Why Squeezing More From Your Agency Can Be A Really Bad Idea

Posted on June 18, 2018 by Stephan Argent
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Are you a marketer that wants to squeeze more from your agency? Do you feel like they should be doing more? Delivering better results? Turning things around faster? All sound like good ideas, right? So if like most marketers you’d find these kinds of attributes desirable from your agency(s), then read on. Continue reading →

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Leadership Trials of the Agency CEO

Posted on June 6, 2018 by Michael Farmer
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We don’t get to pick the era we live in.  We’re human, though, and we dream about other times and other places.  Given a choice, today’s agency CEOs might dream about turning back the clock sixty years or so, when the world — and the ad agency within it — was much simpler and a lot more fun. Television was new and growing in 1958.  There were only 40 million TV households (today’s number is 120 million) and the agency’s creative challenge was how to get better at TV and print — and grow even faster than the post-war economy.   Continue reading →

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Managing Marketing: The challenges facing CMOs today

Posted on June 1, 2018 by Darren Woolley
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Andy Lark is the Chief Marketer and Chair of Group Lark. He is also been a CMO, a board adviser, a Non-Executive Director and industry commentator and here he discusses with Darren the challenges and issues facing CMOs and Marketing Leaders today. Exploring everything from lack of alignment in objectives to increasing market diversity and complexity to issues with recognition and support. Continue reading →

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Pitfalls to avoid when losing a pitch.

Posted on May 28, 2018 by David Angell
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God knows, pitching is hard on agencies. To be honest, it’s hard on everyone, but the diligence required to make an informed and holistic decision about a commercial relationship of this nature naturally requires a lot of work. When agencies win pitches, they are naturally ecstatic. And why not? It’s payback for the sheer hard work that’s gone in. Continue reading →

Posted in agency search & selection, agency solutions, interesting observations, marketing procurement | Comments Off on Pitfalls to avoid when losing a pitch.

Is ZBB (Zero-Based Budgeting) Mismanaged by Advertisers?

Posted on May 21, 2018 by Michael Farmer
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WPP points the finger at ZBB as the most important factor driving cuts in WPP’s agency revenues — cuts that have taken 35% off WPP’s share price from its 2017 high.  Leading industry analyst Brian Wieser identifies ZBB as a major factor suppressing holding company organic growth, along with other factors like increased contract scrutiny Continue reading →

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Retained AOR or project fees? Which one is best?

Posted on May 16, 2018 by Darren Woolley
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While I have previously shared thoughts on comparing rate cards with retainers in 2008, ways to improve retainers in 2009 and most recently the considerations before moving from retainers to project fees in 2016 , I have not actually provided a comparison of pros and cons for advertisers and agencies.
Yet in the past five years we have had an avalanche of advertisers asking us for help moving their agency remuneration from retainers to project fees. Continue reading →

Posted in agency remuneration / compensation, agency solutions, industry news & trends, marketing process optimisation, marketing procurement, return on investment | Comments Off on Retained AOR or project fees? Which one is best?

Who are the real victims in the lack of transparency in advertising production?

Posted on May 9, 2018 by Darren Woolley
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Last year the ANA responded to the investigation by the Department of Justice into Agency production practices and included this in their call for greater transparency in advertiser and agency relationships. The concern was that agencies and especially the Holding Companies that own the agency groups, were competitively tendering for advertiser commercial productions against the independent production companies in an unfair and biased manner. Continue reading →

Posted in agency remuneration / compensation, agency solutions, industry news & trends, marketing procurement, resource rate calculator, television & electronic production | Comments Off on Who are the real victims in the lack of transparency in advertising production?

What Happens When the Magic of Creativity No Longer Works?

