
Rethinking Agency à La Carte.
It’s nothing new for companies to divide their marketing initiatives amongst niche partners to deliver highly specialized services. According to one CMO study, advertisers who split the workload engage with 4-6 agencies on average.
While that may sound logical, the downside is often a lack of cohesion, brand voice and consistency of messaging.
The advantage of managing the customer journey from top to bottom is a proven method. We use it to customize and maintain a wide range of targeted channels, using an ever growing arsenal of tools, platforms and technologies. Translation: we keep it all under one roof. Perhaps now more than ever, it’s imperative that full-service agencies of all sizes express the value of being hired as the sole AOR.
The tables are slowly turning.
Digital spending surpassed traditional spending for the first time in 2019. By 2023, it is expected to account for fully ⅔ of all ad spending. The explosive growth of digital marketing is considered to be one of the biggest disruptors of the age-old agency of record model.
This has led to many agencies and clients re-thinking how they work together.
Ira Maher, Basement VP of Business Intelligence, explains the unique benefit to the approach. “In an AOR relationship, we’re able to scale as needed to meet the challenges posed by a particular marketing situation. It’s then possible to tap quickly into specific agency capabilities which have already been optimized to work well within parameters and efficiencies already established by long-term relationships with our clients.”
“There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to agency relationships, just solutions that work for our clients, their marketing challenges and their needs.”
– IRA MAHER, VP OF BUSINESS INTELLIGIENCE
It’s all about give-and-take.
Like any good partner, we’re equipped to attack any problem in the way that provides the best outcomes for our clients.
Says Maher: “We’re set up to work in any capacity, tailoring our services, our scope – and our relationships – to the specific needs of our clients.
There is no “right or wrong” answer when it comes to agency relationships, just solutions that work for our clients, their marketing challenges and their needs.”
Partnership and collaboration are at the heart of any and all agency relationships. Our explorations of insourcing, performance pricing, cultural impact and, now, AOR relationships are designed to establish a benchmark for how we continue to work better and smarter together.

Additional reading:
Axelerant: What Agency Of Record (AOR) Means & Why It Matters
Forbes: The Advertising ‘Agency Of Record’ Model Isn’t Dead, It’s Just Being Reinvented
Mediapost: Redefining AOR. From Agency Of Record To Agency Of Reality
Quantumstat.com: Agency Of Record Model Falls Victim To Decentralization
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