Empowering Brands Through Independence
With a focus on collaboration across specialised 'communities of practice,' Marcus Thomas LLC provides clients like CrossCountry Mortgage and Dexcom with the agility and expertise needed to thrive in today’s media landscape. Alison Clark, chief client and growth officer at Marcus Thomas, shares how the agency has adapted to trends like project-based work and the rise of programmatic buying, ensuring clients’ investments go further while remaining transparent and results-oriented.
Q> Can you give us a top line overview of your structure and some of the clients with whom you work?
Alison> We’re based in Cleveland, Ohio, and have offices in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Santiago, Chile.
Because words matter, we consider what we do as 'communities of practice (COPs)' rather than 'departments.' We put our integrated superpowers into action across geographies and disciplines for clients such as Stanley Black & Decker, Dexcom, Sherwin-Williams, Ohio Lottery, Festival Foods and CrossCountry Mortgage.
A sample of our COPs include media planning/buying, analytics, strategy, creative and marketing automation.
Q> What are the key advantages and strengths of being an independent agency versus being part of a larger network and / or holding company?
Alison> As an independent agency, we are able to put our clients first. I’ve worked on both sides and have found that to be true. When I was part of a global network, I was often in situations where someone, somewhere overseas, was making decisions about how I was able to hire or even run my US. piece of business. And I was put on pitch teams where none of us knew each other and had to figure out how to 'learn' chemistry.
Being independent means we are proudly just that. The owners of Marcus Thomas are hands-on, make real-time investments, are quick decision-makers, and impact the work. We have dedicated Partners in Charge for each of our clients, ensuring our leadership presence is felt at all times.
We are truly a collective, so when we show up to a pitch, our chemistry is genuine. And, we operate off one P&L. We don’t want any competition between COPs but rather a shared Marcus Thomas mission.
Q> How has the media landscape changed to make independent models more viable or appealing?
Alison> As much as the holding companies don’t want us to say this – programmatic buying has democratised media buying. The automated platforms enable us to have the same access and generate the same levels of efficiencies.
Additionally, with independent agencies, you get greater access to senior talent with more experience. And with that, clients get greater access to the finer art of media – and often, that allows better synergies among creative, strategy and analytics. With that sort of ongoing optimisation versus planning in a bubble, we believe we can make your investment dollars go further.
Additionally, at Marcus Thomas, we are completely transparent in our pricing. There are absolutely no hidden fees.
Q> Has the trend towards project work vs the AOR model been a catalyst for change, or will it be, in terms of agency structure? Has it created new expectations from the client POV?
Alison> To us, whether you’re a project client or an AOR client, we see you the same way. We believe in your brand, your mission and will give the same level of effort to deliver our very best for your business.
As for agency structure, I believe that the change does force the industry to evolve how we think about pricing. Gone are (or should be) the days of relying on an hourly rate against a project when we’re not tying it to annual retainer. Value-based pricing where we clearly define a project, its benefits and deliverables, and then its associated cost will be an important part of this evolution.
Q> Turning to creativity, media and tech, where do you see the most opportunity for brands?
Alison> Luckily, I’ve seen enough innovation over the last 25+ years to know that tech will always keep us on our toes. We need to embrace it to help us stay fresh. At Marcus Thomas, we use AI Twins, where we can replicate our target personas to test media plans, retail layout concepts and ideas to get the low-hanging fruit out of the way and push to bigger ideas. When we couple this with other tools, we create a really engaging formula.
Brands that want to stick around for a while will see opportunity in creating brand relevancy. That comes when you create meaning, purpose and genuine connection. Yes, use technology to enable that connection, but it’s a tool and not the destination.
