What Is A New Media Or Digital Agency And Why Do I Need One?

By Author: coolsusanbrown
Total Articles: 171
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Some people lambast Wikipedia for being peppered with errors but I think it's a fantastic resource. For example, I wanted to get a good basic definition of "digital agency"; where do you think that I turned? Yep, Wikipedia. And here's what it had to say (I'm going to paraphrase a little): "a digital agency is a business that offers creative web design and digital marketing solutions to companies looking to utilize the web to help their marketing objectives." Then it lists services including web design, development, email marketing, search engine optimisation, search engine marketing, online display, social media marketing etc. In my opinion, one of the most interesting points stated in Wikipedia's definition is that a digital agency rarely offers traditional marketing services, despite the fact that traditional agencies offer digital services (often outsourcing this function).
This is a very interesting point and one that seems to have gone unnoticed by most clients who seek to utilise new media to reach an ever-expanding audience.
Once upon a time, mediaworld was a place that anyone could understand. The terrain ...
... was generally divided into strategy, creative, planning and media buying. Some activities happened above the line and others occurred below the line. Simples.
Traditionally, a large advertising agency would have devised the creative brief and from this came TV, radio and print campaigns. When these pillars of the campaign were in place, a web design agency would be called in to activate the digital segment of the campaign. In most cases, once a digital agency had been awarded the job they would deal with the advertising agency as their sole point of contact.
However, those days are gone. Today, digital agencies are approaching clients directly to offer digital campaigns that shape marketing through more traditional channels. Now, digital is at the centre of marketing strategies rather than on the peripheries.

One example of this trend in action is the Burger king campaign that encouraged consumers to “un-friend”10 of their Facebook friends in exchange for a free whopper. This campaign is an example of work by a digital agency that understands the power of social media marketing and how to use it to make a real impact. In fact, this social media campaign went on to shape the traditional campaign.

We can expect to see more of this as social networks and digital sharing present opportunities to market company’s messages to their audience. The objective is no longer to notify and communicate to the consumer but instead to interact and engage - this is what will define brands' marketing objectives in the future. 

Digital marketing is no longer an add-on to a campaign, instead it is shaping the communication strategies of brands. We will see more visible digital agency activity as companies adopt a digital-first strategy in their quest for better brand engagement.

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