BIMA Next Level Agency Leadership | Don Elgie Keynote

Next Level Agency Leadership@BIMA #BIMALeadership

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Taking your agency to the next levelDon ElgieBusiness Advisor & Non-Executive Director

• Founder & CEO of Creston Plc - a Full List digitally focused marcoms Group £80m revenue

• Chairman of Crossrider – AIM listed Ad Tech group. $85m revenue

• Chairman of Emoderation - £10m revenue international social media & moderation business

Don’s Background

Taking your agency to the next levelDon ElgieBusiness Advisor & Non-Executive Director

Setting the scene

4 Taking your agency to the next level

“The individuals that have the greatest ability to survive, are those that can adapt to the changing conditions of their environment.”

Charles Darwin

The current situation for (digital) Marcoms


• A race to the bottom in terms of profitability

• Declining margins caused by client procurement & churn

• Clients taking more work in-house

• Our industry is in danger of becoming commoditized

• In 3-5 years time, the whole shape of our industry will be very different due to technological advances

10 Points to consider in taking your agency to the next level


BenchmarkingTaking your agency to the next level

• How well do you really know your clients & what they want?

• How do you minimise client dissatisfaction?

• Do you have the right skill sets for tomorrow's world?

7

GrowthTaking your agency to the next level

• How will you drive fresh thinking within your organisation?

• How do you become a trusted business partner of your clients?

• How do you go about identifying new products & markets?

• Do you need partnerships to break into new areas?

• Does your business need restructuring to make it fit for purpose?

8

FinancialTaking your agency to the next level

• How do you go about improving margins?

• Do you have a clear set of KPIs from which to judge the business?

9

Improving Margins 10 Taking your agency to the next

level

• Examining developing disruptive technologies that transform the way your clients work

• E.g. develop SaaS type software where the IP rests with you, not the client

• Client revenue is sticky – very disruptive to change agencies

• Net margins can transform from 10%-15% to 30% plus!

SaaS Valuations11 Taking your agency to the next level

Valuations can Transform


• Conventional Marcoms (digital) businesses say

1x revenue. 6x EBITDA

• SaaS type business say 2-7x revenue. 13-33x EBITDA

Summary13 Taking your agency to the next level

Be brave, be boldEmbrace change

If you grasp a nettle tightly, it doesn’t sting!

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