Marketing agencies stand at a critical crossroads.

"Seeking to maintain their influence in the marketing process, agencies are in the midst of an unprecedented wave of restructuring initiatives that typically include brand repositioning, service expansion, talent development and experimentation with new pricing models."

This is one of the six conclusions of the study entitled 'State of the Agency', the result of in-depth interviews and surveys with over 100 senior executives across the marketing services and marketing technology industry conducted by the Winterberry Group and sponsored by the Direct Marketing Association’s Marketing Technology and Direct Marketing Agency councils.

"Competitive advantage will fall to those players that generate profitable customer insights, while effectively and efficiently managing the campaign execution process - all of which will be facilitated by technology expertise and usage", predicts Bruce Biegel, senior managing director at Winterberry Group.

Most agencies remain locked in a "wait-and-see" attitude when it comes to adopting marketing technology, hoping that their clients will ultimately show them the way to technological innovation. When will it change?

State of the Agency: Digital Marketing and the Technology-Driven Ecosystem is available for download via the Research page of Winterberry Group’s Web site, located at www.winterberrygroup.com/research.