Ad Agency Deathwatch: Digital Wake-Up Call

WSJ reports on "Madison Avenue's Digital Wake-Up Call". Nike recently served notice to W+K and other agencies to boost web savvy and integration, other traditional agencies are taking stock.

some quotes:

"The move was a wake-up call to Madison Avenue. The message is clear: No matter how talented an agency's creative team or how well the client's management likes the firm's executives, the agency is of limited value unless it embraces digital media."

"Digital has long been 'an afterthought here,' says a person at the agency. 'We do it but haven't done it to the level we need to.'

"Nike now believes digital thinking should be at the heart of ad strategy, according to people familiar with the marketer's thinking. To make digital more central, it needs its main ad agency to be better skilled at digital techniques because the agency is developing ad strategy at the very early stages of a marketing campaign."

"Ad executives say more mainstream ad firms could lose business unless they figure out how to better integrate digital media. If people aren't embracing digital they will get left behind; clients are already there and they are gravitating to agencies who get it."