Would you like better value from your Advertising Agency?

Yes? - You’re in good company.
Many marketing directors and marketing personnel feel frustrated in their efforts to get what they believe is best value from their advertising agencies and promotions companies.

Why is this?
It’s because of the classic left and right brain divide; clients, meaning you, are the masters of Product, Price and Place; three of the 4 classic marketing ‘P’s.  And responsibility for the final ‘P’ ‘Promotion’ sits with the advertising and promotions agencies who are the custodians of your promotional ideas and roll-out. This divide means there’s often a disconnect between what you want from your promotions, and think you ask for; and what you actually get.

And here’s the dark secret. If you’re dissatisfied with your agency’s output; whether in terms of creative ideas, production values, service, or what really matters, better results in the marketplace, it’s more than likely your fault.

There, I’ll say it again. It’s probably your fault.

Advertising agencies are set up to ‘be creative’; and you’re set up to ‘do business’. Therein lies a culture clash. There’s a very real difference in how client and agency organisations function. Your company is staffed by people driven by sales targets, margins, and all the nitty gritty of finance, production, distribution etc. Agencies are populated by creatives rewarded for creative flair and coming up with wonderful ideas for promoting your business; which is exactly what you want from a promotions or advertising agency.  

Better returns from advertising and marketing, by better briefing

There’s a different language, a different culture, different way of working; in fact a different almost everything between clients (you) and advertising and promotions agencies. And in order to get the best out of your agency, and get better results in the marketplace, you and your staff need to know how to better communicate your requirements. In a nutshell, you need to know how to brief your agency better.

Let’s look at two versions of a commonplace story: sales are stalled, margins are under pressure, and market conditions generally difficult:  

1. You have repeatedly asked for a ‘new direction’ from your agency; you’ve stated your need for new concepts and executions, a new ‘big idea’ to set you apart from the competition. But the agency doesn’t seem to understand your business; they seem to lack commitment and interest; they simply haven’t got the answers
2. Meanwhile your agency is driven to distraction. They see a client who isn’t happy with their work; they hear your hints about looking elsewhere; but from where they stand, it seems they have a client who doesn’t know what they want. As they see it, you don’t give clear enough instructions, and nothing seems to hit the spot

It’s a lose/lose situation.

But it can be turned around. And it boils down to better briefing for what you need.

Nearly every situation where clients are unhappy with agency performance comes down to the client not briefing as well as they could.

Briefing an agency properly, like working with any external consultant, is a learned skill; and requires training. And yet most clients have never focused on this key aspect of getting value. Most advertising agencies have never seen the client’s marketing plan, let alone their business plan; and yet agencies are expected to be able to ‘read’ your business, your marketplace, your competition, and come up with the best ways of making you stand out.

Agencies often work from very scant product information, and have very little exposure to the real business and product issues faced by the client. Yet they are expected to come up with unique ways of presenting your brands. The problem is a fundamental lack of communication – meaning real understanding of business and product requirements, between client and agency.  

Getting results starts by asking properly

You don’t go into a restaurant and ask ‘for a meal’; and yet in effect it’s what most clients do with their advertising and promotions.

When one considers the sums of money involved, there’s too much to leave to chance. Here’s a thought from advertising guru Jeremy Diamond, Ogilvy & Mather, NY
  
“If the Pope had simply asked Michelangelo to paint the ceiling, it is unlikely he would have gotten this”

So rather than leaving the outcome to chance, there is a better option. Briefing properly means having the right systems, and people in place, knowing what essential information the agency needs, and how to communicate it.

By reviewing your briefing process, and training and better equipping your marketing personnel, I can help your company not only to get full value from your marketing budget, and improve relations and working practices between you and your advertising and promotions agency; but also to leverage the creative potential of your advertising partners.

If further justification were needed, consider just two areas where a 10% improvement in better briefing will have an immediate impact:

1. Less waste and reworking of concepts and materials which translates into direct savings in the marketing budget
2. The direct bottom line impact of more effective communications

If you’d like to know more, call me to discuss getting more value from your marketing budget.