Not a disappearing act! Legitimising the advertising agent in the digital age

This paper seeks to advance understanding of professional identity performance as form of digital marketing practice using Goffman’s (1959) theory of self-presentation. Digital media is framed as revolutionising advertising practice. We focus upon the narratives of 10 advertising agents who detail how their roles and practices within the digital space as value adding activities for brand owners. Findings provide a deeper understanding of how a discontinuous innovation disrupts established business practices and looks at how intermediaries seek to maintain legitimacy within a fractured value chain. Specifically we contribute to the discourse concerning the role of the intermediary in the digital age, which is of particular concern to researchers interested in digital channels and their transformatory impact on business models. This work responds to calls that emphasise that marketing academics need to ensure that they do not lag behind other fields in developing an understanding of marketing practice.