Agency structures have been changing since the pandemic, creating various hybrid models and much more flexibility.

One trend that seems to have been accelerating is creative agencies adding media to their capabilities, resulting in variations of the traditional integrated agency model that aim to combine powerful creative ideas and the right media canvas at the onset of the process.

Zulu Alpha Kilo introduced its media arm Zulumatic last year. Zak Mroueh, agency founder and creative chairman, says, “From our perspective, there’s magic in having strategy, creative and media in the same room driving towards a singular goal. And that can happen in multiple structures. We believe that having media at the table from the outset, regardless of whether it’s our in-house team or one of our excellent media agnostic agency partners, always leads to the best outcome possible for our clients.”

Zulumatic is media agnostic and head of media Alicia Petralia has hired experts in planning, activation, programmatic, search and digital to offer full media capabilities. Client reaction has been extremely positive to the media offering and there’s been a lot of interest in having a different, independent media alternative in the marketplace, says Petralia. Campaigns have had greater success thanks to this arrangement and it’s also attracting new clients to the agency, she says.

“Our clients get more bang for their buck as well because we’re one team pulling in the same direction. . . and we expect more media-only growth through proving the differentiation in the product and our entrepreneurial mindset,” Petralia says.

Toronto-based GALE was established nine years ago with the idea that consulting was moving closer to creative and backed by data. It opened with handful of staffers and the premise of smart management consultants that execute in a creative space empowered with data and analytics. About three and a half years ago, media was added. Today the agency has about 750 employees in nine offices.

“That’s all organic growth over eight and a half years,” says Brad Simms, CEO of Gale. “We haven’t acquired anyone. We haven’t merged with any agency. We’ve hired all of those folks. We have about 230 people in Toronto, our biggest office, and an office in New York and a handful across the US and around the globe. In North America, we’re just under a billion US dollars of media that we’ve built in three and a half years.”

Simms says the agency has grown by adding skills and resources as client opportunities come around, but also when it makes sense, particularly with the evolution in storytelling and the blurring of lines between what was happening, particularly with digital. “Is this an ad, a piece of organic, or paid social? A lot of our clients are starting to realize that there needs to be a real consistency between what is said in the paid space, and what’s being said in owned space. That was a natural evolution from us, because we were doing a lot of digital work a lot of CRM work on the creative side. Connecting that with the media made a lot of sense.” 

No Fixed Address started out as a creative and strategy shop about eight years ago. It added a media division in 2018, which Dan Yhip, the agency’s director of media investments and platform operations, says was an organic evolution at the agency, which was building out an integrated offering that today also includes practice expertise in areas like health and PR.

“We’ve evolved and grown, taking on new challenges, but understanding that cohesive path between creative and media is where there’s a lot of value to be found, for really good storytelling and new ways to reach people that brands are trying to talk to,” Yhip says.

Yhip says that adding media to the agency was a way to have a cohesive conversation with clients from brand, creative and ultimately how things come to life through media. “When we were able to put all that together, it allowed us to really reimagine media, not just as paid, but looking at it as a collective ecosystem. I think creative agencies should consider this only if they truly want to invest in the discipline of media. That means going out there to find the right media talent, making sure the collective piece is working together.”