[Posted by Peter Kim]

Thanks to Mary Beth Kemp, my colleague and co-author of The Connected Agency report, for taking the lead on this new Forrester blog called Agency Futures.  So I’m cross-posting this from our Marketing Team blog.

A lot needs to happen before agencies get Connected.  The clear first step for most shops is building digital acumen.  So I’ve published a new piece called "Agencies Must Build Digital Skills To Survive" – pretty much to the point, eh?

Here’s a [long] excerpt:

Traditional advertising agencies — marketing services providers that have built global brands through mass media –€” need to prove their digital mettle now more than ever. Although late 90s startups like Scient, Viant, and ZEFER flamed out, firms like Critical Mass, Organic, and Avenue A|Razorfish have risen high above the dot-bomb wreckage and are well-positioned for success today.

Clients are shifting business to digital shops, and consumers have turned away from media channels that built the agency industry and toward emerging Internet media. Ad agencies must build new interactive competencies quickly in order to succeed. How? They must build digital skills with a three-tiered approach of establishing digital commitment at the executive level, retraining existing staffers, and building a pipeline of future talent.

So what’s the secret to success?  Hire a chief digital officer?  Tell all your staffers to get on Facebook?  Go 2.0 with your web site?

Maybe all that and more…