Why marketing agencies buy marketing agencies — Zach Morrison // Tinuiti

CEO of Tinuiti, Zach Morrison, discusses agency life for marketers. For decades, marketing agencies made it their mission to acquire as many other marketing agencies as possible. While this practice still happens, firms like Tinuti are focused on scope based acquisitions. Today, Zach explores the constant need for consolidation in marketing.
About the speaker

Zach Morrison

Tinuiti

- Tinuiti

Zach is CEO of Tinuiti

Show Notes

  • 04:20
    Consolidation of marketing agencies
    In the past, agencies were focused on scaling by purchasing other agencies. Today, some marketing agencies are more concerned with scope due to the modern CMOs needs.
  • 06:55
    When to use a specialty agency vs a full
    Businesses use both types of agencies when theyre just starting out. Upon establishing in-house marketing teams, theyll use experts, and eventually enterprise solutions as they become larger.
  • 08:35
    Outcomes for agencies using acquisition for growth
    Agencies have three options for growth. They get acquired by larger ones, remain independent with private equity, or go public.
  • 10:57
    Staff impact during the consolidation phase
    Staff members can continue to grow in their speciality. Being part of a larger company has the added bonus of diversification of career path.
  • 11:49
    Client impact during the consolidation phase
    The client gets the benefit of everything being handled by one team as all the resources are available in-house.
  • 13:42
    Duplicate resources due to acquisition
    Employees working directly with clients will still be required to maintain those relationships. However, those with more generalized positions may have less job security.
  • 14:55
    Figuring out how acquisition is impacting your business
    Understand that change is a constant in business. Consider whether the change stemming from the acquisition drives evolution in your business. If it does, the impact is positive.

Quotes

  • "In the Don Draper era, agencies were gobbled up for scale and size. You won by being able to say, we have the biggest creative department and buy the most TV, which gives us the greatest buying power." -Zach Morrison, CEO, Tinuiti

  • "Tinuitis focus has been buying and putting together companies for scope. And we're doing that because of the CMOs needs. CMO needs today are very different than they were 20, 30 years ago." -Zach Morrison, CEO, Tinuiti

  • "When Tinuiti started in 2005, wed get small businesses who wanted the specialty. And sometimes they would actually end up going to somebody else who did everything." -Zach Morrison, CEO, Tinuiti

  • "We want to challenge the norm. We're not going to get gobbled up by somebody. We're gonna put together some really smart people and build something to challenge the giants." -Zach Morrison, CEO, Tinuiti

  • "Were growing organically over 30% plus every year. Every company that we've ever bought is growing organically." -Zach Morrison, CEO, Tinuiti

  • "We try to champion our employee experience and our client experience with every acquisition that we do." -Zach Morrison, CEO, Tinuiti

  • "With acquisition, clients have an advantage because, instead of multiple people or companies trying to speak to each other about results and what's going on, theres one team with one leader." -Zach Morrison, CEO, Tinuiti

  • "When doing acquisitions for scope, there's synergy. You retain your clients longer and grow them. If you're just buying for scale, you have to look for cost synergy." -Zach Morrison, CEO, Tinuiti

  • "As long as your experience continues to evolve, in a positive way, you should look for the thought leadership that can come from bringing companies together." -Zach Morrison, CEO, Tinuiti

About the speaker

Zach Morrison

Tinuiti

- Tinuiti

Zach is CEO of Tinuiti

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