Scopen's Agency Scope Spain Part 1: Marketers prefer specialist agencies across different disciplines

Source: © DFlat Madrid https://blog.dflatmadrid.com/ DFlat Mardid]] Scopen's Agency Scope has found that among the marketing professionals interviewed, 65% work in Madrid.

Currently, 77% of Spanish marketers (78% in 2022) work with specialised agencies, although looking ahead, the percentage of those preferring this model is slightly lower (60%).

At the international level, Scopen has observed a group of countries with a higher desire to work with integrated agencies in the future (Brazil, Chile, Portugal, and South Africa), and another group where the preference for working with different specialised agencies is greater (Argentina, Colombia, Spain, the UK, China, and India).

The latter are often complex markets, where specialisation is focused on various digital specialists (performance, social media, e-commerce, etc.).

Héctor Abanades, research & studies manager at Scopen says that the latest edition of Agency Scope strengthens trends they have already observed in past editions.

These include the growing importance of the digital environment and its various verticals related to performance, the notable fragmentation of the market (especially for a market the size of Spain), the high number of agents each client works with, the established model of specialisation by discipline, and the ever-increasing value of strategic planning, among others.

“However, changes that are yet to come are also beginning to emerge, such as a possible limit to clients' digital investment.

“While performance remains key, branding is regaining relevance among marketers. Furthermore, there is a trend starting to appear towards reducing the number of agents brands collaborate with and a growing interest in working with integrated agencies capable of handling multiple disciplines.”

On the other hand, he says, that although strategy remains crucial, creativity is gaining relevance.

“Creative agencies are increasingly associated with this value, and in the case of media agencies, creativity is now the second most mentioned factor when defining the ideal agency.”

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Communication/marketing/advertising budget

Currently, a marketing company in Spain allocates an average of 3.7% of its revenue (sales) to the communication/marketing/advertising budget.

This percentage has increased by 4.8% compared to the previous edition (3.5%) and remains in line with the Spanish average from 2016-2024 (also 3.7%).

Large companies (with an average revenue of €561m and an average budget of €29m) show a higher average investment ratio (5.2%).

In the 11 markets analysed by Agency Scope, the average investment ratio is 3.2%, with Spain ranking third among them, surpassed only by India (4.5%) and Argentina (7.2%), which is more than double the global average.

Digital investment

Digital Investment (43%), still the discipline that attracts the most budget, has decreased by three percentage points in the last two years (46% in 2022), in favour of ATL (36% vs. 34% in 2022) and BTL (21% vs. 20% in 2022).

National companies and those with smaller revenues (up to €60m) have the highest digital investment ratios (45% and 52%, respectively).

Globally, the countries with the highest digital investment are China and Brazil (both at 50%), followed by Mexico and Chile (over 48%).

“The 24th Edition of AGENCY SCOPE Spain reveals, once again, the continuous commitment of the Spanish market to the marketing, communication, and advertising sector,” says Óscar López, research & studies director at Scopen.

“This is stated by the majority of the marketer companies that work with a broad ecosystem of specialised agents, a trend that has been consolidated in recent years in most of the markets analysed.

“The recent changes in the market and consumer behaviour make this collaboration between brands and agents essential, as they have become key players for the growth of our industry,” says López.

Professionals and fields

The survey interviewed 833 professionals from 615 different marketing companies, 474 professionals from creative agencies, 399 professionals from media agencies, and 20 commercial executives from media companies.

Among the marketing professionals interviewed, 65% work in Madrid.

The majority are women (58%), with an average age of 43 years, and have been with their current company for more than nine years and in their current role for over seven years.

54% of the professionals are executives, with the most represented role in the sample being marketing director (33%).

Approximately half of them work in foreign multinational companies (48%), followed by Spanish multinationals (27%) and national companies (25%).

Most of them work in the services sector (43%), primarily in finance and insurance, followed by consumer goods (34%) and durable goods (17%).

Agency Scope

Agency Scope, a biennial study conducted across 11 countries, analyses the relationships between marketers and the agencies they work with as well as the perception and image of agencies and other specialised marketing and communication partners.

The results from Spain are compared with previous editions of the study and with the other ten markets where it is conducted, aiming to track evolving industry trends.

This is the only study of its kind within the industry, providing subscribing agencies with key insights into the current needs of their clients.

The report offers agencies valuable information to enhance their services and develop new solutions that address the present and future needs of marketers.

The fieldwork for the Spanish edition took place between February and June 2024, with over 1,700 interviews conducted - a 6% increase from the previous edition.