Wavemaker calls to reclaim positivity back towards agencies during AdWeek Europe panel

Yesterday, Wavemaker hosted a panel session entitled ‘Don’t fear the future, make it’ on the main Impact Makers stage at AdWeek Europe. Taking the idea of Impact: the impact agencies have on their clients’ businesses, their own people, and on the wider industry, Wavemaker were joined by clients Purple Bricks and Nationwide as well as Wunderman Thompson, and took a stand against the negative press agencies have had of late, telling their peers that “it’s time someone reclaimed some positivity back towards agencies”.

“Encourage us to take risks, and the onus is on you (agencies) to get as close to the decision-makers as possible. If you do that, then the perception of the industry will take care of itself”- Ed began,

“All of us need to adopt a more pluralist view on how advertising and communications work” continued Neil, with Paul simply stating, “Less focus on the new and shiny, and more on the next big thing in marketing – the customer.”

Anna left the audience with her own three takeaways from the session, calling for a greater sense of responsibility from both brands and agencies but also a renewed sense of pride in the impact that agencies can have on their clients’ businesses and in turn, society:

1. We need to be louder and prouder of the real impact agencies are proven to have on their clients’ businesses, their own people, and the wider industry.

2. Let change be a permanent positive state of being – it’s about continuous improvement

3. It’s all of our responsibility to push the industry forward and make our own future.

With a mission to ‘make the future’, Wavemaker – formed by the merger of MEC and Maxus in January 2018, was created for the specific purpose of reinventing the media agency – delivering next-generation solutions for client challenges.