The digital agency space has always been highly competitive, driven by a seemingly infinite demand for digital services. The seismic shift caused by the global pandemic has posed new challenges for digital agencies, but also provided interesting opportunities. To survive in these new conditions, digital agencies must reconsider their strategy and product offering to keep up with changing customer demands. A survey revealed that services such as website design and SEO are projected to increase in popularity, while email marketing will plummet.
It's important for agencies to be aware of what customers really need. In Asia, the labor market is still relatively profitable and has a high percentage of a younger workforce, so the agency model can still survive, thrive and evolve here. In 2000, Y&R was acquired by WPP, a large London-based holding company with an even larger set of iconic marketing firms under its ownership. Agencies are now facing pressure to change due to the care economy, the world without cookies, and increasingly stringent privacy and data usage regulations such as GDPR, PDPA Thailand and PDPA Singapore.
Mindshare Shanghai, Mumbai and Ho Chi Minh City join OMD Wellington in Warc's top 10 ranking of the most awarded media agencies. After Covid-19, Wix experts predict a change in perspective, as more companies prefer to work with agencies closer to their homes. Agencies must consistently demonstrate their unique value to clients, either through the provision of a specialized service or the expertise and resources to educate clients. Codeless web development has the biggest potential impact on the industry, as agencies can free up valuable time and resources when they don't have to program everything from scratch.
Automated campaigns are becoming more popular, which means that an agency can no longer take credit for making the purchase, optimization or even planning in some scenarios. Companies are willing to embrace these new marketing strategies and agencies that show awareness of how to effectively leverage them will benefit. External forces are undoubtedly a contributing factor in undoing the traditional media agency model, but agencies have also increasingly been at the mercy of Google, Facebook and other major media owners. With more competition than ever before and the rapid adoption of new tools and technologies, many digital agencies are lost in the background.
