Many months ago, I wrote about the blurring of technology vendors and digital marketing agencies. I said that, as CMOs demand shelter from technical complexity and shared accountability to business outcomes, the vendor/agency delineation—once a fairly bright line—will blur into oblivion.

But there’s more blurring to report. Perhaps you saw the recently published Magic Quadrant for Global Digital Marketing Agencies. Here, you’ll find that the most favorably positioned agencies blend right and left brain capabilities to higher purpose. They’ve combined front- and back-office, creative and technical disciplines to unlock the magic of digital and digitally enhanced experiences. What does this all mean? Digital agencies that are likely best prepared to help with your digital marketing (or digital business) transformations are equal parts artist, scientist, engineer and soldier:

The Gartner Magic Quadrant (MQ) reminds us that “players in this space come from a wide range of heritages. Those with ‘DNA’ in advertising and creative services date back as far as the 1950s and 1960s; Web development firms stepped in during the 1990s to help marketers do business online; and as the 21^st century took off, a new breed of players entered from the business and technology consulting worlds.”

Given these diverse heritages, it’s perhaps no surprise that consolidation has become the order of the day. Agencies are jockeying for position by assembling the piece-parts that represent the interdisciplinary skills now required for the job. It’s also perhaps no surprise that the agencies in this year’s leader quadrant have run the table on the vast majority of these skills.

In the northeast corner of the MQ, you’ll find a combination of agencies of creative and technical provenance, whose heritages lie in just one of these domains. But, down to an agency, they’ve extended their power centers for coverage in new areas through M&A and aggressive organic investments.

For example, SapientNitro, the agency “highest and rightist” this year, is the merged product of Sapient, a global systems integrator; and Nitro, a creative agency. It’s a combination that yields a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

But take note that consolidation alone isn’t always sufficient. This isn’t simply about checking boxes and superficially grafting on new capabilities. To be successful, these agencies must metabolize these new skills in a way that, to use a software nerd word, refactors their DNA. Digital marketing transformation is about fundamentally rethinking how we find, engage, convert and retain customers. More significant still is the digital business transformation, which is about rethinking how value is created and delivered.

Transformations, by definition, are complex and far-reaching undertakings. That’s why the agencies counted on to guide such change are now expected to deliver the goods across the board.

- Jake Sorofman