A new research report from Forrester, entitled "Help Wanted: 21st Century Agency" says that bigger agencies must integrate with smaller media outfits, if they want to remain relevant.Forrester Senior Analyst Peter Kim says that acquisitions may be "good for a stock valuation," but agency holding companies and other multi-pronged outfits must integrate and share skill sets if they wish to remain successful, rather than simply outsourcing business to their partners, ClickZ reports.

A key finding from the study was the discovery that over 90 percent of agencies surveyed felt they are well-equipped to deal with shifts in online advertising, but only 50 percent of marketers said the same of their agencies. The disparity in perception was even wider concerning consumer generated media. Over 70 percent of agencies said knew how to deal with CGM, while only 35 percent of marketers said their agencies did.

Kim adds that as the demand for agencies with experience in digital and emerging media increases, that digital shops should "start to win those agency of record contracts…. It would certainly reflect where consumer behavior is going."