If you haven’t heard yet, there are many marketing agencies that claim they coined the idea of being an “anti-agency agency.”

That’s the latest industry buzzword that is designed to make brands feel “rebellious” and sticking it to the “man.” After all, who wants to continue working with the old-school traditional agency model, right?

This article is not going to help me make new BFFs in the agency world – and that’s OK! 

It may expose agencies with self-absorbed leaders; the ones who are forcing their team to leverage the anti-agency agency principle for self-promoting reasons. “No Derek, stop being so cynical.”

Au contraire.

I’ve been in the digital agency world for many, many, many years — and I’ve been exposed to the good, bad, and ugly. So if have an open mind and allow me to share my thoughts about what a true anti-agency agency looks like, then read on. 

Otherwise, you can go here.

Bias is everywhere you look, start in the mirror

Every agency has self-serving agendas when it comes to blog posts, including us at FMDM!

Why even bother hiding behind the curtain — after all, the purpose of content is to build expertise, authority, and trustworthiness right? BOOM! See what I did that, I referenced E.A.T. 🙂 Take that, SEOs!

Agencies want to promote their altruism, talk about great client work, claim how they have their pulse on the industry, and tout their exclusive technology and process. Most of that is nonsense — trust me, I have been in pitch meetings that gave me anxiety and barf-reflex seeing how pitch teams at my previous companies lied their way through and through. DISGUSTING!

The anti-agency agency mantra is no different.

Look, I understand that people can learn principles, adopt frameworks, and learn new processes. But the people who have a deeper understanding and appreciation of what it means to be an anti-agency agency the most are the people who have been down that road.

Not many agencies successfully become an anti-agency agency when the rubber meets the road. Once you take away the presentations, the well-crafted SEO blog posts, and the lip service — you will notice that it’s all smoke and mirrors. 

Brands are romanticized by so-called anti-agency agencies all the time. Why? Because they are looking for something new. Brands want to hope there is more than just billable hours, under-delivery, and crappy service if they hire an anti-agency agency — at least on paper. 

We can agree to disagree. After all, this is my blog post! So there 😉

Not all traditional agencies are the bad guys, let’s be fair

Allow me to remain objective. I am not writing this article to crucify traditional digital agencies. Not at all! My intent is to share my thoughts on what an anti-agency agency ought to be, the values it encompasses, and the mindset necessary to be a true anti-agency agency.

Wany smaller boutique agencies are out to take on the traditional agency model. And I am happy to say that when I started FMDM, that was my goal then and still is today and will be.

But let’s do it without bad mouthing. Don’t be scandalous by writing listicles with top XX reasons why traditional agencies are failing. That’s bad taste.

As an anti-agency agency, if you are out to win and dethrone the traditional agency mindset, then do it through real leadership to drive change both with your team and clients. That’s the right way, it’s the only way. 

What being an Anti-Agency Agency is not. Don’t be “That Agency”

You are going to read a multitude of articles talking about these points below. How traditional agencies are stuck in their old ways and how these are the way forward for an anti-agency agency. 

Poppycock! These are not new concepts. If this is what your anti-agency agency is talking about, then they are even more backwards than you think!

Your agency is NOT an anti-agency agency if your leaders talk about these things:

Integrating data into your decision making

If your leadership team think data integration is an advanced concept and it makes you an anti-agency agency, then your leadership may have been in a state of cryostasis and have just been recently unfrozen. 

Data has played an integral part of ecommerce and digital marketing for a very long time — at least, in my experience for 20+ years since I started my journey in the world of digital marketing. 

Working with and integrating data into your agency operation doesn’t make you an anti-agency agency. It just means you are doing your job.

Understanding your media budget and advertising dollars

Let’s me set the record straight. Whether you’re a traditional agency or not, budget management is your fiduciary responsibility — contractually.

So how is this a concept that only an anti-agency agency understands?

Big agencies did not get to where they are today if they did not understand media budgets. In fact, they are masters of advertising dollar management — especially when it comes to media buying.

Don’t kid yourself. All agencies are in business to make money. And having the ability to manage your clients’ advertising dollars is marketing 101. It’s not a skill bestowed exclusively to anti-agency agencies. #WOKE! Duh!

Scale and sustain what is working. NO WAY, please tell me more

No kidding Sherlock!

You don’t need a marketing genius to teach you that. Much less, this shouldn’t be something your agency leadership spends 30 minutes a week talking about.

If your not part of a team with a growth mindset, then you need to reconsider your surroundings. This applies to both employees and clients. 

Putting in the work to scale your client’s website traffic, sales, and leads is what you were hired to do. Do you really think this is an anti-agency agency thing? I don’t want to insult your intelligence, but let’s not be naïve. 

Own your data, CRM baby!

Maybe it’s my experience screaming or my marketer-soul getting it’s life sucked out. But for Pete’s sake, (who’s Pete anyways!?!?), owing your own data has been the topic of conference and brands for decades. 

I’m not sure where your executive came from, but from my experience, there are many people who decided to start a digital agency thinking its the gold rush. And then they throw jargons and catchphrases around to anyone who will catch it like its Mardi Gras bead necklaces…eewww!

It is easy to talk about CRM — you can’t implement a successful CRM project just because you call yourself an anti-agency agency on your website. No sirree! Move on…next!

