CRN Interview: Anthony Laudico, Agency.com

Anthony Laudico is Agency.com's recently appointed president for the North America region. Seneca Investments, a holding company formed earlier this year by Omnicom and Pegasus Partners, acquired a majority interest in the New York - based e-services firm and took it private at the end of October. Laudico spoke with CRN Section Editor Marie Lingblom about the change in ownership and Agency.com's strategy going forward.

CRN_ How has Agency.com changed now that Seneca Investments has taken the company private? Has Agency.com's strategy and mission changed?

'People are focused more on their return on investment. If they are going to spend a dollar on the Internet, how are they are proving that it's a dollar well-spent?'

LAUDICO_ The Seneca majority ownership hasn't changed what we do as a business. For the entire time we have been in business, we have been focused on digital media. The changes we've made to our company are really more evolutionary than revolutionary. We are now spending more time on what we are calling the 'demand-generation' side of the house. We are still operating as Agency.com, so there's no integration in any way, shape or form with Seneca. Essentially, we just report to one shareholder now, as opposed to many shareholders.

There is also a new structure that decentralizes decision-making and empowers three regions: Europe, East United States and West United States. We also introduced a new client/partner structure, with executives throughout the company appointed to be directly responsible for client accounts.

CRN_ What solutions are gaining the most traction?

LAUDICO_ In terms of the most traction, we are seeing people using the Internet for the purpose it was created for, which is really, 'How do you market to people on a one-to-one basis? How do you use a particular channel to tailor particular products and services in a way that allows you to attract more customers at less cost?'

We're really not seeing a change within that, but rather we're seeing more of a focus on that. People are focused more on their return on investment. If they are going to spend a dollar on the Internet, how are they proving that it's a dollar well-spent?

CRN_ Any recent examples?

LAUDICO_ We developed a solution for Land Rover North America where we worked with our i-traffic organization [Agency.com's interactive marketing and advertising subsidiary]. We did an online campaign for the new Land Rover Freelander, and we targeted that campaign to specific users. We've actually gotten hundreds of users who have come back and put money down for this car [to be shipped in December] sight unseen.

We are finding a lot of clients using the Internet to [introduce] concepts before they broaden those concepts into either print media or bigger television media, and then using that to actually sell something online independently of this other media. And they're finding it much more cost-effective to do so.

CRN_ What's the technology focus?

LAUDICO_ Our technological expertise is more important to us than it ever has been in the past. We have alliances with several major technology partners, including BEA [Systems], Interwoven, Sun Microsystems, Microsoft and [Art Technology Group].

CRN_ Has the market or change in ownership resulted in a different approach to sales?

LAUDICO_ We've changed our selling methodology by focusing on verticals. We realize that people work with consulting companies for basically three reasons: the experience the consulting company has, the ease of doing business with that consulting company, and how the consulting company executes on the promises that it has made to win the business.

So we've strengthened our focus on specific verticals: financial services, insurance, banking, pharmaceuticals, telecom, travel and hospitality, consumer packaged goods and high-tech.

CRN_ What are sales cycles like right now?

LAUDICO_ More than anything else, decisions are just being put off right now. But I think that's happening less and less because new budgets are opening in Q1 and the actions of the [Federal Reserve Board], we think, have loosened up the market. So we really do see a turnaround, in some sense, for this particular space.

CRN_ Does Agency.com have a focus on wireless?

LAUDICO_ We don't really look at wireless as a separate world, but we do believe it has been accepted and penetrated different markets for very different reasons. I spent a lot of time in Japan. They have developed an interesting price structure and applications to serve a very young market, and that has driven the use of wireless in that country. So it differs dramatically from one country to another, based on a culture's way of doing business and particular ways of interacting with the device.