Category Archives: marketing procurement

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This is the first in a series of one minute videos that address one of the many complex challenges facing marketing, media and advertising today. The Golden Minute series is an attempt to prove Albert Einstein right when he said “The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple”. But he also said “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler”. So we will leave it for you to judge. Please let us know here if there is a topic you would like us to cover in a Golden Minute. Continue reading →

Posted in agency remuneration / compensation, agency search & selection, interesting observations, marketing procurement, media planning & buying, strategic management | Comments Off

Agencies Struggle with Declining Prices

Posted on July 17, 2017 by Michael Farmer

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Since 1992, the average price for creative agency deliverables has declined by 70% in today’s dollars, according to my research [1] for Madison Avenue Manslaughter.
Nevertheless, agencies have managed to deliver growing profit margins for their owners throughout this 25-year period. How was this possible? Are agencies still “fat,” as many procurement executives believe, or have they starved themselves to generate profits in the face of declining prices? Continue reading →

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Is there nothing fair or reasonable about agency remuneration?

Posted on July 14, 2017 by Darren Woolley

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During more than 15 years of agency benchmarking and negotiations two words I have heard often repeated in these discussions is fair and reasonable. Marketers, procurement and agencies all agree that the remuneration model should be fair and reasonable. It is no wonder these words are so popular, after all they sound fair and reasonable. This is why so many guidelines on agency remuneration, including ISBA in 2006, ACASA in 2009, ISBA and IPA in 2012 and the recommendations of competitors and even ourselves, have all stated and restated that agency remuneration should strive to be fair to both advertisers and their agencies. Continue reading →

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What are the biggest challenges facing marketing today?

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Darren Woolley

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Back in February this year we had our twice yearly get together in Sydney will all the TrinityP3 consultants from around the world, including Michael Farmer, our new Executive Chairman and the author of the best selling book “Madison Avenue Manslaughter”. Every six months we get the gang together to review and discuss the business and plan the future. Last February this conversation led to the changes you see on the TrinityP3.com site today. It was started with a conversation with Michael around the trends and challenges facing CMOs and their organisations, which could be summed up in one word – GROWTH – or more specifically the lack of it. Continue reading →

Posted in agency remuneration / compensation, agency search & selection, data & direct marketing, Evalu8ing - Relationship Performance Monitoring, green marketing & sustainability, interesting observations, marketing process optimisation, marketing procurement, media planning & buying, mobile marketing, print production, social media & digital marketing, television & electronic production | Comments Off

The Terrible Outcomes of Lower Growth in Advertising

Posted on July 10, 2017 by Michael Farmer

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Growth is the engine of wealth and success. Stock prices soar. Companies expand, hire and promote, and salaries rise. Optimism abounds. Everyone has a place in a growing future. The party does not go on forever, as we know. Growth rates slow, and sometimes they halt — the reasons vary, but it’s inevitable. Still, the end of growth is shocking, and the advertising industry is now facing the shock. Continue reading →

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Where can Global Advertisers find the best Creative Value?

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Darren Woolley

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The global marketplace is increasingly becoming a global village thanks to the pervasiveness of the internet and growing mobility. The days of ‘centres of excellence’ are passing, as talent now has the ability to collect into cohorts anywhere in the world. For a global marketer looking to tap into the sources of world-class creativity, the issue is one of not only identifying the location of this creative talent but also the relative cost of assessing their value. Continue reading →

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Ignorance of Pricing is Ruining Ad Agencies

Posted on June 28, 2017 by Michael Farmer

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All companies sell products or services at a price, and managing price is a major responsibility of top management. Car companies sell cars, and sticker prices are marked on side windows. Coca-Cola sells concentrate to its bottlers, setting price per gallon to match market circumstances. Pizza-Hut sells pizzas in restaurants, and pizza prices are marked on the menus. Bain sells consulting studies to corporations and prices them by study length and complexity. Agencies, though, are confused about what they sell and how to price it. Their ignorance of pricing is ruining agency operations and destroying agency value for clients, employees and holding company owners. The advertising industry is the only industry in the world without a concept of pricing. Continue reading →

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What is going on with advertising creative awards?

