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Study: Advertiser-Agency Relationship Needs Work
- MediaBizBloggers, Tuesday, January 24, 2012 3:55 PM
The state of agency-advertiser relationships is definitely unsettled, according to a study done by the CMO Council. For example, "Only 36% of marketers are committed to their agency relationships, with 49% saying that they may consolidate or change their global agency rosters," writes Uwe Hook. And "just 9% of marketers believe traditional ad agencies are doing a good job of evolving and extending their service capabilities."
Hook, self-described as a "veteran of the advertising and marketing industry," reports on the study and then doesn't do much to address marketers' concerns: "Marketers have to understand that agencies are not lazy or disinterested in learning about the client's business," he writes "Structurally, the client-agency relationship is not set-up for such a learning experience."
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Having spent a decade agency-side and now working from the advertiser camp, I’ve had the chance to see both sides of this coin. I was usually a client proponent during my agency stints, often leaving me at odds with colleagues.
I believed then as I do now, that agencies need to do more in terms of assimilating and collaborating with their clients to forge stronger bonds. And the CMO Council study seems to echo this.
It’s an inequitable burden on agencies, but it’s theirs to own, or accept the continuing decline of lasting relationships in their industry.