Things used to be so much easier than they are today. That’s not just true of life generally, but also true of my experience working in advertising, which started in 1997 in Hamburg, Germany.

It was a hot, sunny October day in Dubai as I welcomed my colleagues from the European, Asian and South African offices of Observatory International, into this city of a cultural ‘melting pot’ where people from 200 countries pursue opportunity.

More channels, more devices, tight budgets, leaner resources, exponential growth in brand content, pace of change, the need to drive business growth, manage the consumer experience across the whole customer journey – this is the reality of the modern Marketing function.

The subject of regular agency performance measurement usually polarises clients into two camps. The advocates speak of the benefits of having their finger on the agency’s pulse, the benefits of spotting problems early, being able to track performance over time - and for two-way evaluation programmes – of giving their agencies a voice to feedback on the client team itself.

Observatory International über die ProcureCon Marketing Conference vom Juni 2015 in London

Tight budgets, less resource, more channels, more devices, a need for agility, the requirement to drive business growth, managing the consumer experience across the whole customer journey beyond just the marketing function - this is the reality of the modern marketing function.

Innovation and how it solves a lot of problems for the CMO

From time to time we are approached by our Clients to answer the question – “how much of the marketing budget should we allocate to Agency fees”.

Observatory International’s view on the IPA and Future Foundation’s report “The Future of Marketing Agencies, the Next 10 Years for Consumer Engagement.” June 2015

The Content Marketing Association has linked up with the top specialist agency search and consultancy Observatory International . It’s the first such arrangement for each party. CMA consultant editor Dominic Mills finds out what’s behind the move.