Why Tech Is The Best Thing That Happened To Agencies

In this opinion piece, Schedugram CEO Hugh Stephens (pictured) tackles the complexity of agency business models.
Agency models are high touch, human resource heavy and require the constant balancing and correcting of clients to account managers.
With too many clients, staff will struggle under the workload (a big part of high agency attrition rates) or on the opposite side of the spectrum, the sudden loss of a client or two can hit profits to and force you to become more lean.
Perhaps the single best thing to happen to the agency model within the decade is the rise of technology.
From communication to collaboration, planning and management, tech has given us the ability to streamline and improve the efficiency of some of the most time consuming and costly aspects of agency life.
It’s a double edged sword though – for all of the efficiency, you can also be too ‘data driven’, and you only need to look at the dumpster fire of a lot of programmatic advertising (where fingers can be pointed at all sides from fraud to clients to creative) to see some of the downside.
However, whether you’re in marketing, advertising, digital, PR or anywhere under the media agency umbrella, if you’re not using a cocktail of tech in your day to day you’re selling yourself short.
Here are a few ways you can leverage tech to make your day to day more efficient, make better use of staff hours and most importantly boost retainer ROI to improve your bottom line.
-
Minimise time spent on rote tasks. Monotonous admin tasks not only consumer a lot of staff hours, it’s also boring work that dumps on staff morale over time. Instead of allocating hours to things like posting content and sending emails, invest in scheduling software that allows you to plan and execute in advance.
-
Make collaboration a priority. Many hands make light work, but many hands can also mean more approvals, more time tied up getting tasks done and more emails and content versions.
-
By using collaboration-driven tools, tasks that require multiple eyes can be completed with minimal headaches. Google Drive and associated apps like Docs and Sheets are an obvious tool, however if you’re more of a Microsoft Office person, Dropbox Business’ integration with Word, Excel and more has clever features like version control so people can collaborate on documents without as many messy documents.
-
Get smarter about reporting. Reporting is one of the most inefficient processes in agency land. The time taken to generate, crunch and format data takes up a huge chunk of agency resources, yet rarely delivers enough ROI for either party compared to the hours spent. That’s not to say reports aren’t important to measure the effectiveness of agency work. To preserve those hours, tools like Megalytics or Databox will automatically pull data from platforms like Google Analytics, social media channels, CRM programs and more to auto-generate detailed reports more quickly (and likely more accurately) than account managers can.
-
Streamline your client management. Communication with clients can get messy with the sheer amount of communication apps on the market. Whether you’re using Slack, Google Hangouts or something as simple as phone calls, try to minimise the use of redundant tech and aim for one central communication channel to cut down on noise and focus attention spans to one reliable platform. In addition to this, instead of keeping notes in platforms that will rarely be accessed after the initial call or meeting, use a CRM to centralise agency intel, or leverage an AI-driven platform like Hugo or Notion to keep track, make sense of, and share notes.
For agencies, the right use of tech can be hugely beneficial for boosting revenue, getting more bang for buck from retainers and adding extra value for clients by streamlining expensive processes that stall growth.
Latest News

Moccona Launches New “Me-Time” Brand Platform, Via Edge
Iconic coffee brand Moccona has launched its new brand platform, “me-time”, which puts a contemporary lens on “everyday indulgence”, the brand’s long held positioning. The new platform was developed in conjunction with Edge after extensive research into the attitude and state of mind of today’s coffee drinks. This showed that the shift to living ‘always […]

Network 10 And Nickelodeon International Partner For First-Time With Live Action Series
Nickelodeon International and Network 10 have announced their first-ever partnership, greenlighting live-action TV show Taylor’s Island (working title). The show will be produced by Fremantle with significant production investment from Screen Australia, and premiere across Nickelodeon channels globally in early 2022. Nordic Entertainment Group is also a partner to the agreement, and will premiere Taylor’s Island […]

Introducing The Zavy Social Scoreboard
You might have noticed a colourful scoreboard sitting on the B&T homepage this month. Well, allow us to formally introduce ourselves – and it. We’re Zavy. And we believe in the promise of social media: brand building by two-way engagement and rich communication. What does this have to do with a scoreboard? […]

Study: 81% Of Creatives Say COVID’s Hit Their Earnings, 40% Saying It’s More Than Halved
A new survey released today from global creative platform Genero shares first-hand findings from creative talent around the world about the impact COVID-19 has had on their work life, and what the future holds for the creative production industry. The report, The Impact of COVID-19 on the Global Creative Industry, finds that COVID-19 has accelerated […]

Priceline Pharmacy Celebrates Every Day Being A Festival of You, Via Whippet
From the head lice that’s got the kids itching for relief to your husband’s chainsaw-style snoring that has you yawning all day long, little health issues can have a big effect on your family’s day-to-day happiness.

