Should your agency pivot to a new focus amid economic shifts?
In this episode, Chip and Gini address the topic of pivoting for small agencies in response to changing economic and political climates. They discuss the importance of evaluating whether to switch niches, cautioning against overreacting to trends. They highlight the risks of chasing ‘gold rush’ industries like cannabis and AI without true expertise. The conversation includes advice on gradual pivoting, focusing on adjacent industries, and the importance of long-term planning. Key takeaways Chip Griffin: “No industry loses the need for marketing, communications, advertising, digital services, etc. And even back in 2020, even industries like hospitality had new needs that needed to be met. And so if you’re serving that industry, could you adapt to provide what they need today in the current environment?” Gini Dietrich: “If you are thinking about pivoting to a new industry, it’s not something that you will do and be successful in 2025. It’s going to take some time.” Chip Griffin: “There are lots of places to go and chase revenue. You need to chase profits.” Gini Dietrich: “You absolutely can be using AI inside your agency and you could be teaching your clients how to use it effectively. But going all in and saying, “I’m now an AI agency” is not a very smart idea.” Resources “Pivot” scene from Friends “Pivot” outtake from Friends Related Rebranding or repositioning your agency Evolve your agency to find market fit View Transcript The following is a computer-generated transcript. Please listen to the audio to confirm accuracy. Chip Griffin: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Agency Leadership Podcast. I’m Chip Griffin. Gini Dietrich: And I’m Gini Dietrich. Chip Griffin: And we have a special guest today. If you’re watching on video, Gini Dietrich: Say hi. Chip Griffin: A very restless canine. Gini Dietrich: Yes, she wants to play ball and I had to tell her it’s not time to play ball. Chip Griffin: No, we will. And we’re not going to play ball here on the show either. Gini Dietrich: No, no, we’re not. Chip Griffin: No, but to quote Ross from Friends, Pivot! Gini Dietrich: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Pivot! Chip Griffin: So, for those of you who have not seen Friends, just go watch it, I mean. Gini Dietrich: Yeah, that one scene, you can Google it. Chip Griffin: You can Google that one scene. I’m, I’m sure that, you know, Jen will include it in the show notes because she, anytime we make a reference to a movie scene or a TV scene, she likes to actually link it, but we’re going to talk about pivoting, not in the same way that Ross on Friends was, was talking about it. We don’t have any difficulty moving a sofa around because we’re not going to move a sofa around. Gini Dietrich: No, we’re not. Chip Griffin: I will not even try anymore. If I did that, I would definitely hurt myself. We don’t want to hurt ourselves. We do want to talk about pivoting because, look, the world continues to change day by day. We expect more change in the years ahead. One of the questions that I know you’ve gotten, and that I’ve gotten from some clients, is should their agency be thinking about focusing on different industries, pivoting to a different focus. Because perhaps the industry or industries that they’re serving today don’t have as bright an outlook based on economic conditions, political conditions, other things. And so I guess, you know, the question is how do you figure out when to pivot and how do you go about it if you choose to do so? Gini Dietrich: Yeah, it’s a hard one because you mentioned that we have, we both have clients who are thinking about this. Yeah, we, we’ve always said like it’s a really good idea to have an expertise and to have a niche and to really focus in on industries and it is. There also are cyclical events that happen that can affect certain industries. You know, during 2020, we saw hospitality, travel, tourism, all of those go down. And so if you didn’t have any other industries that you focused on, it was a really