By now, I’m sure you’ve all heard about Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG, making it the largest agency network in the world.

For most of the marketers we’ve worked with since our start in 2005, helping them find better marketing agencies (at no cost to them), this news is a bit of “meh”.

Working with big networked agencies can have its advantages (e.g., larger resource pool, access to best-in-class specialty agencies) – particularly for larger spend marketers.

But for mid-to-small spend marketers, bigger isn’t always better.

Independent agencies are more nimble and agile and don’t make mid-to-small spend marketers feel like a small fish in a big pond.

Independent agencies can more easily and effectively work with internal teams.

And independent agencies can be more affordable, get things done faster, and are generally more willing to do the things big agencies don’t like doing at al.

According to a recent article in Marketing Dive about the increasing value of independent firms:

“There has been a pattern of brands delegating more work to upstarts this year, particularly in regards to creative. General Motors in June added independent shops Mother and Preacher to its roster, shifting away from the dedicated Chevrolet agency Commonwealth/McCann, an IPG-owned division, and Leo Burnett Detroit. Häagen-Dazs a month later named startup Nice&Frank its creative agency of record (AOR), tasking the two-year-old company with crafting its first Super Bowl campaign. Disruptor agencies like Mischief @ No Fixed Address and Highdive have become critical and awards darlings amid a challenging period for creativity.”

We suspect the trend toward independents could further accelerate in the wake of the Omnicom-IPG combination.

But independents still need to put in the hard work to convince marketers to switch up their approach to partnerships, all while keeping in mind a preference for marketing that can be tied to revenue results.

If you’ve never considered an independent marketing agency, you should.

We here at RSW/AgencySearch are more than happy to help you find one.

We’re a no-cost way for marketers like you to find better independent marketing agencies…it’s all we do.