Periscope’s Liz Ross talks “Agency of the Future” at 4A’s Transformation Conference

One of the top conferences for marketers and advertisers, the 4A’s Transformation conference brought together leaders from all around the industry. We went. We listened. We learned. We loved it!

As you saw highlighted in Ad Age, our CEO Liz Ross took the stage as part of a panel discussion to share her expertise on building an “agency of the future.” Leaders from both independent and holding company agencies joined her in discussing the pros and cons of various business models and how to tackle challenges that all agencies and clients face.

So what does the future look like for a top independent, integrated agency like Periscope? Let’s lay down some Liz wisdom!

1. Client centric decision-making – when you make the most optimal choice for your client verses your agency or holding company – is critical for building an agency of the future. Agency independence and integrated capabilities allow us to help a client achieve their goals without pushing a specific service or amount of spend.
2. As an industry, we need to move toward a value-based pricing model that drives results. Being paid for results, rather than driving a full-time equivalent model, will be the way of the future.
3. It’s time to get past the fetish of data. While it’s a great supplement and often a guidepost, algorithms don’t understand love. People are at the heart of our business, and it is important to be connected to the human side of advertising (after all, that’s who you are targeting!)
4. Clients don’t need bravery to face the future, they need vulnerability. Taking a point of view means you might be wrong, but that humanity is what helps connect to your audience. Risks need to be taken.
5. What should we purge? The oversimplification of people, segments and assumptions.