George Tannenbaum on the future of advertising,
the decline of the English Language and other frivolities. 100% jargon free.
A Business Insider "Most Influential" blog.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
When to fire your Ad Agency.
I just came across this article in BusinessWeek written by Steve McKee the president of a semi-eponymous agency, McKee Wallwork Cleveland, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
From the way it starts, you can tell it's worth reading."As a client, you're paying your agency to push you to keep your brand relevant in a shifting competitive landscape, not to simply take orders"
I have an unapologetic "blame the account-service guys first" predisposition. One that has only hardened after 8 years (sob!) in a more account-driven shop. It's that aversion to difficult conversations. Avoidance of conflict. Fear of a good, constructive screaming fight over a lousy budget. What if all that fear went away? What would the work be like? How could it not be better? Watching Washington with disgust this week, I see a horrific corollary. And I understand that whether you're a corporation or a nation, if you're run by guys who only worry about being liked and approved of and elected all the time, you're just fucked.
Hi, Peter. I divide the agency world into two. There are "no, we can't agencies," and "yeah, why not" agencies. If you're at a no, you have to get out.
Another way of dividing is agencies that think of themselves as a providing a service to the client vs. agencies who believe their work is a product. Get thee to a product agency. What agencies do is MAKE things. Our product is ingenuity, imagination etc.
I have an unapologetic "blame the account-service guys first" predisposition. One that has only hardened after 8 years (sob!) in a more account-driven shop.
ReplyDeleteIt's that aversion to difficult conversations. Avoidance of conflict. Fear of a good, constructive screaming fight over a lousy budget. What if all that fear went away? What would the work be like? How could it not be better?
Watching Washington with disgust this week, I see a horrific corollary. And I understand that whether you're a corporation or a nation, if you're run by guys who only worry about being liked and approved of and elected all the time, you're just fucked.
Hi, Peter.
ReplyDeleteI divide the agency world into two.
There are "no, we can't agencies," and "yeah, why not" agencies. If you're at a no, you have to get out.
Another way of dividing is agencies that think of themselves as a providing a service to the client vs. agencies who believe their work is a product. Get thee to a product agency. What agencies do is MAKE things. Our product is ingenuity, imagination etc.