Posted on May 7, 2018 by Michael Farmer
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In barbaric and prehistoric times, before primitive man invented religion and prayed to gods for intercessions, man was isolated and alone, facing an uncertain and terrifying world that worked by its own logic. Would the sun rise every day?  Would winter fade and spring follow in its stead? Would there be fish to catch, prey to hunt, rain for water and crops, bountiful harvests, cures for disease, pregnancy and babies, victory in war?  Would the tribe flourish?  Tribes were like advertisers today, looking for certainties and prosperity in a hostile world. Continue reading →

Posted in agency remuneration / compensation, agency solutions, industry news & trends, marketing process optimisation, marketing procurement, return on investment, strategic management | Comments Off on What Happens When the Magic of Creativity No Longer Works?

The Ad Industry in 2018 – The Year of Magical Thinking

Posted on May 2, 2018 by Michael Farmer
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Sir Martin Sorrell, the industry’s most prominent agency spokesman, now has the difficult job of explaining, on behalf of WPP and of the industry in general, why revenue growth has been so difficult to achieve and what can be done about it. Continue reading →

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Lower Cost Does Not Mean Higher Quality in the Ad Industry

Posted on April 25, 2018 by Michael Farmer
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If we were on a guided tour of the advertising industry, here are the points of interest that ought to be on every sightseer’s list. 1) The Advertisers.  “Lower cost” is their strategy du jour, with reductions in media spend, cuts in agency fees, continued use of cost benchmarks and investments in less expensive internal agencies.  Amazing!  Increased shareholder value — marketing with the stroke of a pen, crossing out columns of unnecessary figures. Continue reading →

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Managing Marketing: The changing role and challenges facing media agencies

Posted on April 23, 2018 by Darren Woolley
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David Angell is the General Manager and Head of Media at TrinityP3 and here he chats with Darren on the increasingly complex role played by media agencies and the challenges they face in meeting the needs and demands of their advertiser clients. As intermediaries between advertisers and the media providers they are increasingly challenged with not just managing this complex relationship but also contributing to overall marketing performance too. Continue reading →

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Managing Marketing: Talking digital, innovation and CX for business

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Darren Woolley
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Erik Ingvoldstad, the CEO and Founder of Acoustic Group talks with Darren about their focus on helping companies manage their digital transformation from a cultural foundation, discover innovation within the organisation and manage the customer experience as a way of building brand. He brings a unique perspective with experience in the Army, business school and years in digital and direct marketing. Continue reading →

Posted in agency solutions, customer relationship management, interesting observations, marketing process optimisation, Podcasts, social media & digital marketing, strategic management | Comments Off on Managing Marketing: Talking digital, innovation and CX for business

Marc Prichard, the low creative ratio at your agencies is not their fault, it’s yours

Posted on April 13, 2018 by Darren Woolley
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Okay, perhaps not yours Marc, but when you recently stated that you would like three quarters of your agencies to be creative, it made me reflect on the literally hundreds of agency remuneration deals we have benchmarked, negotiated and managed over the past 18 years and the fact that in every case the agency resources required were directly related to the requirements and expectations of the marketers. Continue reading →

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Enabling Data in Creative, to pull the final lever for digital success

Posted on April 4, 2018 by Richard Knott
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There are 3 main levers to drive results in digital advertising – media, data and creative. The media lever, typically controlled by a DSP, enables you to optimise media schedules and placements based upon audience, environment, response and price. The data lever is currently managed by DMPs, linking data and knowledge to audiences and outcomes. Continue reading →

Posted in agency solutions, data & direct marketing, industry news & trends, marketing process optimisation, return on investment, social media & digital marketing, television & electronic production | Comments Off on Enabling Data in Creative, to pull the final lever for digital success

Who Will Put “Accountability” Back in “Account Management?”

Posted on March 26, 2018 by Michael Farmer
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Account managers were giants of accountability during the Mad Men era, when agencies were paid by media commissions and it was important to convince client executives, up and down the line, that high media spending was good for brands. Everyone benefited from this.  TV advertising was effective, so clients and brands benefited from this account management salesmanship.  TV advertising unleashed the agency’s creative capabilities and allowed creatives to flourish and do their best work. Continue reading →

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