IT TAKES TWO: Why You Should Collaborate with ‘Competition’

• When you’ve been struggling to hire, or struggling with resources, what do you do next?
• Cas Majid reckons the answer is in collaborating with other agencies in your space.
• He’ll be discussing with the AH gang why it’s an important part of agency business – and why you should consider it a useful option.

When you’re struggling to recruit an important role, or struggling with resources, the last thing you might think to do is work with another agency.

But Cas Majid thinks it’s a wise move for agencies to collaborate with their ‘competition’.

“What’s surprising is there are so many agencies struggling to hire good people, but they don’t realise they might be leaving money on the table,” says the CEO of Wow Group. “They don’t understand that they can actually work with another agency.”

“A lot of people will look at other agencies as ‘competition’ but for me, it’s more about collaboration. You need to have a collaborative mindset in this industry, rather than a myopic, ‘this is our competition, this is what we do’ outlook.”

Wow Group has worked on an agency-to-agency model for several years now, and Cas prides his team on being ‘the dovetail joint’ that other agencies are missing.

“You need to have a hybrid model where you’ve got people internally, but also where you can work with other agencies that are sympathetic to the way you work,” he says. “That’s where we come in – we fill that gap and provide that for agencies as and when they need it.”

So, what are the benefits of collaborating with ‘the competition’?

• You’ve got a dedicated delivery team. It’s scheduled, and more dependable than a sole freelancer taking on the work.
• You can focus on your core skill and growth. With another agency on board to help with the tech or delivery side of things, you can better control the quality of your output.
• You can learn from each other. You can see first-hand what does and doesn’t work in other agencies – and it will help you reflect on your own strengths and weaknesses too.

“There’s a lack of knowledge that there are options like this out there,” says Cas. 

“Particularly with the backdrop of the pandemic, and with a lot of agencies specialising in certain fields, what it allows them to do is have control over themselves, their destiny, and also their customers.”

Have you worked with another agency? Have you always been resistant to collaborating with others in your space? 

Come along and hear why it could be the perfect route for you and your agency.