Video Archive
Fluid Networks: The Next Agency Model?
22-Apr-2010Are traditional advertising agencies going the way of the film, TV and
music industries, where the companies that deliver creative products
are no longer monolithic? In those industries, it is quite common for
the real work to be delivered by a constellation of independent
companies and freelancers, with a core creative or funding
organization in the middle managing it all.
Given that the top award at the 2008 Cannes Lions went to a 2-person
Tokyo company named Projektor that managed its own fluid network for
Uniqlo, there is clearly a lesson to be learned for any sized company
in this industry.
If the future of advertising belongs to such "fluid networks," what
does that mean in terms of how advertising work gets done, who's in
charge, who handles client relationships, and how everyone gets paid?
Is this just a temporary development, or have the recent economic
crisis and digitization accelerated this trend?
In her Berlin School Masters Thesis, Trevania Henderson grapples with
these vital questions and finds a range of models already being used
today. There are clear advantages and disadvantages to the various
structural models, and Trevania points out that cost savings alone is
not the only factor driving these changes.
Trevania admits her own bias as well, since she runs a 1-person
company that puts together such fluid networks for clients.
