Platform goals, tradition constraints: the firm holdco predicament
Agencies aren't platforms-- and they never ever will be. Let's not kid ourselves.At finest, they've meddled platform cosplay; a pinch of information here, a smidge of repeating income there.
The concept that they're about to shed their old-school holding business identity? Wishful thinking. Still, it's a misconception that simply will not pass away, enthusiastically recycled by holding business CEOs for several years.
Previously this month (December 9), it made another resurgence with the statement of Omnicom's strategy to get IPG. To win over the marketplace, both CEOs leaned greatly on the "firm as a platform" story, pitching their proposed mega-group as a platform. They talked up the requirement to welcome software-as-a- service-like functions and worried the value of structure too...