FOCUS: 2000 Previews - Clients have headstart over agencies - In this issue: more agency heads share their visions of the future

<p>Even the most farsighted agency futurists are trying to ponder what </p><p>the new millennium will hold for our industry. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Technology is changing things so fast and so dramatically, the creative </p><p>possibilities offered are almost unfathomable. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Surprisingly, advertising, which should be the most creative business in </p><p>the world, is in many ways the most conservative and resistant to </p><p>change. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Our clients have clearly leapt out of the starting blocks ahead of </p><p>us. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Niall FitzGerald, CEO of Unilever, uttered this chilling quote in 1997: </p><p>"There is an alarming discrepancy between what our brands are going to </p><p>need and what agencies are good at." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>So we had better get creative about our future and quickly. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In the next few decades, the organisation we now call an advertising </p><p>agency will have transformed itself into an organisation that not only </p><p>builds brands but creates and licenses them. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It will have leapfrogged the consultants not only by providing better </p><p>strategic advice based on better knowledge of both the brand and the </p><p>consumer, but by virtue of its capacity, execute all the commercial </p><p>communications and events necessary to realise the strategic objectives </p><p>and, most importantly, ask to be held accountable for the results and </p><p>paid accordingly. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This new millennium agency will probably have merged with both an </p><p>entertainment company in order to provide content for the Web and </p><p>television and an Internet company in order to distribute that </p><p>content. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>What won't change, of course, is the importance of an idea. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>An idea that is relevant, presented in an original and compelling way, </p><p>and delivered with impact. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Together they will add up to the optimum return on investment of </p><p>communication dollars, just as they always have. Creativity will be more </p><p>interactive. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>No more product-centered monologues. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Our relationship with customers will be based on a fluid dialogue and </p><p>will need to be very high on entertainment value. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In Asia, the agency of the future will need to customise its service to </p><p>the ever-expanding permutations of client needs. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Some clients will want only brand consulting, others only tactical </p><p>execution. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Some clients will want to work on a project basis; others will want an </p><p>ongoing relationship. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Most important, the agency of the future will have learned to get paid </p><p>for its thinking. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And agencies that consistently produce the best results will command </p><p>higher fees than those who don't. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It promises to be a challenging time for us all. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>