Clients are starting to insist that agencies have a stong, interactive online presence as part of the service they offer.
When I commented on the recent purchase of Moxie Interactive by Zenith Media, I mentioned that it should be a good fit for each company. There have also been a couple of other acquisitions recently. Omnicron Group bought a majority stake in EVB, and Wunderman of WPP Group, purchased Zaaz. Analysts say that this is a trend that will continue.
While some of this will probably work out ok for the buyers, there is a sense of a feeding frenzy beginning to stir, and I think that many companies will dive into the fray just because they see others doing it, rather than being part of their overall strategy.
The truth is that clients are definitely demanding an online, interactive presence, but you don't have to have that through owning a company that does it. This was a major problem of the last dotcom bust. There were a lot of companies that just couldn't synergize. Think AOL and Time Warner.
The thing to learn is to be careful when there are frenzies of movement out there. Don't jump in unless it makes sense for you or your company. You can offer an online interactive presence through simply hiring a company to do it for you. Owning them can many times lead to disasters, which can lead you away from focusing on your core business.
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