In this industry snapshot, Boopin’s Regional Managing Director, Razmik Kalaidjian examines how system thinking, speed and brand storytelling are reshaping digital agencies’ role in the brand ecosystem.
As boundaries blur between content, commerce, and community, how are agencies redefining their place in the brand ecosystem?
Ultimately, when the goals of various functions are aligned, the boundaries become less blurry. The brand ecosystem, as we define it, is the total brand experience, whether that is serving the right content, seamless commerce CX, or an engaged community where co-creation is key. Brands possess a narrative that should be communicated within a framework where each element connects seamlessly. The agency should hold the system and drive the mindset to system thinking to build brands on a system that revolves around consumer journeys.
What new forms of value are clients demanding beyond performance – and how are agencies adapting to meet those expectations?
Clients will always require short-term sales for long-term brand value. Within that context, there are few areas that we adapt to meet the demands of the market and clients:
Speed: Having the agency set up to respond to trends, crises, and opportunities in a matter of hours, not days.
Business acumen: Looking at the contribution away from just execution and partners who can strategically anticipate change in consumer behaviour and other fundamental changes that take place.
Trust: Operational efficiency and cost transparency.
Proficiency: System thinking requires tools, tech and using AI as a value add to support business to move forward.
With attention becoming the scarcest resource, how are agencies designing work that earns time rather than interrupts it?
We tend to wait for the skip button because the brand has not captured our attention. The attention economy is tough to crack.
The analogy that comes to our minds is how TV series create stories that are so striking that you hang on to them and keep wanting more. The parallels are not exact since series characters are built over time, etc. … Nevertheless, the insight is grabbing consumer attention long enough to convince them to keep watching. The shift is moving to an entertainment system where the brand story is told in a variety of ways that keep consumers engaged.
What are the biggest lessons digital agencies are carrying from 2025 into 2026?
Here are the biggest lessons agencies are carrying from 2025 into 2026:
Speed vs. scale: Speed of adapting to new environments has become the main focus. We need to be like speedboats vs tankers because doing U-turns is a lot faster and less expensive.
Keeping hiring right: If you keep this momentum of developing skills and hiring the right people, you will be able to apply all new tech, AI and new developments much better
Brand. Brand. Brand: Performance without having a brand story is like a story that doesn’t have an ending.
