Unlike a blog, this is not a collection of musings or things that caught our attention today. Instead, it is a collection of the important insights, trends and issues we have encountered in our work with our clients and the solutions we have developed. This is why we call it our Knowledge Centre. It is where we share the collective knowledge of TrinityP3. We add to this regularly. We update it when and where needed. We recommend bookmarking this page and be sure to visit regularly when looking for inspiration, insight and knowledge on the world of marketing management.
Where is it written that marketers must write better briefs?
Writing a briefing is so central to the advertising process, you’d think even a marketer could do it. But apparently not. According to the Better Briefs Project, which commissioned a global industry survey, it seems this is not the case ...
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Advertising Agency Fees – The Move from Static Inputs to Valuable Outputs
This is an edited version of the guide "Advertising Agency Fees – A Comprehensive Guide for Marketing". To access the Guide, which includes more detailed explanations, examples, strategies and tactics on the topic, please click here. In the recent history ...
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Seven watch-outs with AI-driven marketing mix modelling
The call for greater accountability of marketing investment has never been louder. And as technology continues to revolutionise the way that people interact and behave, the science of marketing and budget allocation has become increasingly complex. I’m sure I don’t ...
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With agency costs on the rise, how should advertisers respond?
Believe it not, advertisers have generally enjoyed a stable and relatively low cost for agency services for more than a decade. While it may not feel like it on a case-by-case basis, with many advertisers going to pitch to try ...
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Why the hidden OUCH! Factor cost of advertising agency pitching is not financial
If you have not seen the OUCH! Factor research, it is definitely worthwhile to watch the Mumbrella360 Short video here and download the report here. The research report and the video were the work of Julia Vargiu, founder and Managing ...
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Why 20% of the agency retainer you are paying is lost to you
Sitting through another agency presentation of Excel spreadsheets full of agency hours, explaining why they are spending too much time on the account. Adding up the over numbers to justify why the client needs to top up the retainer by ...
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What’s causing all the agency reviews?
You are probably surprised that a pitch consultant is questioning why it is that this year we’ve already seen an unprecedented number of reviews being called. Why are we not simply busy taking the work and being thankful for it ...
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When a full-time agency resource is not a full-time resource
So, when is a full-time equivalent resource in your agency retainer, not a full-time resource? It seems like a redundant question. Of course, a full-time retained resource is full-time. But if that is the case, why are there advertisers who ...
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According to this industry consultant, 84% of clients are wasting everyone’s time pitching
There is a headline in Forbes that reads “84% of clients have picked a winner before the agency pitch begins”. The opinion piece by Will Burns refers to a blog post by John Heenan, Agency Growth Consultant, published on his ...
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Why average cost per agency FTE is dependent on the task at hand
Average cost per FTE is a very common procurement measure for assessing agency costs. It is basically the equivalent number of full-time staff divided into the total cost of retaining those staff. The fundamental flaw of this approach is it ...
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Video Conferencing for Dummies* – Ad Agency Pitching
For 18 months now we have been managing advertiser pitches to choose agencies using video conferencing. Zoom, Teams and Google Meet have become a way of doing business. IT departments have had to accommodate users embracing video conferencing as people ...
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Pitching the incumbent agency: Procurement versus Consultant perspective
We have previously shared why pitching the incumbent agency at the end of a contract period is no longer good corporate governance. But this recent conversation with a procurement manager, hell-bent on pitching their current agencies as a routine, highlights ...
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If your agency cannot be different, then at least try to be distinctive
Like that scene from the 1979 Monty Python film, Life of Brian, “we are all individuals, we are all different”. A feature of humanity is our desire to be individuals while all maintaining a sense of belonging. But, when it ...
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Advertising ideas are a dime a dozen according to this advertiser
Ultimately, the value of the advertising agency process is in the intellectual properties created and in the commercial outcomes, those properties deliver. It is just a pity that agencies continue to be paid not for their IP or the results ...
