Perspective... Coming to an agency near you: a computing company bearing gifts

I’ve received three press releases in the past week or so announcing some form of initiative between a global ad group and the software giant.

First came a tie-up between WPP and Microsoft to research the link between search and brand-building. This is not before time - search is often treated as a specialism when it should by now be integral to any brand activity. The results, due in the autumn, should make interesting reading.

Second came a deal between Mediabrands and Microsoft to implement software that will “re-invent the way media is planned, purchased, measured, reported and optimised”. The Media Operations Management System is designed to oversee both online and offline media.

Third was an agreement between Microsoft and Publicis Groupe. There wasn’t much new in that release; it was more a summary of recent activity - one wonders whether Publicis heard everyone else was partnering with Microsoft and didn’t want to miss out. But the range of co-operation is interesting: content distribution, performance optimisation and audience delivery are the key things.

Cannes may have something to do with this glut of announcements. The holding groups are always eager to show off their new toys at this time of year. And you couldn’t really miss Microsoft in the South of France either, with chief executive Steve Ballmer leading the charge on La Croisette.

Microsoft isn’t the only computing giant aggressively targeting the agency sector. Google (also at Cannes) is trying to appear more friend than enemy, and recently launched AgencyLand, a free digital training portal for agencies.

So what is behind these developments? These companies have an obvious interest in increasing the amount of money spent on digital. That’s nothing new. But the pace of change is quickening. This issue, for example, we look at the FutureTV initiative unveiled in Singapore. After years of talk, it seems that the convergence of platforms we’ve all been theorising about is actually leading to something concrete. And Microsoft in particular appears to be rather effectively selling itself as the agencies’ key software partner in all this.

Maybe that explains why the computing firm has suddenly become so keen to offload digital agency Razorfish. With the likely buyers under financial pressure, this is hardly the best time to be selling. But ownership of a digital agency now seems irrelevant to Microsoft’s core strategy.

Microsoft and Google have clearly concluded that, with the market evolving rapidly, it is more than ever in their best interests to help agencies move clients online. There’s little money in agencies themselves these days; the real battle is for the software and the systems they will all be using.

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