Gartner Marketing Agency MQ

A few days ago Gartner published its 2020 Magic Quadrant assessment of global marketing agencies. 

It is one of the few industry reports that I look forward to reading each year. * 

The MQ plots agencies' offerings along two axes, Completeness Of Vision and Ability To Execute. 

In short, it compares agencies' ability to develop strategies and to deliver them, globally.  

Up and to the right are Leaders. Down and to the left are Niche Players. 

This year 18 agencies made the final cut representing a mix of business models from agency holding companies (like WPP, Dentsu, IPG) to strategic consultancies (Accenture, Deloitte, PWC) to media companies (Vivendi and Hearst) to technology companies (IBM and Cognizant). 

AKQA, RGA, Isobar landed the top three spots this year, validating the agency holding company business model for another year.

That said, positions are shifting and it is interesting to see where the lines are blurring. 

In 2019, for example, Accenture’s acquisition of Droga 5 (for half a billion dollars!) strengthened their ability to execute creatively, and edged them closer to some of the holding companies. 

Although the report notes that the push to in-house marketing services continues, agencies are still very much in demand - especially for executing critical marketing priorities.

The report is written primarily for evaluators, but is interesting to anyone involved in the agency business. For those of us on the agency-side, it helps us to understand what the market is prioritizing and how we compare. 

One last thing.

I appreciate that Gartner applies a diverse set of (around 10-ish) criteria to both Ability To Execute and Completeness of Vision. Their analysis is not fixated on gross revenue, or wins/losses, or client base alone. This sets it apart from many of the other league tables that one finds in the marketing trade press.

Good information. Neatly packaged. 

Thank you Gartner …

Note: a Gartner account is needed to read the full report but you can read the outline here:

https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3982692/magic-quadrant-for-global-marketing-agencies

 * along with Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends and Interbrand’s Best Global Brands.