Client-Agency Relationships

Value Creation

or

Value Destruction?

Professor Tim HughesDr Mario Vafeas

Research Method

25 one-to-one interviews with clients, agency management, and agency creatives (nine case studies) in 2013-14

Additional qualitative data from three workshops in 2014

Survey questionnaire (64 responses from agencies) in 2014

Clientresource

s

Agencyresource

s

Interaction process

andResource

integration

Creative output

Relationship

climate

Co-creation

The Brief

Agencies say… Lack of focus Lack of information Lack of senior

manager sign-off Lack of time (and

money)

Clients say… Lack of interrogation

by agency Lack of alignment Agency cost

estimates unrealistic

The Brief

Agencies Say… Clients say…

It’s very rare we get a clear brief. (Creative, case 1)

We’ve improved our processes so things are better now than they were. (Marketing Manager, case 1)The junior managers give

you changes they want made before it goes up the ranks. You make a whole set of changes. Then you show it to the senior stakeholders and you find out it was off brief in the first place.(Account Director, case 3)

We need to put the energy at the beginning to make sure the brief is absolutely right and that we’re clear about what ‘good’ looks like. (Marketing Director, case 3)

Agency Perceptions of Client Brief

Item Mean score

The brief contains sufficient information 1.92

The brief contains a clear focus 2.53

The brief provides sufficient time for the job 2.47

The brief provides sufficient budget for the job 2.66

5=strongly agree, 1=strongly disagree

N=64

Knowledge and SkillsAgencies say about (some) clients…

Lack understanding of creative process

Inability to evaluate creative work

Clients say about (some) agencies…

Lack of understanding of client world

Narrow creative horizons

Knowledge and Skills

Agencies Say… Clients say…

No, I don’t always feel confident if I’m perfectly honest and that’s why I try to make it a conversation with the agency so I can get their opinions. (Head of Marketing, case 6)

There’s a lot of people out there who think they know what they’re talking about but don’t. Some can be open to learning from their agencies, but others are defensive and purport to know when they don’t. This can compromise the quality of work. (Managing Director, case 9)

Agency Perceptions of Client Skills

Item Mean score

Clients are good at writing a brief 2.23

Clients are good at articulating what they want 2.63

Clients are good at evaluating creative work 2.59

Clients understand the creative process 2.30

5=strongly agree, 1=strongly disagree

N=64

Have you ever had training in judging creative work?

1 2 3

0%

73%

27%

1. Yes a very full training

2. I have had some training

3. I have not had any training

Has any of your agencies offered you training in judging creative work?

1 2

91%

9%

1. Yes

2. No

Goals and Value JudgementsAgencies say about clients…

Risk-averse

Clients say about agencies…

Too safe

OR Radical just for the

sake of it Enhancing their

creative reputation

Goals and Value judgements

Agencies Say… Clients say…

They’re going to research the hell out of this and we’ll be left with a generic piece of work (Creative Director, case 2)

We’re trying to sell a product; they’re trying to promote their artistic work (Marketing Director, case 3)

You need more than one option but I think the ‘safe, middle of the road, and radical’ approach is the agency covering all the options (Head of Marketing, case 6)

Interaction

‘Battle’8 mentions

‘Conflict’8 mentions

‘Fight’7 mentions

InteractionAgencies say about clients…

Prescriptive Poor process

management

Clients say about agencies…

Inflexible and stubborn

Account managers can impede communication

InteractionAgencies Say… Clients say…

They are stubborn and I have to say to them ‘unless you shift your position, we can’t go forward’ And yet, despite this happening year after year, they continue to insist on doing things their way and it delays the process. (Brand Manager, case 9)They end up restricting

themselves and don’t get any value out of using us. You end up as the person moving the mouse for them. (Creative, case 5)

Clients can sometimes say ‘I don’t really like it, it’s not really doing what I want it to do’ but what they really want is help to fine-tune their thinking rather than us saying ‘OK you don’t like that, we’ll change it’. (Managing Director, case 9)

RelationshipAgencies say …

Danger of complacency

Treated as a supplier not a partner

Better output for clients we like

Clients say …

Threat of opportunism

Lack of transparency

Good relationship helps the work

Poor management of staff turnover

Relationship

Agencies Say… Clients say…

If it doesn’t work out, you fire them and get another one (Brand Manager, client workshop)

You get used to working with clients and give them what you think they’re going to buy, but you stop inspiring them. Then they wake up one day and realise they’re not getting the creativity they want.(Creative Director, case 7)

I’d like to think the relationship helps the work. I’d like to think they like working with me. We’ve got to know each other and it helps us get the best out of a project. (Brand Manager, case 8)

Top Ten Tips

for effective, efficient, and collaborative client-agency relationships

Autonomy- Trust the agency’s expertise

- But sometimes “just do it” is inevitable

10

Expectations- Alignment around brief and output

- Stakeholder consensus and sign-off

- Transparency regarding costs

9

Communication - Clients open to hearing the truth

(within reason!)

- Instigate formal two-way appraisals

(with fair and constructive feedback)

8

Commitment - A degree of client commitment increases

agency motivation

- Negotiate space for risk-taking and proaction

7

Creatives - More interaction between

client and creative

6

Manage staff turnover- Handover

- Communication

- Senior manager involvement

- Knowledge management

5

Education- Clients open to training

- Agencies can (and should) help

4

Mutual understanding- Understand each other’s worlds

3

Industry standards- Provide adequate resources for the task

- Agree service levels

- Free pitches devalue creativity

- Opportunism destroys trust

2

Nurture (not Nature)- Joint responsibility to maintain and

develop relationship value

1

Can We Help You?

Can we help you?

Neutral and objective Extensive experience in management roles

in clients and agencies Can work with agencies, clients or agencies

and their clients Share results of research Facilitate staff in coming up with ways to

improve the effectiveness of the client/agency relationship

The process

1. Agree objectives

2. Run workshop to identify key issues, action plans for improvement and ways to judge implementation

3. Review implementation and adjust action plans

4. Establish policies and processes to maintain improvements.

ExampleArea for improvement

Issues identified in research & workshops Actions to address issues

Meeting client expectations

Importance of good communication and continually managing client’s expectations

Importance of client induction and of client having knowledge of agency processes

Is the client aware of timing required for different types of jobs?

Is the client aware of the costing process?

At what stage does the client need to sign off costs?

Would additional training help the client in dealing with the agency (for example in judging creative work)?

 

Our motivation

Demonstrate impact from our research Engagement with the marketing and creative

community Opportunity to develop the research further

(using anonymous examples) Good use of allocated research time (but not

unlimited!)