. 

Getting yourself out there is the way to level up. It’s the only way to truly amplify your voice as an agency. It’s no secret you have to be seen to be heard. So craft your story, chase your ambition, live your purpose, invest in your positioning, and always amplify your voice so you are impossible to ignore. 

Brand is a verb. And activating your agency brand is the most important thing you can do, and keep doing, to help your business succeed.