The New Agency Model: Doing Good?

With ad business drying up as clients cut costs across the board, agencies suddenly find themselves in an industry with a whole lot less of everything to pitch, market and sell. While this is no doubt a bleak prospect for many agencies, author Rob Walker views the current situation as the perfect opportunity for them to work on their own ideas for a change and gasp! – maybe even do some good in the process. His suggestion – pro bono advertising on behalf of socially conscious causes. Think of it as culture jamming from the inside. But it’s not as radical a concept as you might think, especially when you consider the long term benefits of such a move. Walker writes:

And what is the payoff? I can think of a few. Such a campaign could prove an excellent means of retaining top talent; bright young things, in particular, would no doubt love to strut their creative stuff on behalf of something besides, well, stuff. It would also—like BBH’s Mrs. O—serve as a de facto testing ground and skunk works to try ideas and approaches your clients aren’t ready for. And an agency that could demonstrate how its persuasion prowess made the world a better place would definitely stand out in a pitch meeting.

And though Walker’s message carries “helpful” sentiments for the beleaguered agencies, he doesn’t pull any punches as he drives his point home, offering this assessment of the industry as a whole:

Oh, and one more thing: Such a campaign might actually help the overall image of your profession—you know, how mostly what you do is create the endless barrage of sales pitches that encouraged Americans to spend way beyond their means. (Congrats on your success with that, by the way.) Maybe you’d have a convincing case study to point to that shows your profession—or your agency, at least—has something going for it besides innovation and smarts: actual values.

The Big Money: Ad Business: Do Something Useful!