Outsourcing is a bad word

It is not! Don’t be a hypocrite. Agencies talk about outsourcing like it’s the devil’s word. 

Tell me something. 

What are brands and businesses doing when they hire your agency to manage campaigns for them? Oh wait, what? 

OHHHHH…OUTSOURCING! YEA!

So, all you anti-agency agencies out there, exorcise (I hear sage works too), the outsourcing spirits out of your conversations. Don’t hide behind the very fabric of your business model. 

Call yourselves anything you want…but all agencies are outsourced resources. Period. 

Layoffs that is profit-driven

I read somewhere that “The Average Agency exists only for its own survival. It will grab and shed people out of need and convenience without regard to any of it.“

What a bold claim. I mean that feels like borderline libel to me. And also, how do you define “average” anyway? Is this writer play God and Jury and Judge? 

If any agency runs out finances to sustain a team, they will shed people — how many agencies laid good people off since COVID-19? Tens of thousands of marketers became unemployed across agencies of all sizes. 

During my time at Organic (part of OmnicomGroup), my manager invested in me.

So it is completely unfair to say that traditional agencies do not invest in their employees — it’s just easier to criticize them because of the politics that comes with their territory in the big leagues.

Similarly, I have also seen the self-proclaimed anti-agency agency screw up at the executive level — from embezzlement and apathy to greed and jealousy — the very people employees and clients entrust their livelihood and business completely fail to deliver.

Yes, size doesn’t matter when it comes to employee retention. An anti-agency agency does not retain people any different than traditional companies if the leadership does not understand what it means to be an anti-agency agency to begin with.

The anti-agency agency mindset, according to our pack leader

So, if you have made it this far, I hope you’ll stay for the rest. 

I have talked about what an anti-agency agency shouldn’t be and how some agencies are flying the anti-agency flag as a front. Now, allow me to share what I truly think an anti-agency agency is made of. This comes from my experience after being in-house at brands, running teams at larger agencies, and to what we have built at FMDM.

5 Things Your Anti-Agency Agency Mindset Must Have

1. Choose people over money

Truth be told. Easier said than done. If a prospect came to you with a $100,000 dollar contract, but your team is opposed to working on the project, what would you do? Are you willing to walk away? 

Or what if a client disrespects your team. Are you willing to stand up for your team?

The anti-agency agency will walk away in both cases — because they understand that creating loyalty and creating a strong team is more important for the long-game.

2. Empathy driven teams

Empathy is not a new concept. 

Therefore, it is important that your team is strong and empathetic to your clients and the work they do. That means your hiring is crucial to make this happen — having a team of people who are largely empathetic. 

Of course, the larger your team gets, the more challenging it will be to maintain this mindset. But to be truly extraordinary as an anti-agency agency, this is everything. 

You must be willing to walk from any prospects or candidates or employees that do not demonstrate this quality. Some may say it’s harsh — but I ask you this. “How bad do you want to be an anti-agency agency?” Walk the talk! 

3. Socialism, not Totalitarianism

For an anti-agency agency to work, it has to be built on the foundation of socialism. That’s my opinion, at least.

I am not trying to bring politics into the agency life, but I am referring to the concept of socialism where each person benefits from and contributes to the system – in the case of an anti-agency agency, according to their skills, abilities, and needs.

4. Hire for passion, train for skills

When I applied for work years ago, I was judge by what is on my resume (damn Applicant Tracking Software filters!!).

Judging people on paper doesn’t really tell you who they truly are. 

If you hire a person who is passionate (about anything in their life), is trainable, and have a good heart — anything is possible. When you speak to a person who possess all those qualities, you have found a diamond in the rough!

I firmly believe that I can teach that person Excel, Google Analytics, digital marketing, heck…even Facebook Advertising and Google Ads.

What you cannot teach is character. And you certainly CANNOT fill someone with passion for life.

An anti-agency agency is built upon people. PEOPLE + PASSIONS = PERFORMANCE!

5. Snuff the fluff

Snuff it out! I say! 

Many years ago, I spent 6 hours putting together a presentation for a client — which nobody looked at! My manager insisted in the urgency of the presentation and wanted it to “look good.” Oh boy! Yes, it certainly looked good. In fact, I spent most of the 6 hours making it “look good” — what a waste of time! Now that was FLUFF!

Anti-agency agencies do not waste their time on the fluff, no matter how fluffy it is. 

Fluff comes in many shapes and form. Your leadership team should be able to sniff the fluff out — because as an anti-agency agency, does not entertain fluff of any kind; internal or external. 

FMDM Anti-Agency Agency Manifesto

Our purpose is to humanize the agency-client relationship and deliver our best work through our expertise and be accessible to our clients so we are ready to solve challenges. Love our People. Passion is everything. Performance is our north star.

Are you a ready for an anti-agency agency?

You’re probably waiting for the pitch. Perhaps something like this?

“Embracing the anti-agency mindset means changing the way you do things. It means diving into new ways of doing things, blah blah blah…FMDM can help you blah blah blah…”

Sorry to disappoint. No pitches here.

But next time you talk to your potential agency, I hope you can tell if they are truly an anti-agency agency or just another person cashing your checks.