In-office requirements are also a financial loser for our industry. As all legacy agencies and holding companies know, real estate is one of the biggest fixed costs. The companies that reduced these costs during the pandemic saw huge gains on their balance sheets. The smart ones passed at least some of these savings on to their clients and talent. Once upon a time, legacy agencies and holdcos were expected to spend big on trophy office space, but that time is long past. Today, clients value value, and that means getting the best work product at the most competitive price. The overhead of a multifloor trophy office compound in New York doesn’t really provide extra value to clients, yet clients end up footing the bill for it.
If we’ve learned anything from the pandemic years, it is that every company needs to be intentional about building culture. I get it—as the world returns to normal, there’s a strong desire by many to get back to the good old days. But I predict we’ll look back at this as an inflection point. We all know the cautionary tales of companies such as Kodak that found themselves in the dustbins of history because they believed that what worked yesterday would keep working tomorrow. Those who try to force a return to in-office work in our industry will find themselves on the wrong side of history.
When creatives are forced to retrofit their lives back into an old, inefficient work model, they can easily bring their talents elsewhere. In an age when every creative can be a free agent, this is a risky bet.
from Digital Marketing Education https://ift.tt/y5vnJ9G
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