Trend - decentralized approach after consolidation time

The splintering of duties previously handled by a single agency comes after years of steady creative consolidation. Between 2001 and 2004, Adweek reported more than $3 billion in such moves involving some 25 clients. The trend continues on the media side, where a dozen clients consolidated some $5 billion in billings last year.

Among the factors contributing to the swing toward expanding agency rosters is the rise of global chief marketing officers who, in the past, consolidated business at one shop to make it easier to manage and to ensure brand consistency, and now are focused on creativity, said Arthur Anderson of Morgan Anderson Consulting in New York. And while some marketers used several shops before the era of consolidation, it was mainly a function of regional marketing chiefs working with different agencies; now, the divide-and-conquer approach increasingly is driven globally from the top, Anderson said. "Now the CMO has his arms around the world and needs to manage marketing operations," he said. "More and more, the mantra is, 'Follow the creative. Look around for it and find it.' The con is, can you do this with multiple resources and keep the brand positioning constant and current?"