10 Insights from Worldwide Partners ONE 24 Global Summit in Madrid

Our bi-annual Global Summit took place in Madrid, Spain earlier this month. The theme of the event was ONE, highlighting the power of independent agencies working together to accomplish more, to thrive collectively, and to change our industry and the world for the better.  

Below are 10 themes we uncovered during the three-day event.

1. Be More Pirate and Cause Good Trouble

Jerry Seinfeld was wrong. You do want to be a pirate.  

On the surface, it may seem odd to draw inspiration from a seemingly nefarious group of seafarers that existed some 400 years ago, but we are now believers in Sam Conniff’s “Be More Pirate” philosophy. Sam explained how pirates made their own rules that benefited their people, practised democracy, and created codes of conduct that were ahead of their time (and, sadly, ahead of our current time, too in some cases). 

Be More Pirate is a rallying cry to break free from conventional thinking and the old way of doing things, to feel empowered to bend or even break outdated rules, and to embrace boldness, innovation, and “good trouble” in the name of progress. It’s a fitting philosophy for our group of independent agencies, who have the freedom and the grit to do things differently and help their clients do the same.  

2. Death and Creativity

What does creativity actually mean? According to Uncommon Creative Studio’s Nils Leonard – who we can all agree knows a thing or two about creativity – it’s not a craft. It’s not a haircut or a neck tattoo. It’s not about being brave. Creativity is a survival mechanism. 

“You are your most creative when you’re in the shit,” Nils shared in his trademark unfiltered approach.   

He cited examples like Spotify, AirBnb and Uber, brands that only exist today because things were so bad, so inefficient, so broken that something groundbreaking had to be done. 

Seeing [brand] death on the horizon can be freeing – you’re not thinking about all the “Nos” you might hear or all the rules you should be following – you’re simply trying to claw your way back. 

Whether you’re truly in the shit or not, it can be helpful to think this way. Because even if you’re not a record label, hotel or taxi service in the 2000's, brands that aren’t innovating are eternally on the edge of extinction. Always ask yourself: “Am I more scared of doing this [insert ludicrous creative idea] or doing nothing?” 

3. Computers Know Answers, Not Questions 

While more and more people are using AI on a daily basis, there is still the fear of AI replacing people and jobs. Pablo Carlier, Head of Data Analytics and AI Sales at Google Cloud, assured us that this is not the case. 

“AI will augment people, not replace them. In fact, talent is now more important than ever,” he shared. “Computers can only give answers, people ask the questions.” We need to figure out what questions we will ask, and how we can differentiate ourselves with creativity and data.

4. Find Your ONE Specific True Thing

It’s a mad, mad world out there. Brands are stuck in a loop where they feel they have no choice but to spend more every year, on more touchpoints, to reach more people, to be able to compete. Meanwhile agencies are trying to keep pace, doing their best to always deliver more of what the brand is asking for. Yet, this hunger for more, more, more is resulting in less, less, less for everyone.

Antoine David, co-founder and CEO of Rosbeef!, shared his plan for breaking free from this loop of excess. Brands must focus on their one, specific, true thing – the reason they exist in the first place, and how to make that culturally relevant today. Cultural relevance lies in innovation, in creating value and letting people know about it. Cultural relevance opens wide fields, and creates opportunities for new revenue streams. And cultural relevance implies that agencies and clients work hand in hand, together as one.

5. Three Ways to Add Value

SCOPEN’s Marta Izquierdo joined us to share trends that are impacting the relationship between clients and agencies. Her data and insights come from SCOPEN’s ongoing “Agency Scope” study that has tapped brand leaders in eleven countries across Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East over the past six years. 

Marta’s data was exhaustive and illuminating, and there were far too many points to note them all. Yet one important piece of advice stood out in this extremely complex and competitive industry – to establish a bigger and stronger relationship with clients as a “Lead Agency” you must provide value in three key areas: 1. Technology & data, 2. Strategy and 3. Creative. And if anyone was not convinced by Pablo and still thinks AI is going to cannibalise our jobs, you can rest easy knowing that numbers 2 and 3 cannot be accomplished by AI alone. 

