Why Agencies Can’t Deliver In the Age of Disruption

Marketingamp8217s plea for disruption is the newest way of making the same old demand Give us more creative thinking The CMOamp8217s of Mondelez GE TD Ameritrade and even the uberdisrupter Airbnb all emphasized the missioncritical need for an endless stream of powerful new ideas in todayamp8217s fast moving worldBring it on say the agencies Weamp8217re idea people Weamp8217ve got your disruptionNo you donamp8217t says Pepsicoamp8217s Bradley Jakeman who sees the agencyamp8217s ability to deliver disruption being held back by oldfashioned attitudes and models He asserts that an agencyamp8217s ideas are only as interesting innovative and impactful as the people who come up with themquotI am sick and tired as a client of sitting in agency meetings with a whole bunch of white straight males talking to me about how we are going to sell our brands that are bought 85 by womenamp8221Apparently homogenous groups of white guys do not a disruption makeAn independent study of the SampampP 1500 determined that diversity is the single biggest contributor to successful innovation Companies that prioritized innovation have been proven to achieve amp8220greater financial gains when women were part of the top leadership ranksamp8221 Do todayamp8217s big agencies prioritize innovationIn our business rule No 1 is Know Your Targetamp160 And like Jakeman we all know that 75 of women consider themselves the primary shoppers of the home that women influence 85 of all purchases across all categories that women control 61 of the wealth in the USamp160 From cars to computers to food to medicine women are the targetSo why do guys run the ad bizThe lack of women in creative leadership is attributed to a systematic lack of support for motherhood mentorship opportunities and even the work women tend to get relegated to amp8220womenamp8217s accountsamp8221 which donamp8217t have the prestige of more highprofile accounts like cars and tech and yes Brad Pepsiamp160 And when it comes to award show judging gender bias is rampant Guys win awards and get promoted Thatamp8217s the way itamp8217s always beenIn the age of disruption agencies must recognize the insanity of the disparity in the ranks Women are as insightful imaginative and passionate about ideas as their male colleagues Women bring a depth of empathy and understanding and a naturally contrasting point of view the very drivers of creativity and innovation Agencies need to join the movement fueled by the fact that a dismal 3 of advertising creative directors are womenTruly disrupting the agency model has to begin with new thinking about talent and that means new thinking about women as creatives as leaders as professionals and most importantly as consumersThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers

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Why Agencies Can’t Deliver In the Age of Disruption

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