The title and full time position may seem a bit much, but I think this article in AdAge is on to an important issue.  

The transition of an account to a new agency sets the stage for the relationship.  Regardless of the size of business or the size of the agency, there should be a clear, thorough process to on-board a new account.  We all know that when a client hires a new agency, the floodgates open with all of the projects they have held back from their previous agency.  There isn’t a lot of time spent outlining the transition or how the relationship should work.  If the relationship starts that way, there isn’t a great chance for success. 

More and more, our clients are asking for a transition plan as part of the final stage of the review. Clients want to make sure there is a solid, established process to bring their account into the agency.   

I’m not sure it’s necessary to have a full time “Chief Transition Officer”, but a solid transition plan is a must.   

Effectiveness, ROI and results have always been a part of our advertising lexicon. However, over the past few years, we’ve seen a real call for agencies to recognize that great advertising isn’t about building your “book;” it’s about building your client’s business. In our agency reviews, attributes like “performance-based” and “results-driven” now top the list of what clients are looking for in an agency. Brands expect their advertising partners to demonstrate and live a culture of results—from top to bottom.

So, what does that really mean? Well, most of us can remember a time when a creative director might segue from a brand planner’s insight recap to a concept presentation with a lighthearted, “Okay, enough about the numbers, let’s get to the fun stuff!” And everyone would laugh and the “fun” portion of the meeting would officially begin. Today, not so much.  A culture of results means that account managers and planners are no longer expected to carry the analytics load alone. A top creative team is expected to talk the ROI talk, understand strategy, and (gasp) even demonstrate a working knowledge of the data that informed their creative. 

This isn’t a shift in the way a creative team works, by the way. The best advertising reflects the great thinking of a creative team who has kept a client’s business challenges and target insights in mind. So, the change isn’t about overhauling the creative process. It’s about evolving the way a team articulates their vision. It’s about showing respect and thoughtful consideration for the real business challenges a client faces everyday. But, the excitement and fun of a creative presentation doesn’t need to (and, quite frankly, shouldn’t) disappear. 

Great advertising is both creative and effective. The leading agencies know that and are cultivating cultures where their creative teams know that. These are the agencies clients want on their roster. So, for anyone still concerned about their portfolio, don’t be. With the direction advertising and marketing is headed, great creative that builds your client’s business is precisely what you need to build your book.

Clients and agencies often ask us, “How do you stay current on the constant changes in advertising and marketing?” And, more specifically, everyone wonders how best to keep tabs on the permutations of the agency world. Simply put, understanding the latest and greatest when it comes to agencies, including their clients, teams and work, requires three things—time, diligence and experience.

For starters, the Pile consulting team is in constant contact with agencies. We meet frequently with shops of various sizes and capabilities to understand where they are and where they are looking to go.  A phone call, web conference or in-person meeting, in conjunction with our ongoing monitoring of trade news, provides us with a comprehensive picture of the agency partners in our industry.

Furthermore, Agency ComPile, our online database of marketing communications agencies, has been invaluable to our process for over two decades. Housing agency information ranging from client lists to creative work, Agency ComPile allows our team to stay up-to-date on the agencies with whom we interact. And ComPile’s weekly creative email alerts streamline how we find the best creative work and most successful case histories from around the country.

Keeping “current” on agencies is no small feat. It’s even more challenging for time-starved marketers. Taking the time and performing the due diligence to fully understand the agency landscape is what we do. Pile and Company’s ability to keep track of agencies in real-time coupled with our over 22 years experience with clients and agencies enables us to help marketers solve a multitude of marketing and advertising challenges.

Interested in learning more? Please contact us at 617.267.5000. 

And if you’re a corporate marketer, we encourage you to register with Agency ComPile. Registration is complimentary and allows you to sign up for the weekly creative email alerts.

If you’re an agency wanting to stay in touch, please create or update your agency profile on Agency ComPile. Basic profiles are free as all are welcome.

It seems that with the welcoming of the new year, businesses of every stature are working toward a bigger and better fiscal year.  With that comes evaluating current agency partnerships.

While New Year’s resolutions are sworn upon until the laziness of mid-February catches the public with a case of amnesia, clients are determined to either find new agencies or improve the relationship and success of their current agencies.  We see this happen every year. Calls from CMO’s on the first day back from the New Year holiday are like clockwork. We even get calls from clients at the end of the year with the hope of getting new work completed by the end of the first quarter.  

Conducting an agency review isn’t the only way to be sure you meet those goals.  Implementing an agency performance evaluation is also important.  New agency or old, getting the agency’s goals in place and a way to evaluate them throughout the year is a great resolution for all marketers.

Here’s to 2012 and may we all have success with our resolutions.

In the world of new business, this has been a question and a frustration for years.  It has always been obvious that if an agency has a competitor in the office that is pitching the business, they can’t pitch unless they say they will resign their current account.  But how far do you take it beyond the pitching office?

Clients and agencies weigh-in in an Adage article this week, "Tightened Policies on Conflicts Box in Agencies, Clients". The debate is around how far conflicts extend beyond the pitching office.  For years, agencies with multiple offices have promised building a firewall to keep competitive clients apart.  And, if there are multiple full-service offices, the competitive clients can reside in different offices.  But now, many clients are demanding that there can be no conflict within all agencies’ offices or anywhere within a holding company’s network.

I think this is going too far.  Agencies are not going to share confidential information between offices, particularly when there are NDA's in place. Clients need to trust their agencies.  An agency that is stupid enough to leak confidential information will find themselves without any clients soon enough.

Bottom line: it hurts both clients and agencies.  Clients limit the number of agencies they can work with, some being the best in the country.  And in turn, agencies are quickly conflicted out of many categories.

It is time these restrictions are lightened.