There’s been a lot of recent press about CMOs leaving the traditional model of having a single agency of record. The multi-agency model is becoming more common, but with with it come a new series of challenges.

The major reason for the multi-agency model is the increased complexity of modern advertising. The number of channels and choices for the modern CMO is staggering, yet the campaign still needs to stay integrated across the spectrum of customer touch points.

Many traditional ad agencies find it difficult to stay nimble enough to manage the intricacies of interactive advertising. The traditional agency model strains with the need to manage interactive video, user generated content and immersive user experiences online. They often need to look for outside vendors, which adds another level of project management and client review.

On the flip side, many boutique agencies create amazing online experiences, but often do not have the ability to create large, cross-media advertising strategies.

This puts the CMO in the position of having to pick several vendors across the spectrum for their marketing plan. They also need to get them all to work together towards a shared strategy. This is where most problems happen as the various agencies jockey for position and the right to be the “lead” agency. One sour agency can affect the whole plan.

At Mojave, we use what we call “Open Source Strategy”. We work up front with the client to shift our team structure to support other agencies in the network and avoid duplication of effort across the network. We also use the “Scrum” development method, which allows for short periods (sprints) of work to better adapt to changing schedules or requirement caused by working with multiple agencies.

One thing we’ve noticed lately is that clients will initially hire us to develop the online strategy, but the often ask us to manage the strategy in print and other traditional channels. This is completely backwards from the old model, where the agency develops the print or TV idea and then shoehorns it into online. Since many campaigns these days push to an interactive destination, our clients have found working from the online strategy outwards to be a more attractive option.