DIGITAL MARKETING HUB v2.0 - AdExchanger

Digital Marketing Hub v2.0
BMO Capital Markets
The Software Era
Agency Services
Broadly speaking, agency services are the “human” or “service” layer for IP marketing. The
term agency is a broad one, typically applied to the types of firms owned by holding companies (or
their independent counterparts). They are typically categorized based on the service offering and
can include:
• Integrated agencies: full marketing and advertising services
• Media agencies: media planning and buying
• Creative agencies: services focused on creating advertisements
• Digital agencies: focused solely on IP advertising and marketing services
• Direct marketing agencies: targeted marketing services; no advertising
• Design agencies: logo and packaging creative services
• Promotional and Shopper Marketing agencies: in-store and other “offers-based” marketing
But in its basic form as the “service layer,” agency services can sit within technology companies
too; here they often go by the term “managed services.” Said another way, we consider
any human that is assisting a brand in allocating and executing its marketing budget to be an
“agent.” Where the difference lies is that a technology company also offers a platform or product
that is built once and re-sold (i.e., higher margins) whereas agency services are typically paid on a
“time and materials + mark-up” basis and therefore are not scalable (i.e., lower margins).
Database Marketing and CRM
Collecting and organizing various forms of individual customer and/or lead data is the foundation
of modern direct marketing techniques. These data could include contact and demographic
information (name, address, gender, etc.) and transaction data (e.g., e-commerce sales,
warranty data, etc.). Database marketing vendors are normally charged with hosting the client’s
first-party database, and then maintaining it through cleansing (e.g., updating address information
after a customer moves), adding new profiles, eliminating users who opt-out (aka “suppression”)
and layering in third-party data help build more robust profiles. This data can be gleaned from
many sources including public government services, charity organizations, credit card applications,
or responses to contests/special offers (such as those sold by online lead generators).
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June 7, 2012