Ad Age is pointing to Unilever’s decision to hire startup agency, Roth Partners, as a sign of things to come.
Mike Polk, president-global foods, home and personal care at Unilever, said Roth Partners beat out big rivals because it could provide a “channel-agnostic” approach with the right talent faster than other Unilever shops or holding companies were prepared to do.
Roth Partners, which purports to be “a new model for holisitic marketing and brand communications,” was founded by Rick Roth in 2009 after a 31-year career in a variety of assignments for Ogilvy & Mather, most recently as CEO of the OgilvyAction shopper and promotion marketing unit.
Roth is selling what marketers today want to buy, and positioning his firm as nimble, yet resourceful. “For marketers caught between unwieldy agency empires on the one hand and legions of one-trick shops on the other, Roth Partners is the answer,” argues one line of self-promotional copy on the agency web site.
The truth is lots of companies are rapidly adjusting to the new media age. Making claims about new agency models might be textbook positioning, but it’s unnecessary. Agencies exist to serve clients. And clients needs are constantly changing as the needs of their customers change. In other words, marketing communications is a fluid field and successful agencies are highly adaptable entities, open to daily reinvention.