Specialists can no longer satisfy varied client requirements

‘Nothing is permanent but change,’ wrote Heraclitus – perhaps he was foreseeing the future and thinking of the communications industry.

Why do we separate marketing into different elements when the lines between them are so blurred and constantly changing?

Marketing agencies exist to provide solutions to ever-changing client demands, but with so much change, what agency can afford to pigeon-hole itself? If we are to demand respect from clients we need to confront them with the fact that all activities have the same intrinsic goal, which is where our expertise lies – relationship building.

The days of the specialist agency are long gone and as our clients become more flexible we need to follow suit. The savings clients experience by using a single supplier create the foundations for long-term partnerships. Only by offering a full service can we cease to be suppliers and become partners, able to offer expert advice across the whole spectrum of their strategy.

Tim Perutz, Managing director, Nimlok, Northants NN8 6NL