Perth-based independent agencies, revealed on stage at AdNews’ Perth L!VE, are investing in new technologies and people & culture initiatives despite economic headwinds.
Afterall, economic headwinds are placed to the advantage of independent agencies with the beauty of being independent is that you can scale when and if you need to.
Lyndelle O’Keefe, Match & Wood CEO and founder, said she is not holding back on big investments.
“I'd be lying if I said I'm not conscious of expenses at the moment and my team will attest to that,” O’Keefe said.
“But being independent means we don’t need to stick to a standard profit and loss statement, so we run our P&L over a 18 month to two year period, because we can.
“So we know that if we invest now, it's going to hold us in good stead in the future - and we're not afraid to do that, because we've seen ebbs and flows before.
“Things like tech development are incredibly important for us regardless of what's happening economically, because we know that we need to be ready for AI automation.”
O’Keefe also identified her company’s conference as a wonderful opportunity to invest in.
“We have offices in Melbourne and Perth, so the conference allows our teams to come together in one spot once a year, and it's incredible to see the bonding. They’re on Teams every day, but nothing beats in person,” O’Keefe said.
“Now that's a big line item, with lots of flights and accommodation. Technically, we could cut that out, but there's no way we're going to because going into tough economic times, [an agency] wants the best possible people who are highly motivated and highly collaborative.
“And the media doesn't pay for our conference either. So it's something that we're committed to doing.”
Another big line item for Match & Wood is investing in upgrading their staff offices in Melbourne and Perth.
“We've made it mandatory for people to come into the office three days a week, because we believe that's the best way for our agency to operate and to get the best out of our people,” O’Keefe said.
“So, if we do that, we have to give them a great space to be.”
Similarly, Es Chandra, Glide Agency CEO and IMAA leadership head, is also focusing more on people by moving his 15-staff agency to a co-working space.
“By saving dollars in making the office look beautiful or having doughnuts and things like that, it’s nice to just focus on the people and making sure they're well looked after by having what they need to do their job,” Chandra said.
Glide Agency is also invested in understanding and testing AI platforms, especially for marketing strategy.
“AI is about improving processes, systems, and efficiencies within the company, especially as small agencies, we have to make the most of our resources,” Chandra said.
“For example, our agency is using AI to write copy and to test different variations of headlines. Mid Journey is also great to test different creatives and you can pretty much write a creative brief and that gives you an output.
“But there's different video editing platforms as well, which can actually do post production work for you. It's not quite there yet, but it's, it's getting a lot better.”
Investments into people and culture are so strong, that when asked what would you do with five million dollars, the agency owners said they would invest even more into P&C.
“The key is people. The tech is absolutely important, but it is secondary to people because if you don't have the headcount and the right people in place for interpretation then implementation is out the window," said Angela Nutton, Longreach Media managing director and founding partner.
Thank you to our supporting partners for Perth L!VE: Boomtown, Nine, Longreach Media and MiQ. And friends of AdNews: Perth Advertising and Design Club (PADC), The Western Australia Marketing Association (WAMA) and The Independent Media Agencies of Australia (IMAA).
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