When does a marketing agency become a consultancy?

When I am presenting our company to a new client, I always refer to Icon as a consultancy, not just another agency. The difference is far greater than it initially might appear.

The traditional view of an agency is that they take a brief and the brief is executed. Success is measured by how well the brief is executed. Simple enough one would think. After all, that is the job of an agency. However, the whole premise of success is built upon one assumption – that the brief is right! Let me illustrate my point. 

A new client will call and say they need a new website. Okay we say, no problem, we can assist with that. Before we proceed any further, we ask the all-important question – Why do you need a new website? A few minutes later and with some more questioning we realise that it’s not a website or a new campaign that needs to be built but a totally different solution. The current website is fine, maybe just a few updates are needed, and a new campaign is a great idea, but several smaller tasks are less costly that can be tried to ensure that our thinking is right. 

If we accepted the client brief as presented, we may have produced the website, but on delivering it, we realise it was not a website they needed at all.

In our journey from agency to consultancy, there is one question that defines our difference. A simple question that opens a plethora of possibilities. 

In asking that one question we are left to explore the many business variables that make up the solution. As we all know in an increasingly complex world where the line of marketing / sales / customer service / culture are increasingly blurred and intertwined, to solve a marketing problem is to first understand the business models that sit as the foundation.

“What is the problem to be solved?” may seem like a simple enough question, but as we explore the possibilities, it is often not just one problem, it’s multiple problems. The skill of a great consultancy is to understand what problem needs to be solved and which problem we are solving. As well as what are the business frameworks and variables that are inhibiting success.

We might end up building a new website or exploring a new campaign, or we might simply need to look at our customer service scripts. The execution is the easy part; there are many great agencies that can help you execute.

What success looks like is better understood if we first know the problem to be solved. In answering that problem, the consultant is the person you need in your corner.

What makes a great agency? A great agency is first and foremost an amazing consultancy!

Want to know more? Call us on 1300 138 984 for a chat.