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When an agency transforms from a vendor into a partner
Yet again, an excited agency announces winning a new client with a quote that says how proud/honoured/humbled/excited they are to be partnering with said client. Remember, this announcement comes as the signatures are clicked on the DocuSign file to seal ...
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Why TrinityP3’s corporate purpose is more than just brand
There is much discussion in the marketing world of the importance of brand purpose. But from my own experience, organisational purpose or corporate purpose trumps brand purpose every time. Why? Because our purpose is more than a marketing exercise. It ...
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Anti-competitive, corporate bully or smart competitive business
There are plenty of advertising agencies. Some may say too many. But in any market, there are always a handful of agencies that are considered hot. Particularly creative agencies. The hot agencies that are winning all the awards. The creative ...
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What happens when an agency bites off more than it can chew?
Beware what you wish for, because you just may get your wish. It is an interesting warning. Not just because of the threat that all your dreams coming true may turn into your nightmare, but because for many agencies it ...
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Common mistakes made when preparing a scope of work for the agency
We have written extensively about developing a scope of work for media, creative and digital agencies. This could be to calculate agency fees during a pitch or tender process. It could be to set agency fees for the year ahead ...
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Where do the best marketing procurement people come from?
Who are the best marketing procurement specialists? Are they procurement professionals that ‘learn’ marketing or marketing professionals that ‘learn’ procurement? These are the two schools of thought on where to recruit people for marketing procurement. Some believe the best marketing ...
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Does your marketing procurement live the core value of Project Spring?
“It’s time for a revolution in marketing procurement. A transformation from savings to value, which can rid the profession of bad practice and reduce the number of opportunities for negative articles about the discipline” read the press release and the ...
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Are advertiser’s practices stopping their agencies from becoming more efficient?
Isn’t technology great? Artificial intelligence. Blockchain. Robotics. Automation. All packed with the promises of making our lives easier, faster, cheaper… It is revolutionising business in so many ways. But, it appears, rather more slowly in advertising agencies. I am not ...
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What does it mean, to really look at your marketing supplier roster?
It sometimes amazes me how a client looks - or rather doesn't look - at this critical area. and before you know it (if you actually take a look), you’ll find you have a list as long as your arm ...
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How agencies are increasingly profiting from missing people
Each year, 600,000 people are reported missing in the USA. Of these, approximately 90% are found either alive or deceased. Missing people have a devastating impact on families, friends, workplaces, communities and society as a whole. But there is one ...
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Bringing marketing and corporate comms together around social media
When the brand and the company share the same name, there are often two groups in the organisation providing its voice to the market. One is corporate communications or corporate affairs and the other is marketing. These voices never seem ...
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The often-hidden cost of in-house agencies
The industry conversation about in-housing agency services continues with the protagonists proposing the pros and cons of the move to take agency services into the client organisation. The discussion focuses on brand control, creative excellence, speed to market, greater agility ...
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Are agency people embarrassed about how they make their living?
Jeremy Taylor spent a week in May 2021 attending the AdForum Consultants Forum, on the receiving end of nine full credentials presentations from some of the leading global advertising networks and from some up-and-coming independents. A general impression from almost ...
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Does the advertising industry have a problem with the Modern Slavery Act?
The climate crisis. Diversity, inclusion and equity. These are all initiatives detailed to be addressed in the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals to change the world. At the start of the Sustainable Development Goals process, ending modern slavery was ...
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Large or small, agencies like to be all things to all people. Does size really matter?
Jeremy Taylor spent a week in May 2021 attending the AdForum Consultants Forum, on the receiving end of nine full credentials presentations from some of the leading global advertising networks and from some up-and-coming independents. No agency credentials story is ...
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The Pitch conundrum: To Pitch, or not? Is that even the right question?
It’s all too common to see global, regional or local clients announce they are going to put out their account to Pitch! There’s a flurry of excitement among the many agencies jockeying for a position to be considered, along with ...
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