• NY Times, Monday, November 21, 2005 12:45 PM

If you think Brad and Jen had problems this year, a new survey says the relationship between marketers and their clients isn't much better. In one indication of the sorry state of affairs, 41 percent of the advertiser respondents said there was more tension in their relationship with their ad agencies this year than last, the highest level since the 19-year-old survey began. The response among the agencies was unchanged from last year, with 46 percent saying there was more tension. Overall, the results suggested that significant differences still prevent advertisers and agencies from working together more productively. "This has not been a great year," said Nancy L. Salz, president of Nancy L. Salz Consulting, which has sponsored the Salz Survey of Advertiser-Agency Relations since its inception in 1986. "A lot of the major indicators are down and it's a struggle to get them to improve," she said, adding that the results "are a real reflection that the industry is in a huge state of flux."

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