How Agencies Can Define A New Norm In 2021 After The Chaos of 2020
By Brian Dolan, Founder and CEO, WorkReduce
Published 1/12/2021, AdExchanger.com
If 2020 prepared us for anything, it’s to expect the unexpected. And with 2021 already throwing us curveballs, it’s not crazy to think there are more in store.
But what does that mean for agencies? If there’s more insanity on the horizon, what can we do to create stability?
Get ahead of client needs
For starters, now is the time to build relationships.
It’s become easier to get in touch with senior executives. The noise of the office is gone, we know who has cats, dogs and/or kids and the opportunity exists to make new and lasting interpersonal connections that can go a long way toward humanizing and personalizing our working relationships.
3 Ways Agencies Can Innovate to Stop Talent Churn
By Brian Dolan, Founder and CEO, WorkReduce
Published 12/20/2020, ANA.com
There’s an alarming long-term issue in the ad industry. Agency staff of all levels of seniority are leaving their jobs. I’ve seen it personally as my company’s business model helps backfill these gaps. My inbox is filled daily with requests from big agency brands to help keep their teams on track during this wave of people-churn.
Is anyone really surprised? There’s been a negative undercurrent of talent dissatisfaction in the ad industry that has grown louder in recent months fueled by the uncertainty and pivoting going on through the pandemic and economic challenges.
It’s something that we need to pay attention to if we want to attract, retain and nurture the top talent that will be the future of this industry.
The Path Forward for Ad Industry Diversity
By Brian Dolan, Founder and CEO, WorkReduce
Published 12/02/2020, MediaAudit.com
The agency bias has traditionally started early. The agency model has been largely driven by low-cost, recent college grads and concentrated in expensive metro areas like New York. That creates an implicit filter against socio-economic groups who can’t or don’t want to manage student debt on a low salary in a high cost of living area. The industry is therefore more attractive to people who come out of school without debt. Both of those factors correlate strongly with multiple dimensions of diversity.
Contrast that with another service industry like consulting, known for higher entry-level pay, and the results aren’t surprising. Add to that the natural bias that people prefer to hire people who are like themselves, and you have a talent funnel that’s been squeezed at the top resulting in a lack of diversity at the executive level.
Traumatized by your COVID Job Search? I know the feeling.
By Sarah Calkin-Ward, Head of Marketing, WorkReduce
Published 11/30/2020, Recruiter.com
I was recently unemployed for nine months. Feeling jaded by my job loss, I took the first two months on unemployment insurance as a relaxing family sabbatical, during which I completed a little in-house DIY and updated a bunch of my expired certifications so I could get back in touch with what I loved about marketing. By the time I started circulating my resume in March, the coronavirus pandemic had hit and the market was flooded with thousands of furloughed workers from my industry. The jobs dramatically dried up as businesses put recruitment on hold until after lockdown.
During this time, I applied for at least 200 positions for which my practical experience was a perfect match — including some that were way below my experience level, which I was willing to take to get back in the game. I received almost nothing but white noise in return.
Brands Increasingly Seek Indie Shops and their ‘nimble’ models in the pandemic
Published 11/17/2020, AdAge
Small agencies are holding their own against holding companies, but will it last or is this just a blip?
Brian Dolan, CEO of WorkReduce—which works across indie agencies, all five holding companies as well as marketers’ in-house operations to help them staff up and execute certain internal and external projects—says his non-holding company agency clientele “exploded in Q2 and Q3” in terms of new business growth. “These guys raced to the
forefront,” Dolan says. “I wasn’t sure what to attribute this to.”
Companies Settle Into New Normal With Focus on Working Parents
By Brian Dolan, Founder and CEO, WorkReduce
Published 11/6/2020, Recruiter.com
What do you do when you’re on a Zoom meeting and someone’s child suddenly pops up on the screen?
It’s bound to happen in this new reality, where parents are forced to run day cares and remote classrooms while keeping up with professional duties. And these aren’t the only employees with caregiving responsibilities; many are also caring for parents or spouses. This new normal is something we need to plan for if we’re going to support our teams so that they can work to their full potential despite the challenges facing us all.
How Companies are Preparing as Remote Work Increasingly Becomes a Norm
By Brian Dolan, Founder and CEO, WorkReduce
Published 9/28/2020, Toolbox.com
Although agencies have historically been reluctant to embrace remote work, many are now entirely rethinking their approach. In this piece, Brian Dolan, CEO and founder, WorkReduce speaks about how some agency execs have been approaching remote work and what is next.
Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy Partners with WorkReduce on Visitor Engagement Initiative
Published 9/23/2020, PRWeb
What’s even better than data and analytics? Beautiful data visualizations! When our friends at Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy told us they were sitting on a mountain of data that they wanted to share with the public, we jumped into help build an interactive map. Now when you’re visiting the Greenway, or planning a trip, you can learn about which plants species are in bloom across the 17 acre park property. Hit us up to learn more about the process of building this tool, from data cleansing through accessible and mobile-friendly front end design.
WorkReduce launches Service Desk for Media Buyers with Flexible, On-Demand Support for Trafficking, Analytics and Creative
Published 9/10/2020, Techrseries.com
WorkReduce Inc, a data-driven platform for media buying talent, announced the launch of Service Desk, which offers a new way for media buying teams to support operational efficiency, in addition to creative resources for campaign creation.
John Durham Joins WorkReduce as Advisory Board Member
Published 8/13/2020, PRWeb
WorkReduce Inc, a data-driven platform for media buying talent, today announced that John Durham, chief executive officer and managing general partner of San Francisco-based marketing consulting firm Catalyst S+F, is joining the company’s board of advisors. Durham’s dynamic career spans over 23 years, in the marketing and advertising space.
How to Retool Remote Work For the Long Haul
By Brian Dolan, Founder and CEO, WorkReduce
Published 7/13/2020, Quartz
As the Global Covid-19 pandemic forced companies to disperse their workforce into their individual homes, many have been surprised to find how well it works. Even companies that adamantly opposed work from home options are finding that production has kept up with, and sometimes exceeded the pace of, their traditional model.
New Agency Layoff List Launches
Published 5/12/2020, MediaPost
WorkReduce is a platform that helps large agencies outsource media buying jobs. It’s run by CEO Brian Dolan. The firm works with the major holding companies and just started publishing what it’s calling a “minimum viable” list. It teamed with creative shop Said Differently to create the online site.
Agency Life: COVID-19 Will Cause 4 Permanent Changes
Published 5/26/2020, AdExchanger
The remote work experiment caused by COVID-19 will transform agencies.
Automation will become even more integral to agency workflows as consumer media habits shift, changing the nature of talent and services.
Working From Home: Getting Past that First Friday
by Anna Binder, VP of Product and Operations, WorkReduce
Published 3/30/2020, Aithority.com
It takes time to get used to working from “not an office” and being able to finish and deliver on all the things you still have to complete. There are some things that you must do to keep up productivity and protect your sanity.
Is the Current Crisis the Perfect Time to Adopt a 20-Hour Workweek?
By Brian Dolan, Founder and CEO, WorkReduce
Published 4/16/2020, Recruiter.com
Across the globe, everyone who can work from home is being urged to do so. This unexpected and unprecedented push into remote work is forcing businesses to rethink what work is and reimagine what it could be.
Tips For Working From Home Alongside Your Partner
by Anna Binder, VP of Product and Operations, WorkReduce
Published 4/9/2020, HR.com
Handling the ups and downs of work-life under one roof
Pitch Deck Shows How One Shop Has Pivoted Its Business Approach During Pandemic
Published 4/1/2020, AdAge
What impact will Covid-19 have on Advertising? We discuss this in a new article from AdAge.
The One Skill That Workers Of The Future Must Have
By Anna Binder, VP of Product and Operations, WorkReduce
Published 2/18/2020, HR.com
Hustle is the new soft skill requirement.
Silicon Valley May Have More Startups — But We Do Start-Ups Better
By Brian Dolan, Founder and CEO, WorkReduce
Published 2/28/2020, BostonGlobe.com
Our entrepreneurs aren’t as flashy — but they’re building more sustainable businesses.
Taking Media In-House Is not a Case of One Size Fits All
Published 12/27/2020, AdWeek
As experience shows, the realities are not so black and white.
The Agency Outsourcing Opportunity: Why Media Buying Outfits Need to Expand Their Talent Options
Published 11/26/2020, Recruiter.com
In my experience, large ad agencies have been uniquely resistant to the outsourcing trend, particularly in their cash-cow media buying divisions, even when their creative and public relations agencies have embraced outsourcing wholeheartedly. What gives?
