Accenture's year-long review.

Accenture has been looking for a new agency now--an official search, for more than a year.

One of the smartest guys I ever worked with was an account guy running the business end of an account on which I was the creative director. He eventually left the agency business and became a big marketing muckamuck at a major financial services company.

When his business was up for review I called him to chat. I said, "Fred, how do you pick an agency." I'll never forget how he answered.

"George, what I've found is the work from all the agencies is pretty much the same. Basically you choose based on who you want to have to spend a shit-ton of pressurized hours with. Who gives you a proper vibe."

Therein lies Accenture's difficulty in finding an agency.

You pick agencies, or should, on human attributes. And they can't understand human attributes. They are consultants.