End of agencies?
Out of context: Reply #34
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- nocomply0
I've kind of been thinking about this trend on my own recently, independently of this thread.
I have a number of friends and clients in the LA film/tv/advertising industry and I've seen many of them leave positions with major networks/brands to go freelance, or change the model of their own agencies to better accommodate specialized, 1-off requests.
My read of the situation is that brands and clients want to hire an expert for the one thing they're great at. They don't want the expense of hiring a full agency, or holding onto in-house talent that isn't being fully utilized. People these days understand the tech stuff enough to piece together a team of a couple different independent experts and make it work.
I've kind of seen the same thing happen in the web business too. Clients are realizing they don't need a huge agency to make them a website.
I've been a 1-person business for 10 years now. I've never wanted to grow into the agency model. It never felt quite right. And I'm convinced now more than ever that it has more potential risk than reward.
There are always exceptions to the rule, but my prediction is that we will experience a trend towards more independent experts and micro-agencies of 2-3 people, and fewer of the big agencies or large in-house teams.
On that note, a smart guy I follow online has a new book coming out soon called Company of One: Why Staying Small is the Next Big Thing for Business.
Super interested to read it.
- Plus behance/dribble is full of super good looking work from cheap little Eastern European studios, If I was a marketing manager I'd hire those guys.shapesalad
- you might enjoy tom goodwins book digital darwinismHayoth