What the latest Econsultancy 100 tells us about the BIMA community.
When BIMA publishes its top 100 each year, our century comprises the industry’s biggest influencers, movers and shakers. Ours is a top 100 of the people who are having the greatest impact on the industry, as nominated by the industry.
Econsultancy’s Top 100 is a rather more straightforward affair: it’s about money and clout. This top 100 is a record of the UK’s biggest earning agencies and, since 2002, it has charted the rise and rise of the UK digital sector.
You’ve probably already seen the Top 100 for 2018, and we’d like to extend our hearty congratulations to everyone who has made the final 100 and the Ones to Watch list.
But there’s something else about the Econsultancy Top 100 that is striking: 36 of the 100 are BIMA members (and that’s not including BIMA members who are part of larger parent companies also on the list). A full two thirds of the Ones to Watch are members too.
At first sight you might think there is nothing particularly surprising about that. Why wouldn’t the biggest players in the industry be part of the body that represents that industry?
But BIMA isn’t an organisation that places any scale or turnover requirements on its membership. For ever behemoth at the top end of Econsultancy’s 100 (Atos, Wunderman, AmazeRealise and Tribal are all BIMA members in the Top 10, with Karmarama part of first-placed Accenture Interactive) there are numerous start-ups, niche players and growing businesses who aren’t on the list. Many may not even aspire to grow to that sort of scale.
Why it matters
So what does that say about the BIMA community? I think it demonstrates just what a welcoming and broad church BIMA is. It also demonstrates what a collaborative and wise bunch our members are.
Our largest members clearly have the industry profile and prestige to exist quite happily without BIMA, but they know that here they are in good company, able to share events with organisations of similar scale and, perhaps most importantly, able to tap into the niche and specialist skills of our members who aren’t currently climbing the Econsultancy 100.
For every business at or near the pinnacle of its industry, the challenge switches from climbing the ranks to consolidating your position, and in an industry like ours that increasingly means tapping into the knowledge and capabilities of new, agile players. BIMA brings those players together.
For the niche, new and nimble, being a BIMA member enables them to a share a table with the biggest players, opening a whole world of potential collaborations and influence.
It is, as Sir David Attenborough might say, a mutually beneficial eco-system. Like the pilot fish that share a symbiotic relationship with the big beasts of the ocean, each supports the other.
That’s something every BIMA member probably knows at an instinctive level, but it’s not something we articulate very often.
This isn’t a sales pitch, not least because the chances are that if you’re reading this you’re likely already a member. It’s simply an observation that this year’s Econsultancy 100 reminded us that, big or small, niche or international, the BIMA community’s inclusiveness, diversity, capabilities and yes, clout, are things to be really rather proud of.out that Econsultancy 100…
What the latest Econsultancy 100 tells us about the BIMA community.
When BIMA publishes its top 100 each year, our century comprises the industry’s biggest influencers, movers and shakers. Ours is a top 100 of the people who are having the greatest impact on the industry, as nominated by the industry.
Econsultancy’s Top 100 is a rather more straightforward affair: it’s about money and clout. This top 100 is a record of the UK’s biggest earning agencies and, since 2002, it has charted the rise and rise of the UK digital sector.
You’ve probably already seen the Top 100 for 2018, and we’d like to extend our hearty congratulations to everyone who has made the final 100 and the Ones to Watch list.
But there’s something else about the Econsultancy Top 100 that is striking: 36 of the 100 are BIMA members (and that’s not including BIMA members who are part of larger parent companies also on the list). A full two thirds of the Ones to Watch are members too.
At first sight you might think there is nothing particularly surprising about that. Why wouldn’t the biggest players in the industry be part of the body that represents that industry?
But BIMA isn’t an organisation that places any scale or turnover requirements on its membership. For ever behemoth at the top end of Econsultancy’s 100 (Atos, Wunderman, AmazeRealise and Tribal are all BIMA members in the Top 10, with Karmarama part of first-placed Accenture Interactive) there are numerous start-ups, niche players and growing businesses who aren’t on the list. Many may not even aspire to grow to that sort of scale.
Why it matters
So what does that say about the BIMA community? I think it demonstrates just what a welcoming and broad church BIMA is. It also demonstrates what a collaborative and wise bunch our members are.
Our largest members clearly have the industry profile and prestige to exist quite happily without BIMA, but they know that here they are in good company, able to share events with organisations of similar scale and, perhaps most importantly, able to tap into the niche and specialist skills of our members who aren’t currently climbing the Econsultancy 100.
For every business at or near the pinnacle of its industry, the challenge switches from climbing the ranks to consolidating your position, and in an industry like ours that increasingly means tapping into the knowledge and capabilities of new, agile players. BIMA brings those players together.
For the niche, new and nimble, being a BIMA member enables them to a share a table with the biggest players, opening a whole world of potential collaborations and influence.
It is, as Sir David Attenborough might say, a mutually beneficial eco-system. Like the pilot fish that share a symbiotic relationship with the big beasts of the ocean, each supports the other.
That’s something every BIMA member probably knows at an instinctive level, but it’s not something we articulate very often.
This isn’t a sales pitch, not least because the chances are that if you’re reading this you’re likely already a member. It’s simply an observation that this year’s Econsultancy 100 reminded us that, big or small, niche or international, the BIMA community’s inclusiveness, diversity, capabilities and yes, clout, are things to be really rather proud of.