Convergence to the Center
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Introduction
Whatever convergence means to you, it’s usually spoken of in terms of how your work for clients is crossing media boundaries. However direct the relationship, a fallout from this trend has been the convergence among providers, too. In other words, labeling something as an “ad agency, a public relations firm, a design studio, or an interactive company” is difficult to do without an asterisk to explain how the label doesn’t really fit.
The persuasion business was formalized through third-party providers around the time of the first world war. At that time there was only one label: advertising. A formal public relations industry emerged later; then the graphic design field. The interactive world as we know it is didn’t exist until the early 1990s.
If you are reading this, you likely consider yourself to be close to one of these categories. In what category would you place your firm? What would your clients say?
