A question that often comes up when hiring a marketing agency is whether clients are wiser to look for a specialist or a generalist.

There’s no doubt that specialist agencies can offer a singular focus on the client’s project. They can also provide a strong network of experts and a body of knowledge that continues to deepen with time and experience.

The downside of specializing, however, is that agencies often work for competitors, and even if different teams work on the various projects, the end result can be similar approaches and outcomes turning up in the same marketplace. And because these agencies are laser-focused on their subject, the opportunity for new ideas from a variety of perspectives can be lost.

When digital was new, the need for a separate set of skills to be addressed by specialists was real. But today the evolving digital funnel requires agencies to have expertise across many channels and tactics.

One criticism often leveled at generalist shops has been that they can’t possibly employ enough staff to be all things to all people. Typically an agency is comprised of 15-30 people who cover everything from copywriting and video production to search-engine optimization and brand identity. How could they possibly service clients across a broad spectrum of digital marketing challenges?

The Winders Group set out with the goal of designing a collective model to give clients access to specialists across a wide cross section of industries, media types and marketing disciplines. Thanks to the emerging freelance economy and the virtual workplace, we have been able to assemble a unique pool of vetted who can realize any objective from any corner of the world. At the same time, we can give the brand a single creative mouthpiece across various media and technologies.

So while we fit the generalist definition best, the power of The Group is our ability to quickly assemble teams of specialists to provide the focus and expertise our clients need. Our approach is omnichannel, with an emphasis on reaching and interacting with customers across touchpoints to create digital relationships, drive sales and build brands.

Since our founding in 2018, we have served emerging tech verticals (cloud, blockchain, healthtech, martech, fintech) with public relations, email, search, advertising, inbound, demand generation and web development. The capabilities of The Group, however span much wider into automotive, security, logistics, retail, DTC and pharma, across more channels -- television/video/OTT, experiential, influencers/social, print, direct mail and more.

“Fundamentally, good marketing is good marketing and transcends industries,” said Tony Winders, CEO and founder of The Winders Group. “We know subject matter expertise is important, too, so we get up to speed quickly on our clients’ businesses and we employ subject matter experts as needed.”

The model makes a tangential shift from the weaknesses of larger agencies that are centralized, siloed and expensive by making use of a virtual workforce, an agile production model and a simple philosophy of matching the best team to each project and making sure the work is highly rewarding for everyone involved.