Agencies can refresh conventional media.
In a technological revolution there is a creative deficit, people focus too much on the technology rather than what it delivers. New technology reinvents old technology. The trick is to use traditional mediums to generate a conversation or a debate and then add social to facilitate that conversation. You can start a debate using the mediums in an incredibly bold and daring way to get people looking at it.The guardian advert made an old medium new through use of technology - it reinvented the way they spread news. It refreshed the newspaper industry.
Agencies can make small ideas big.
Creativity needs technology to expand - otherwise it’s just storytelling to each other. You can get ideas out there which you couldn’t before. Technology has allowed for our ideas to be leaked out and be as big as they can be instead of being constrained within traditional mediums. The hardest thing is getting your client to change with you, but you can change how a client feels and thinks by suggesting ideas on the side and encroaching them into the centre of your big idea. We should celebrate the fact that we are now in a world where we can get a massive debate going. The Homeless Hotspot in America campaign caused a lot of controversy - people were at first very cynical about it at first but it soon became accepted (http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-17345926). This idea which cost $8,000 to set-up, generated $620,341 in publicity value - proving that a good idea can be very valuable and can spread very, very fast.
Agencies creativity can be the media.
In some sense creative agencies piggy back the media and piggyback other peoples creativity. It is really challenging to come up with an idea which is the media itself and forces people to pass it on. We are in a creative deficit at the moment with the technology - it’s about understanding it. It's about breaking from the past and creating something new but how do you break something that has no past?
Agencies can persuade clients to be brave.
It has to be brave and bold to be passed on - creativity is the media. Instead of researching, why not put different video content on Youtube and see which ones connect and then develop that one? When they launched the new xBox they had a radical idea which was very hard to sell to the client. In fact, the client was never going to take it on - instead, they persuaded the client to put it on the internet to see what happens - in 3 days it got some 14 million hits - this proved the idea worked instead of doing ‘stupid’ research. If you see the video below, you can see why it was difficult to sell to the client.
Agencies can tackle growing social issues.
Advertising it not always about selling something but raising awareness. Barnados is a client which wanted to raise awareness about how they help troubled children. Advertising can be powerful and emotive which can help the awareness of good causes. This has to be one of the most emotive adverts I have seen in a long time.
Agencies can expand their influence with clients. Integration is now vital.
Integration has always been there but now it is fundamentally important to creating success. Relationships that you have with your client have changed completely. Now more than ever we need to use our contact points and creativity to create something profound for the client.
Agencies can invent products.
Agencies never make important decisions, they make recommendations. Suddenly when it is your money - you make important decisions. Agencies can look at markets which are lagging behind - 'ila' is a brand and range of products developed by an agency - they saw a gap in the market. Other products include Scootrix; personalised scooter plates and mobile phone pictures which can be sent as postcards. If you are in a world where you analyse markets and are being constantly creative, it only makes sense to take on those important decisions instead of just recommendations?
The future is creative. The final point. No question about it.
It is about having ideas and how you implement them and technology is a fundamental part of that. It liberates the creative process. This is why it is a fantastic time to be in an agency. 
