Agencies point fingers at clients, clients point fingers at agencies. When it comes to integration we all think it’s the other guy who just doesn’t get it. Are we both wrong? In a word, yes.
Adweek reported on a recent survey where over 100 heads of U.S. agencies were polled by Joanne Davis Consulting in conjunction with Scan International Marketing Communication Management . The bottom line from the survey stated that clients are “weak”.
The article reported that:
Some 36 percent of the respondents rated client integration skills as "weak," and a mere 25 percent said clients were "good" at it. Previous surveys of agencies have yielded similar results about marketers. Still, Joanne Davis expressed surprise about the degree to which agency leaders felt clients had failed at integration skills. That means 36 percent are wasting a huge chunk of money," Davis said.
Interestingly, the survey was conducted with CEOs and presidents of creative and media shops. I looked for but could not find a similar survey isolating how clients feel on the same range of questions. However, Marc Brownstien of Ad Age wrote an interesting piece titled “Why Agency-Client Divorce Rates Are Soaring” which cited that client-side marketers are under constant pressure to deliver results and that's a core reason why churn rates are getting higher. Unfortunately, this issue is decades old.
So who is ultimately right here? Well, instead of finger pointing, I think we need to take a step back and ask “can’t we all just get along” ?
My take is that for every client who is stuck in their old world ways and won’t change, they are likely matched by agencies that don’t identify real solutions. The variables at play here are endless. However, it all boils down to open dialogue and the setting of realistic expectations.
Taking a partnership view is critical. On that point, the survey found that:
Agencies also graded marketers poorly in the area of relationship management, with 70 percent saying clients would get more value if they focused on the quality of the relationship. In addition, some 61 percent of the respondents said marketers fail to notify agencies of problems before hiring another shop or firing them.
As with any other succcessful personal and professional relationships, the right balance of communication is required to get things right and keep them there. As the saying goes, the devil is always in the details. That means listening as much as talking and working towards solutions, not to continually go looking for problems and scapegoats. Integration can be that easy if you want it to be.
All that being said, the client always wins at golf. That is non-negotiable.
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When I got into the business over 15 years ago, The Leo Burnett Agency talked about the importance of integration, but hardly practiced it. In fact, Leo himself, who had passed years before I arrived at his Agency, probably had it all figured out, and likely made great speeches about it, but the people working for him couldn't figure out how to do it at the time - and they were smart people!
It's an old story, but the way I see it there are good Agencies (like mine) that have integration ingrained in the culture. And there's everybody else. The everybody else consists of "true" ad agencies who are mostly interested in making good ads, mostly for TV or, at least, mostly for "old media". That's how you win Lions...mostly.
Then there's the BIG agencies who say they're "integrated", but really aren't - profit centres, training, silos, performance bonuses, ego's, etc... all get in the way.
The only way to achieve true integration is to make it cultural, the way the collective Agency "thinks" and to make sure that all of the people inside truly understand what it means to be integrated...which now speaks to Brand Essence. That's another concept that traditional Agencies struggle with and the subject for another time, mostly.
Cheers.
Roy
Agreed, communication is key as it is in any relationship. But the only way for all of us to get along will not only require a cultural change but an educational one as well. How many agency executives and clients really know how to communicate? Sadly not many at all and that’s the reason for such a big divide. A more active role will need to be taken on both sides in educating our workers on how to communicate as well as interpersonal skills. Communication skills is a life long pursuit but employers need to be proactive and grow their employees skills possibly through books and or seminars.
Maybe we are partly to blame with so much communication being digital these days are we slipping away from a human connection? How many of us are more likely to send an email than to pick up an old technology like the “phone” and truly reach out to someone?
Bobby Hewitt
Creative Thirst
Thanks for the comments. I agree that the phone or face to face communication is sometimes a simple remedy for a better relationship.