It's Time for Agencies to Grow Up

Agencies feel advertisers underpay them They feel that their true worth is undervalued They feel misunderstood underappreciated They always have and they probably always willWeirdly though they rarely feel any of these things so strongly as not to pitch although credit to Red Bee for doing just that It39s unusual to read of an agency resigning businessComplaining about clients was always part of the zeitgeist along with having fun spending time with likeminded souls in a creative relaxed atmosphere Yes the hours were long but back then so were the lunchesBut that was then and this is now Now advertising is not liked and largely not enjoyed It39s synonymous with being chased around the web being unable to read an online article because of all the interruptions all the black holesThe long hours are still there though the macho behavior that leads some midlevel exec to keep some impressionable junior hanging around just in case he the midlevel exec and shamefully usually a he might want something photocopiedThere is still a sense that bad behavior can be tolerated as this is an industry that everyone wants to get into So sit there do as you39re told and cancel your plans Otherwise you39ll just be replaced with the next cab in the rankBut these days it39s not quite like that Back in the days of the old university runs agencies were able to pick from the brightest and the best creative minds Now that39s not so trueIn today39s ad land the hours are still crazy it39s not so much fun the industry is less socially admired and agencies are still underpaidAnd yet somehow according to the Chairman of DampampAD this is all the clients39 faultI disagree This is very largely our own fault I say 100 others whose opinions I value put it at 80 We manage the agencies we put in place the structures and the pay grades we set the culture we establish the standards and the rulesIf agencies were truly delivering to their clients39 business needs if they were recognized as valuable business partners then surely the longer they worked the more they should get paidThe truth is that for decades agencies have failed to get their hard work recognized by Boards they are still seen as the guys who do the pink fluffy bit beat up the media owners to get us a great deal delete where appropriateHow many CEOs truly know anything about their agencies They may know Sir Martin Sorrell but truly how many know anything about the agencies they hireNow ask the same question of their appointed management consultancy Or accountants Or lawyersWe might start by asking ourselves why might that be Could it be because we have failed to make the case to the right people that what we do is of real demonstrable value to the business We don39t do enough to quantify it We haven39t sold it inThat39s not to say we don39t have the data the Binet and Field work aside there is a mass of evidence stretching back to my old mentor Simon Broadbent and beyondBut which CEOs have ever seen that work aside from a oneoff quotthought you might be interested in thisquot presentationWe know that advertising needs frequency to work So why aren39t we banging the drum over and overWhy do we focus on winning what we are pretty sure will be lossmaking accounts Does our position in the new business league table trump everything else Do we really believe that any client looks at those tables and says quotGet me the biggest new business winner of the year they must be doing something rightquotWhy isn39t our trade press full of business leaders praising the role that advertising has played in their success Stories that make the case for great advertising Stories told by CFOs and CEOsWe need to do this again and again Not quotjustquot when the effectiveness awards are handed out but week in week outWe should celebrate the role that we can and do play in building business We should be at the universities and the business schools promoting advertising in this way not as a fun way to spend your time but to build your client39s business using creativityWe should behave like responsible employers investing in our staff paying them properly mentoring them helping them find the right worklife balance We should say no to rapacious clients wanting the earth for nothingWe should resign such business and go public as to why Yes some do this but they39re few and far betweenWe should publicly praise great clients We should build a sense that great clients contribute to and get great advertising that builds businesses whilst bad clients just waste moneyWe should to be frank take responsibility and grow upClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160amp160amp160

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It's Time for Agencies to Grow Up

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Brian Jacobs

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It's Time for Agencies to Grow Up

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