Here Eric Faulkner, partner and chairman of Madclarity, shares how marketers and advertising agencies might be able to begin mending their relationships.
Wrecked by years of Marketers paying agencies as if they were buying bags of sugar. Wrecked by years of agencies treating their clients like the emperor with his new set of clothes.
Driven by the demise of the agency accreditation system, media agencies found a whole new way of making money. And instead of leading to the fairness and transparency that the ACCC and AANA had intended, the opposite occurred.
At the same time, clients expanded procurement managers’ roles to include media buying, but they forgot to provide the relevant training. Yes, valuing bags of sugar is rather different from understanding advertising media effectiveness and value.
A few years ago, almost anyone, with a little money, could advertise their brand on TV and see their sales pick up… not just for the next day… but for weeks, months and years to come.
It doesn’t work like that anymore. It’s more complicated.
When things get complex, you need wise advice, accurate data, objective analysis, constructive challenges and ethical recommendations.
So, now that the simple advertise-to-everyone-on-TV solution has disappeared, are we seeing this kind of thoughtful response from marketers’ agencies?
I think not.
Most Marketers spend way less than five per cent of their time thinking about Advertising media. It is impossible, in that time, to come to grips with the myriad of channel options that are now open to them… and the nightmare of adtech sinkholes that sit between their advertising budgets and their (hoped for) consumer targets.
The clarity they need may (or may not) be hidden somewhere in the colourful and muddled 70 page PowerPoint document the Agency has produced, called ironically, ‘The Strategy’. The skill to write a strategy in a succinct Word document appears to have deserted just about everyone.
In their spare time, marketers now also need to be legal experts, scrutinising the small print on every media plan they approve. The wise ones understand that their agency is no longer negotiating on the client’s behalf… but on their own.
So… what can you do?
If you work in a big agency and you are pressured to recommend a media channel or media buy that you don’t support. Don’t do it! You’ll feel great. And if you get fired, one of the good agencies will pick you up in minutes.
If you work at an advertiser here are some suggestions:
- Learn how to write clear, focused and thoughtful briefs.
- Push your boss to get you some great independent training. Google and Facebook courses won’t be the best way to develop your advertising thinking.
- Ask ‘why’ every five minutes, when your agency is presenting to you.
- Act as if you are spending your own personal money… yes really.
- Learn how to give clear, honest and direct feedback to your agency.
- If you do not respect your agency contact… get a better one.
- Have high expectations
- Challenge your agency to do fabulous work for you.
- Challenge yourself to only accept fabulous work.
The best relationships are based on openness… or, as one of our clients said, ‘brutal honesty’. Let’s get more of that back into our great industry.
