The Agency Matrix

It’s Term 3 and all of us honey bees are picking and choosing our favourite agencies like kids in an old fashion sweet shop, filling our metaphorical pink, pine-striped paper bags with kola cubes and pear drops. I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I think the names of agencies are important. Is it a catchy fun name? Does it sound interesting? Does it make you think I wonder why they did that?? But, for the “creative” industry, I don’t think the names of agencies are all that creative… I mean the agency names get the job done, and it sounds professional etc, BUT some names just stick! This is why every cohort at SCA has the tradition of naming their agency, ours being Honey.

Obviously, the culture, people and work are the most important bits of any agency. But, I think there is something quite funny about the fact that a LOT of agencies have been abbreviated and/or named after men. And look, I’m not slandering their work, as these are the people who essentially founded the world of creative advertising, but bloody hell, couldn’t you have thought of something better than just your surname?

You’re probably thinking but what does a creative agency name even look or sound like? This is a very silly thought when the work is the most important bit? Well, it’s all very subjective, but let me show you what I mean, I present to you, the reader, the Agency Matrix (see Figure 1). 

Figure 1 – The Agency Matrix

What does human even mean?! I’ll be honest, I have completely made up these rules. For example, ACNE may not be considered a human per se, but it can be a characteristic of said human, most notably during those wretched teenage years. 

According to the Wisdom Library, Havas in Hindi refers to lust, passion and a longing to be fulfilled, which I feel makes sense for an agency passionate about their creative work, which is why I placed it among the human characteristic box. St Lukes, well Luke is typically a male name but their logo is a beast of some sort. As for Creature, I put it there for a laugh.

As you can see, the top right corner is very clustered, with a vast majority of sponsor agencies being named after men and a number of these also being acronyms/abbreviated. There are a lot of not human names too, interesting and unique animals seem to be a trend here, grayling being a species of river fish, and the pangolin a critically endangered mammal, the only one of which is wholly covered in scales. So, future agency creators, if you truly want to stand out, in the clutter of agency names, give your agency a not-human, feminine name, perhaps araña which is spider in Spanish or something.

@anniewisbeyy