![Source: © DFlat Madrid https://blog.dflatmadrid.com/ DFlat Mardid]] Scopen's Agency Scope has found that among the marketing professionals interviewed, 65% work in Madrid.](https://biz-file.com/c/2502/765104-120x120.jpg?2)
Agency Scope Spain Part 2: Satisfaction with agencies as marketers adapt to changing times
Scopen has completed the 24th edition of Agency Scope in Spain and found that its marketers’ satisfaction with their agencies has increased as marketing leaders focus on adapting to changing times.
Source: © Sitges Luxury Rentals Sitges Luxury Rentals Scopen has completed the 24th edition of Agency Scope in Spain. It found that Barcelona's agencies have longer relationships than other cities in the country
93% of marketers report being satisfied with the work their agencies deliver, while the duration of relationships between marketers and agencies is increasing, with media agencies maintaining the longest partnerships.
Creative agencies
The most important qualities for marketing professionals when defining an "ideal" creative agency are:
- Creativity/Innovative ideas
- Knowledge (of the market, client, brand).
- Account/Client service.
- Internal processes/Working methodology.
The average duration of the relationship between marketers and their creative agencies (4.5 years) has increased in the last two years (4.1 years in 2022), breaking the trend of previous years where we observed increasingly shorter relationships.
This duration is close to the global average (4.7 years). Independent agencies and medium-sized companies have a lower average duration (3.4 and 3.7 years, respectively), though still higher than in previous editions.
Among agencies belonging to holding groups, the relationship duration is longer (5.6 years), and when we look at the different geographical areas, Barcelona (5.8 years, up from 5.3 in 2022) has longer relationships than Madrid (4.5 years, up from 4 in 2022).
At the global level, Portugal and South Africa have the longest relationships (5.7 years), while China has the shortest relationship (3.1 years).
Marketers are increasingly demanding when evaluating the work of their agencies, and when assessing the work of their creative agencies, the results are worse than two years ago, especially in areas like Strategic Planning, Analytics and Measurement, and Advanced Digital.
On the other hand, they highly value that the team managing their account is stable (87%), that it has more than 10 years of experience (80%), and that the agency is capable of developing consulting projects (63%).
When evaluating the percentage that agencies contribute to the growth of their business, half consider it to be medium, but 41% think it’s low, compared to just over 1% who believe it is high.
On average, marketers state that the contribution of creative agencies is 12%.
Despite these figures, almost half of the marketers interviewed (47%) would recommend their creative agencies to other professionals in the industry, and the vast majority of them are satisfied with their agencies (93%) and do not plan to change agencies (80%).
Media agencies
The key characteristics that interviewees highlight for an "ideal" media agency are:
- Knowledge (of media, market, client, brand), which has increased significantly compared to two years ago.
- Creativity/Innovative ideas.
- Negotiation skills /Obtaining good prices.
- Data/researc /tools/measurement.
Among these, Account/Client Service has lost much of its relevance, which was previously ranked first in 2022.
Regarding the duration of relationships between marketers and their media agencies, we also find more stable relationships today (5.5 years in 2024 vs. 4.9 years in 2022), which are above the global average (5.1 years).
Portugal remains the market with the longest relationships (6.6 years on average), while China has the shortest duration (3.1 years).
Independent media agencies have a lower average duration (4.5 years), while group agencies have a longer duration (5.9 years).
Relationships are longer in Barcelona (5.8 years, up from 5.3 in 2022) than in Madrid (4.5 years, up from 4.0 in 2022).
In general, when marketers evaluate their media agencies, they give better ratings than their creative agencies.
The areas with the lowest scores are Advanced Digital, Strategic Planning, and Good Value for Money, while the areas with the highest ratings are Media/Consumer Research and Data Expertise.
88% of the interviewees highly appreciate the Stability of the team managing their account, and 70% believe their media agency can develop consulting projects (for brand or business).
The average contribution of media agencies to the growth of their clients’ businesses is 14.9%. 60% of the interviewees consider the level of contribution to be Medium (10%-50%), 32% think it is Low, and 2.3% believe it is High.
Similarly, marketers’ satisfaction with their media agencies is higher than with creative agencies, reaching 93%, with more than half declaring that they are Very Satisfied, leading to a very high percentage of those who state they have no intention to change agencies (78%).
Challenges for the future
In the last two years, the sector has continued to experience significant and rapid changes, increasing uncertainty and requiring quick adaptation.
Marketing professionals highlight, above all other challenges, Uncertainty, and as a consequence, the ability to adapt to new times (44%, an increase of six percentage points compared to 2022) and Consumer knowledge and the ability to reach them (35%).
- Creative agencies
Regarding the challenges that creative agencies are expected to face, strengthening their creativity-innovation capabilities (33%) remains the top priority, as it is ultimately the most distinctive contribution expected from them.
This is followed by the ability to adapt to new times (21%), which also saw a significant increase, and greater consumer knowledge and ability to reach them (19%).
- Media agencies
The top challenges are Ability to adapt to new times, which has increased significantly (32% vs. 19% in 2022), followed by strengthening their data capabilities (16%) and demonstrating ROI, effectiveness, and results (16%).
While not in the top positions, but still among the top 10 challenges mentioned, Artificial Intelligence appears for the first time.
This is a global trend in the market, and Spanish marketers are aware that they will be using it increasingly shortly.
“The challenges for marketers and agencies focus on dealing with uncertainty and the numerous changes transforming our industry.
“Once again, the Agency Scope helps to better understand the relationships between brands, their agencies, and the entire ecosystem of partners they work with,” says César Vacchiano, president and CEO of Scopen.
“The market is more fragmented than ever, commercial activity is intense, agencies are strengthening their capabilities, and marketers are showing a high level of satisfaction with the service they receive.
“In these complex times, and thanks to the participation of 1,726 professionals, we have been able to produce a study that we trust will help improve relationships, add value to brands, and foster growth,” he adds.
Agency Scope
This biennial study is conducted across 11 countries and analyses the relationships between marketers and the agencies they work with as well as the perception and image of agencies and other specialised marketing and communication partners.
The results from Spain are compared with previous editions of the study and with the other 10 markets where it is conducted, aiming to track evolving industry trends.
This is the only study of its kind within the industry, providing subscribing agencies with key insights into the current needs of their clients.
The report offers agencies valuable information to enhance their services and develop new solutions that address present and future needs of marketers.
The fieldwork for this edition took place between February and June 2024, with over 1,700 interviews conducted - a 6% increase from the previous edition.
These include: 833 professionals from 615 different marketing companies, 474 professionals from creative agencies, 399 professionals from media agencies, and 20 commercial executives from media companies.