Over the course of the 250 or so interviews conducted for this year’s Agency 100, we asked plenty of questions — about competitive dynamics, cultural diversification, macroeconomic pressures and more. We discussed the frustrations that plague hybrid work settings and the cool adrenaline hit that comes with a return to in-person pitching. Occasionally, we talked about our kids.
Inevitably, there came a point in the conversation where interviewees uncorked a query of their own: “So, what are you hearing?”
Thus began what was, in many cases, the most enlightening part of this exercise. Amid the huge volume of activity in the world of medical marketing agencies, whether on the M&A front or around network reconfigurations, there’s an almost pathological need for many industry leaders to stay ahead of tomorrow’s trends and headlines.
People want to know what, or who, will be the next domino to fall. They suspect we have some of the answers. (Spoiler: We don’t. Or do we? Perhaps!) A delicate dance ensues.
Beyond hints and rumors of imminent maneuvers — by all indications a new wave of PE-fueled dealmaking should hit any day now — what surprised me most about these exchanges was the worry openly expressed by many industry veterans that their organizations would be chairless when the music stops. I believe the kids today, with the hair and the tattoos and the TikTok computer telephones, call it FOMO.
Now fully cognizant of the transformative potential of AI — which dethroned “culture,” “pivot” and “new normal” as the terminology most commonly deployed during A100 interviews — agency leaders realize that clients will soon expect an advanced degree of technological sophistication to accompany their creative and strategic expertise.
At the same time, most are exceedingly clear-eyed about where their companies stand. They know what they do and don’t do well; they’re painfully aware of their blind spots. This is very much an industry of pragmatists, outdated stereotypes about the flakiness of creative-agency lifers notwithstanding. There’s an acknowledgment that business is good, but a wariness that existential threats lurk around every corner.
Anyway, to answer that off-the-cuff question so often thrown our way: A great majority of what we’re hearing is positive. Between the upward-arching revenue curve and healthcare’s post-pandemic sheen, it is a fine time to be in the medical marketing business. And we’re very much enjoying our up-close seats for the show.
