By Year
01 May 2005
Revolution
Agencies seek higher returns
"These rebrands are really a reflection of the global nature of the SEM industry and the direction in which it is heading. The leading agencies have all rebranded because they want to highlight the global capacity of their business," says Jim Brigden, COO of The Search Works. "They also say a lot about the stage of maturity the industry has so rapidly reached - that those at the top have taken the time to concentrate on, and redefine, their corporate identities."
Both Latitude and The Search Works specialise in SEM on the pay-per-click (PPC) side of the business; that is, they help clients to buy keywords that place their brand high up the listings of sponsored links. As neither are part of larger agencies, their relaunches also aim to position their companies as specialists in an increasingly competitive sector, in which many full-service agencies now offer SEM services.
Brigden argues that specialism is vital in such a complex, fast-changing environment. He warns clients against taking on one of the many outfits that are "trying to capitalise on the growth, and pretending to specialise in search, when they don't allocate the appropriate resources to it".
