Interesting article from
Ad Age about how EURO RSCG has experienced success by bringing 4D (digital arm) "inside" the agency vs. treating it as a silo.
They refer to it as a "web first" approach, but the success I have seen is where it is an "Idea First" approach. The idea comes first, and then you simultaneously see how the idea translates to or is communicated via different mediums. It is not "let's create an iPhone App or mobile component", rather "what are the right vehicles that convey this message or drive the desired action". The end result is a campaign that synergistically leverages the appropriate mediums (not necessarily ALL mediums) vs. forcing itself into places it shouldn't be (e.g. a Facebook page that no one goes to).
I think the real key here is getting digital a true seat at the table. Having worked at a large traditional shop trying to "figure out" digital, the real issue is not always with the digital group, rather with the other people around it - getting them to let down the walls and share the ideation. Kudos to RSCG for getting out of their own way and figuring it out.
Euro's range of offerings gives it the ability to grasp the bigger marketing picture that many digital-only agencies are criticized as lacking. Yet, within the scale of the big network sits a strong digital offering. "Fundamentally, digital is too important to have in silo," said Mr. Jones.
It's a belief that stems from an experiment Mr. Jones tried more than a decade ago in Australia, inserting a traditional shop inside an interactive one, rather than alongside it. "This is digital taking over the agency -- not the other way around,"
