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Two independent agencies—media shop Crossmedia and Joan Creative—are reimagining how to reintegrate media and creative disciplines. They’re rolling out a unique service offering, dubbed JoanxMedia, that’s designed to offer clients more options and could inspire how other independent agencies go to market.
By partnering, independent agencies can integrate services without having to master new disciplines. For agencies that want to develop new practices, partnerships circumvent arduous processes like training and upskilling new talent, and finding clients willing to bet on an agency with limited expertise in a given area.
Crossmedia and Joan Creative’s new integrated offering is one way independent agencies, which have more flexibility than holding company agencies to experiment with novel operating models, can offer more to their clients and grow their businesses. An offering like JoanxMedia makes it possible for the two independent agencies to share clients, cross-train employees and nab business from larger competitors.
Why agency leaders split up creative and media
Historically, agencies offered clients both media and creative services, but in the ’80s agency leaders split the disciplines. This happened largely because holding companies could financially benefit from separating creative and media business lines. CMOs would then spend more to retain disparate creative and media partners, benefiting the parent company’s bottom line.
Separating the two practices only made sense for so long, though. The media ecosystem eventually underwent a profound change as digital ads dethroned traditional print placements. Then, big data made it possible for media agencies, with campaign metrics in hand, to inform creative strategies. By then, most media and creative agencies had already been operating in silos for decades, and reworking the operating model posed a challenge.
“We call that the original sin of advertising—the separation of creative and media,” Joan CEO and co-founder Lisa Clunie told Adweek. “The goal of this venture is really to fix that problem. Creative and media are so much better when they sit at the same table.”
Now, many holding company and independent agencies alike hope to integrate media and creative practices without disrupting workflows and P&Ls. Some holding company agencies began tackling reintegration by building out new practice areas. GroupM’s EssenceMediacom, for example, built Creative Systems, a creative arm within the broader media organization.