Foxtel Media Unveils Four New Digitally Enabled Cient Offerings
Foxtel Media has announced four new offerings to provide advertisers expertise in more targeted, dynamic media delivery as part of a realignment towards digital. The new offerings are Foxtel Xplore Audience targeting on Kayo, addressable audience targeting on Foxtel Go, the ability to target in-venue viewers on Fox Venues, and a new Dynamic Trading Platform. […]

“The Free And Open Internet Is A Force For Good”: Quantcast Reveals New Intelligent Audience Platform
On Thursday, Quantcast held their Virtual NOVA event, discussing the current state of the advertising industry, the end of third-party cookies, the open internet vs walled gardens, and data privacy and consent. The event coincided with the launch of their new Quantcast Platform. It is an intelligent audience platform powered by the company’s patented AI […]

New Research Reveals Men Unsure How To support Gender Equality
Global marketing agency LEWIS today revealed findings from its new global research on gender inequality, conducted in support of the global HeForShe movement. You can read the report in full here. The report shows the impact and perceptions of gender inequities during the pandemic across 13 countries. The findings reveal an alarming trend: 98 per […]

Haystac Wins Dairy Australia’s PR
Social relations agency, Haystac, part of the BWM Dentsu Group, has been appointed PR agency for Dairy Australia following a competitive pitch. As the national services body for the dairy industry, Dairy Australia supports the profitability and sustainability of dairy farming and its role in producing quality, nutritious food, while committing to the care of […]

Marketing Heavyweights Join ADMA Advisory Committee
ADMA advisory committee now offering some real marketing muscle. Plus, a cleaner oven after the Mr Muscle.

Hamish Blake & Zoe Foster-Blake Return For Tourism Australia’s Latest Marketing Push
Hamish Blake and Zoe Foster-Blake officially replace Celeste Barber for feeling like they're in every bloody ad on TV.

Integral Ad Science Releases “Power Of Context” Report Surveying APAC Market
B&T's taken this Integral Ad Science report & delicately sliced it into sashimi-like morsels for your delectation.

Amazon Changes ‘Hitler-Esque’ Logo
Despite attempts to come back into fashion, it remains an ongoing and uphill battle for the toothbrush moustache.

Paper Moose Announces Graham van der Westhuizen As General Manager
Paper Moose announces Graham van der Westhuizen as new GM. Yet, no confirmation of whether he's Dutch or German.

10 Secures Rights To Oprah’s Meghan And Harry Interview
Typically, when a Royal does a "tell-all" interview they tend to go horribly badly. Here's hoping history continues.

“Leaves A Nazi Aftertaste!” Sydney Westfield Forced To Apologise For Swastika Face Masks
Shoppers fume at unsavoury mannequin display at a suburban Westfield. And this time it wasn't even Honey Birdette.

Channel 10 Unveils New Bachelor, Pilot Jimmy Nicholson
Bachelor Jimmy Nicholson all set to find love! But, in reality, he'll be pursued, roasted & pilloried by the tabloids.

Wednesday TV Wrap: A Night Of New Releases
There was some enticing new programming from the networks last night. That said, everyone just watched MAFS.

Dentsu Report: COVID Has Accelerated Consumer Behaviour Change & Brands Risk Being Left Behind
Dentsu's 'Age of Inclusive Intelligence' report includes added dietary fibre for those who like to read on the toilet.

JCDecaux Wigs Up For Mardi Gras In Oxford Street Installation
Everyone is gay come Mardi Gras! Well, maybe not Tony Abbott or Mark Latham, but everyone else is momentarily gay.

What The FLoC? Google Vows To Stop Tracking Users For Ads
B&T's tech writer debunks industry reputation for being humourless by sneaking slightly lame gag into headline.

WPP’s Wunderman Thompson Acquires Mobile Tech Provider NN4M
WPP acquires tech provider NN4M; a name that makes you sound like you've burned the roof of your mouth with hot cheese.

Thinkerbell, BINGE And Grill’d Unveils The Brain Burger To Celebrate Return Of ‘The Walking Dead’
Yes, this burger contains an actual lamb's brain, making it the perfect way to get the kids NOT to nag for fast food.

Simone Gupta Promoted To CEO Of Havas PR Australia
Havas sweeps in a new era of PR. Arguably bad news for the Champagne swilling, coke snorters left in the industry.

Pinterest Presents The Currency Of Predictive Trends And Unveils New Advertiser Tools
If you're not on the Pinterest bandwagon you will be after this. Or, there's the 'free Britney' bandwagon if you prefer.

WINR Launches First-Party Data Hub For Publishers
WINR unveils first-party data hub for publishers which apparently can't air fry cheesy beef empanadas.

Havas Media Group Promotes Danni Dimitri To Head of Strategy, Sydney
Havas has promoted Danni Dimitri to head of strategy. Confirms she is no relation to Happy Days' Chachi Arcola.

EatFirst Put Women At Centre Of Plate For International Women’s Day
Catering marketplace EatFirst to hero their female businesses during this year’s celebrations

Our Revolution Appointed By Drinks Brand Bickford’s
B&T adores the traditional taste of the Bickford's cordial range. We just like to modernise it by putting tequila in it.

Rexona Clinical’s Unique ‘Pitvertising’ Won The Summer, Via Clemenger BBDO Sydney
While the Sydney Sixers won the BBL season ten trophy, Rexona Clinica won the summer sports marketing battle with a game-changing sponsorship idea. BBL 2020-21 series will go down as the ‘Year of the Pit’ after Rexona Clinical owned the summer after unveiling its new form of advertising sponsorship – ‘Pitvertising’. The concept, devised by […]