Posted on June 26, 2017 by Darren Woolley

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The announcement last week by the CEO of Publicis Groupe, Arthur Sadoun, that the holding company would be taking a year out from Award Shows and other industry marketing events has had the impact I am sure he was hoping for. Of course this made industry news world-wide, and with my career including 15 years as a copywriter and creative director and president of the Melbourne Advertising & Design Club for two years I was asked by Mumbrella Asia to make a comment. Continue reading →

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Heaven and Hell in Advertising

Posted on June 19, 2017 by Michael Farmer

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Share175 Tweet76 +18 Share10Shares 269This post is by Michael Farmer, Chairman of TrinityP3 USA and author of Madison Avenue Manslaughter: an inside view of fee-cutting clients, profit-hungry owners and declining ad agencies, which won the Axiom Gold Business Book Award for … Continue reading →

Posted in agency search & selection, agency solutions, industry news & trends, interesting observations, marketing process optimisation, marketing procurement, return on investment | Comments Off

Are Advertisers “Bad Hombres” for Their Ad Agencies?

Posted on June 12, 2017 by Michael Farmer

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Ad agencies have had a tough time for the past decade. Reduced retainers. Disappearing AOR relationships, as clients expanded their portfolios of agencies. Inflating Scopes of Work, straining the capabilities of agencies’ downsized and juniorised staffs. There’s more to this. Auction-based bidding of SOW projects. Inhouse agencies. Advertising relationships embracing management consulting firms. Significantly shortened agency-client relationships. Continue reading →

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Addressing the ‘alternative facts’ of advertising production

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Clive Duncan

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Living in a post truth world full of alternative facts and fake news may seem like a recent occurrence to some. But a real fact is that in advertising broadcast production there have been alternative facts for many years that survive the test of time and are perpetuated from one generation of agency producer to the next. These alternative facts assist the agency from having to address the issues that plague the production category and alleviate the advertiser from ever having to worry about taking action to close the loopholes these alternative facts obscure. Loop holes that allow the agency and production house to operate without accountability and at an increased margin at the advertisers expense. Here are a couple of these alternative facts and their implications from the many that shroud the advertising production category. Continue reading →

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Industry Transparency Is a One-Way Mirror

Posted on May 31, 2017 by Michael Farmer

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Advertisers have found many ways to dominate and commoditise their ad agency relationships. Transparency is the latest hot issue, justifying outrage over certain media agency practices and setting the stage for reviews of media contracts and fees. Agency hiring and firing remain another advertiser favourite, and the pace of agency replacement has certainly quickened over time. Next in line are declining fees and growing creative Scopes of Work, along with benchmarking studies, the threat of internal agencies, intellectual property disputes, project-based bidding and lengthened payment terms. Continue reading →

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How do I choose the right marketing contract compliance auditor for the job?

Posted on May 29, 2017 by Adrian Jenkins

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In the clause on Audit Rights, it will not only set out the scope of any audit (and any limitations on the scope – see previous post), but it may also specify what type of auditor you can use. There are different types of auditor I hear you say? I thought they all wore brown suits and kipper ties! Well, sartorial choices aside, there are differences and it’s important to understand what they are and how it could impact the audit. In many agency contracts there will be clues that might not always be obvious to anyone other than a qualified accountant. Continue reading →

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Why advertisers should never accept a ‘sound-alike’ music track for advertising

Posted on May 17, 2017 by Darren Woolley

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The international scandal from New Zealand concerning the court case between the publisher of Eminem’s song Lose Yourself and the National Party of New Zealand reminds us why advertisers should be very careful when it comes to copyright, music rights and intellectual property. During my career as a copywriter I witnessed on so many occasions situations that could easily have ended up in the same embarrassing court battle that the National Party of New Zealand is currently facing. Continue reading →

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