What Makes A Great Creative Agency?

When you stop and consider the long history of marketing, it's a breathtaking vista to behold. The goal though, has always remained the same - to communicate to core target markets. The more effective and efficient the communication, the more profitable the venture for all involved - from company to agency to advertising medium.

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when the central nerve center of a mid-to-large company's communication was it's creative agency. In the early days, this usually meant the agency developed and broadcast communication to target markets using ads purchased in newspapers, radio, and later on television and the Internet.

In these early years, a great agency was defined by its service provided to the client - a standard that is timeless. However, there was rarely if ever an emphasis on also empowering the client. In fact the very idea of giving some of the toolbox over to newly-trained clients is anathema to many creative professionals even today.

So what makes a great creative agency? Gene Yager is the Creative Director at State College, Pennsylvania marketing agency TWMA. He sees a combination of factors great agencies of 2013 have in common.

"Providing great service is obviously number one, but our goal is to combine that with the empowerment of the client," Yager said.

For TWMA, "empowering the client" is more than just a sound bite.

Because of how powerful the Internet can be as a branding and marketing tool, businesses have an amazing thing at their fingertips - the controls.

"We have everything run through the client's website, which is the 'nerve center'", Yager said. "From the site's content management dashboard, custom slides can be created and posted, email marketing campaigns can be created and sent, coupon codes can be created and pushed out to segmented target market lists... the possibilities are endless."

Once empowered, businesses may find an interesting thing happening - better communication. According to TWMA's Yager, that means better in virtually all aspects of communication - all while decreasing the absolute reliance on traditional media and a traditional marketing agency. It's a big change.

"Empowerment," Yager said, "is revolutionary. That's what makes a great creative agency today."