Interview with Ervinas Spūdys, Managing Director at INK Agency (LIT), is conducted by Hando Sinisalu.
Do you see the shift in the agency landscape to a more integrated approach?
Yes, this has been happening for several years now. The lines between agency types and competencies are blurring. For example, INK agency, Fabula and few others have moved away from being a traditional PR or communications agency. We’ve merged different competencies and started hiring people from various backgrounds – digital media, creative, production – because we’ve seen that client demands are evolving.
Clients increasingly want everything in one place. They don’t want to manage three or four different agencies for advertising, media, PR, etc. Coordinating across those teams and making sure the messaging is aligned across all disciplines and audiences is incredibly difficult. Creating a coherent, consistent reputation and image is nearly impossible when you have different interpretations coming from different people in different agencies.
How does that more integrated model work in your agency?
We have a team of 20 people. About half are account executives with various specialties – some are pure PR professionals, others are digital experts, some have backgrounds in video production or content creation. Then we have people working in strategy and creative. That mix lets us approach client problems from multiple angles.
We don’t just take briefs and think in terms of specific channels. We’re channel-agnostic. A client comes to us with a problem, and we figure out the best way to solve it – whether that’s through PR, an ad campaign, or maybe not even communicating at all if there are deeper issues that need to be addressed first. We sometimes tell clients, “Clean the house before inviting the guests.” And we’ve even declined to communicate things we don’t believe in.
We’re not pushing a particular medium or discipline – we’re solving problems.
Some agencies, like Truth, argue that their strength lies in being hyper-focused – just doing branding or just doing advertising. What’s your perspective?
Sure, and that’s a valid business model. You can look at it like general practitioners versus brain surgeons. But we’re seeing that highly specialized, traditional advertising agencies are stagnating or even declining. The market is leaning toward integration. Clients prefer streamlined processes and centralized management – they want it from one hand.
Specialized agencies can still be great if a client wants a very specific style or type of work. But the bigger clients? They’re increasingly looking for partners who can solve multiple types of problems in one place. The numbers reflect that: integrated agencies grew significantly in the last few years, while niche specialists didn’t.
If I were a client, I wouldn’t be thinking in terms of “PR” or “advertising.” I’d be thinking: “Here’s my problem – who can solve it?” Clients don’t care about the agency label. That’s why, when we present ourselves, we don’t call ourselves a PR agency or even an integrated agency. We say we’re a “thinking agency.” We solve problems and use the right mix of tools to do that effectively.
What about your staff – do you rely much on freelancers?
We have a solid in-house core, but we also use trusted freelancers. We don’t just pick random people, we have a curated pool across strategy, accounts, design, creative. If we need a very specific skill we don’t currently have – like a certain kind of creative concept or animation – we know who to bring in.
A lot of senior creatives in Lithuania prefer freelance now. They don’t want to tie themselves to one agency or set of clients. Especially in sectors like telco, where exclusivity matters. Also, we’re facing a shortage of senior-level creatives. So yes, we do a lot in-house, but scale up with freelancers when needed, based on the project and client needs.
Looking ahead 3–5 years, where do you see growth coming from?
The old model of having one brand message for a general audience is over. Today’s media landscape is fragmented. There are so many channels, platforms, niche communities – each with its own language, norms, and behaviors.
What we’re aiming at is engaging with these micro-audiences. Gen Z is already in the market and working. A newer generation is forming, and they don’t consume media the way we used to. They’re not on Facebook. They’re on platforms we barely track. The brands that win will be those that speak to these bubbles in their own language.
The concept of a consistent brand tone of voice? It’s outdated. We’re moving from “brand positioning” to “brand engineering”. Brands need to adapt their messaging across different communities, formats, and conversations. It’s not about one story – it’s about many voices under one umbrella.
What’s your take on influencer marketing?
Advocacy is growing in importance. Influencers, especially smaller ones, have credibility and deep audience engagement. We’ve seen this trend strengthen over several years, and I don’t think it’s going anywhere.
We provide value in strategic oversight. We advise clients on influencer fit and campaign structure but encourage them to let the influencers speak in their authentic voice. Audiences can tell when it’s scripted or inauthentic.
The agency’s role is shifting more to strategy than execution.
Agencies that only offer hands-on implementation or basic services will struggle. That kind of work is increasingly being automated, even by AI. What clients need – and what they’ll keep paying for – is strategic thinking, trend forecasting, and insight.
Speaking of AI, how much are you using it – and do you see roles being replaced?
We’re integrating AI heavily. It’s in our content creation, analytics, media planning, design, even video production. We’ve launched an internal program to systematize its use.
But we don’t see it as a job killer, we see it as a quality enhancer. We want our team to stop wasting time on repetitive tasks and instead focus on the kind of work that demands thought, creativity, and nuance. AI should elevate the final result and create space for better thinking, not just generate generic outputs.
Any recent inspiration – books, podcasts, ideas?
I always go back to the classics. I recently re-read Edward Bernays’ Propaganda. It’s foundational for anyone in communications. His thinking about how to approach an audience and solve a problem creatively hasn’t changed, even with all our new tools. It’s a great reminder that strategy and psychology are still the core of what we do.
BalticBest 2025
You can find rules HERE.
Submission deadline: 08.08.2025 -> extended until 12.08.2025 5 PM (Estonian time)
Shortlist published: 19.08.2025
Live judging and awards announced: 27.08.2025