6. Choose Clients Wisely

While Marta’s sessions was all about what clients want from agencies, Worldwide Partners President and CEO John Harris urged us to identify what we want from our clients. And he cautioned us to choose those clients wisely, because they can either promote or pollute our agency culture. 

This of course covers a “no jerks” rule, which hopefully every agency adheres to. But it also includes choosing clients that are willing to take risks. Clients that are open to being challenged. And clients that have a problem your agency is uniquely qualified to solve.    

Always remember: You as an agency add value to the client’s business, ensure they’re adding value to yours.  

7. CFOs Are Our Most Important Clients

As agencies, we typically see CMOs and others in marketing departments as our main clients. And while that’s true in many ways, CFOs play an increasingly active role in approving campaign budgets and have a bigger seat at the table. 

Just let these stats soak in: 

• CFOs are involved in 72% of corporate strategy decisions, while CMOs are involved in only 45%; 
• CFOs attend 80% of board meetings, CMOs attend just 33%; 
• and CFOs control 75% of budget, while CMOs control only 25%. 
• In short: CFOs are who you need to be winning over.

Mediassociate’s Ben Kunz shared their approach and proprietary forecasting model, which quantifies the impact of brand advertising on total campaign performance, providing CMOs with the tools they need to justify full-funnel campaigns and showcasing how marketing is fully accountable to delivering business results.    

8. Sell Solutions, Not Hours

We have a pricing problem in our industry. And it affects us all, regardless of agency size, location or specialty. Who’s to blame for this problem - the clients, the agency, the media? Let’s not point fingers, and rather focus on finding solutions.

SCOPE Better’s Tracey Shirtcliff joined us to share the solution to this pricing problem, which is, well, solutions. Tracey showcased the inaccuracies and inflexibility of labour-based pricing, and instead recommended a solutions-based pricing approach leveraging productization of your service offerings. 

Sounds simple enough, right? But the reality of making a major transition in pricing models can be intimidating. Tracey suggested starting either with your most friendly client or your most unprofitable client (note for future: the two smartest starting points for any new endeavour). 

9. Passive Sponsorship Are Dead

Long live Experiential.

Experiential has grown in recent years for a number of reasons: the need to break through the noise of passive advertising; a desire to create unique and lasting connections with consumers; and new tools and technologies that make it more exciting, more immersive and, perhaps most importantly, more affordable for brands. 

LG2’s Andres Norambuena provided a primer on experiential brand activations today, including advice for developing these campaigns for varying audiences and budgets, and guidance on getting the most out of the data (pro tip: don’t use QR codes, it doesn’t provide you with any data on the consumer).  

10. Administer Agency Ambien

Ammunition’s Kelly Heilpern shared data and insights from a recent “Future of Strategy” survey sent to Worldwide Partners agencies across the globe. The findings shed a light on how agency leaders and strategists view the strategy department today – it’s value, perceived trends, and challenges – and the opportunities for shaping the future of strategic planning and execution. 

A key insight stood out, one that is not only relevant to strategy departments but agencies at large – 80% of respondents said that working upstream with clients to understand business drivers is the most important skill. “Foster relationships with clients so that you can understand what is keeping them up at night, and then strategically point them in a direction that will allow them to sleep better. Be their Agency Ambien.” And who couldn’t use some Agency Ambien right now?! 

From the opening reception on the rooftop of the Circulo del Bellas Artes where the hugs and smiles nearly overpowered the views, to the thoughtful and supportive advice shared throughout the sessions and workshops, to the final-dinner-turned-discoteque - the spirit of community was unmistakable. Our indie agencies are true friends and co-conspirators. They complement each other, they don’t compete. They have each others backs in good times and bad. And they accomplish things together they couldn’t do alone. That’s the power of indies as ONE.