Gods of advertising
I’ve always noticed this about several advertising agencies. They walk into a meeting with the client, and immediately send out an aura of “I am more knowledgeable than thou”… “I sit on a cloud where all the good ideas are, and you, well you need to listen to my epiphany”. At times, consultants, regardless of their industry, tend to have this approach, intentional or not.
Now, I don’t really care whether someone thinks they’re brighter than me or not, but I do think that clients, especially the marketing or public relations managers on the other end should get some respect from their agency peers. After all the difference between both is that one is in-house, and one acts in a consultative basis. Both are qualified communicators.
I usually let people who think they’re brighter or more knowledgeable say what they have to say. Then I move on. No egos here. But I really think that agencies should not act as if they’re gods of advertising, and that the client is a mere plebe when it comes to understanding the upper strata of out-of-this world communication. I mean, it’s just not client-centric!
So here are five tips for agencies (I’m typing this just before heading off to bed, so I’m not going over five).
- Collaborate. Don’t talk down to your in-house peer. Talk with them. Share ideas. They know a thing or two.
- Respect. Yes I know you’ve got to show off and impress people, but you don’t have to act as if the other person knows nothing about marketing at all. I’m willing to bet that if they’re still holding their job, and haven’t damaged their brand, sales, or company’s reputation, that they are quite competent.
- Chill out. I know you might be hesitant about the client not agreeing to your gigantic budget, or some of your tactics, but really if you sip on some kool aid before entering the meeting, you’ll realise that hey, this can be easy.
- Share. Ok, so the agency needs to post profits, get new clientele, and execute amazing campaigns to boast about on their website, and in their meetings, so they can seem to be the best thing since sliced bread. But hey, don’t try to force big budgets down the client’s throat. Yes you’ve got to get your hustle on, but let’s make a deal. The client gets a great campaign that considers their constraints and challenges, and you make a wee bit dollars less on commission, but you know what… since you understand that both of you had to have a win-win, they’ll come running right back to you for more great stuff.
- No illusions of grandeur people. I’ve heard of an agency that does amazing pitches. In the meeting, the client oohs and ahhs, and asks, “Can the budget handle this?” “Yes”, says the agency. And when you’ve signed the contract, and the time for execution comes, all of a sudden the agency tells you, hey that’s really expensive you know, so we need to downsize our rollout. Equally worse, there are some that make a good pitch, and in execution the whole creative aura just collapses.
I’ve heard quite a few communicators complain about an agency or two in Trinidad and Tobago, okay more than two. The conclusion is that you can’t get everything in one place, so you make do. But wouldn’t things be better if agencies were just more client-focused? Then, there are agencies that have a spirit of colloboration, but sometimes their creative just doesn’t fly.
This post wasn’t meant to totally diss agencies. So, I’ll end by saying that both the in-house counsel, and the account executive should find a way to colloborate, understanding that each has something valuable to offer, and that it’s not about who’s better than who. It comes down to the long-sounded piece of advice that at the end of the day/ project, it’s about how can we work together to meet our objectives efficiently and effectively.
(Fickr photo by flattop341)
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Karel, I was driven to this blog by your presentation today at the PRATT Seminar. I must say that I too share this philosophy. I always find it easier and more beneficial to collaborate with my clients, rather than trying to push things down their throat. I feel though that many clients hesitate to provide a budget. I guess they are thinking that if you give the agency a budget, they would spend all on traditional advertising rather than trying to find creative ways to provide more bang for the buck.
It’s going to be a tough year, both for advertisers and agencies, hope we can all survive.