I was having a chat with someone with decades more agency experience behind them than me yesterday about integrated agencies and their evolving role.
His take was that the problem was that an integrated model required Specialist account managers (DM, Advertising, PR etc.) but Generalist account directors who could advise their clients across multiple disciplines/specialisms/channels. The snag being how do you advance specialist account managers to become generalist account directors?
Account managers are inevitably focused on getting the day-to-day stuff out of the door and keeping the client happy – but is it also their responsibility to develop themselves into Creative Generalists with a wider view of communications, design and the world in general? Or does that responsibility sit within the Planning discipline? Or should Planning be responsible for this staff development need?
Thoughts welcome on this one – I’ve certainly not got the answer…