Leads up to agencies: Your business model needs an update. The needs of the workforce have changed—resulting in hundreds of vacant positions. The “pyramid” staffing structure itself is passe. Our guest Scott Gillum founded a new type of agency, for B2B markets, where employees are empowered to schedule their own workdays and trusted to produce their work “on demand.” He sees an agency like a professional sports team, where free agents sign up to deliver on specific client expectations. The result? Faster, lower-cost marketing results, enviable 86% client retention rates, and 100% employee satisfaction ratings on Glassdoor. Join us to learn the philosophy behind this new model, which could be a blueprint for the agency of the future.
Three takeaways:
- Agencies are going to embrace his idea as an additional option inside their agencies and not just a replacement for their traditional models. This approach is additive to the existing model.
- Think of your business like a sports team with talented athletes who have their own capabilities to offer.
- He found out through his research that no two people in the company have the same schedules, but they're all delivering great work. He has deliberately created a culture where this model can work and that comes from the top down. He has set a culture of empowerment and satisfaction for employees.
About our Guest
R. Scott Gillum is the founder of Carbon Design, a marketing services
firm that specializes in personality-based marketing.
Prior to founding Carbon in 2017, he founded and lead the Washington, DC office of gyro. The largest B2B agency in the world and Ad Age’s B-to-B Agency of the Year.
At gyro, Scott led the global Channel Marketing practice, along with his duties as an office President. Prior to joining gyro, he was a partner at a management consulting firm specializing in Go-to-Market strategy for hi-tech clients. During his twelve years at the firm he worked with public sector clients on commercializing products and services.
Scott has had previous roles as the head of marketing of an Inc. 500 company, and as an interim CMO at a Fortune 500 company. Today, he works with clients improve the effectiveness of the marketing efforts up and down the funnel.
His work on integrating sales and marketing funnels is the subject of a Harvard Business School case study. Scott also partnered with Pat Spenner, co-author of The Challenger Customer to build a Challenger Marketing methodology for implementing insights from the book into marketing execution.
Scott writes a monthly column on B2B marketing for The Drum and his articles have appeared in Forbes, Fortune, Adage, the Huffington Post, Media Post, as many others. He is also a contributing author to several books on marketing.
Meet the Hosts
Cyndi W. Greenglass is a founding partner and president at Livingston Strategies, a data-informed, strategic consulting firm that helps clients develop, execute, and measure their customer communications with a close focus on results. Cyndi has razor-sharp strategic skills matched by impeccable on-the-ground savvy and tactical abilities. She is an Adjunct Instructor in the Data Marketing Communications online master's degree program from West Virginia University.
Greenglass has twice been named into the Top 100 Influential BTB Marketers by Crain’s BtoB Magazine and was the 2012 CADM Chicago Direct Marketer of the Year. She is a member of the Board of Advisors for BRAND United and has taught, trained and presented at over 50 conferences throughout the world.
Ruth P. Stevens consults on customer acquisition and retention, for business-to-business clients. Ruth serves on the boards of directors of the HIMMS Media Group, and the Business Information Industry Association. She is a trustee of Princeton-In-Asia, past chair of the Business-to-Business Council of the DMA, and past president of the Direct Marketing Club of New York.
Ruth was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Business Marketing by Crain’s BtoB magazine, and one of 20 Women to Watch by the Sales Lead Management Association. She serves as a mentor to fledgling companies at the ERA business accelerator in New York City.
WVU Marketing Communications Today: Horizons is presented by the West Virginia University Reed School of Media and Communications, which offers renowned online master’s degree programs in Marketing Communications. Interested in growing your career with a master's degree in Data, Digital or Integrated Marketing Communications? Request more information today!