Agency Openmike

Into The Top 10 With A Bullet

2011-08-24T13:25:00.003+01:00

This is the blog I ran between Summer 2009 and Spring 2011. It used a Jeremy Bullmore-type question and answer format to discuss the various elements of the client-agency relationship within the advertising and marketing marketplace which I had originally tackled in my 2 books.

At that point, I had the time to devote to the questions from friends, colleagues and others who asked my opinion through the blog. Unfortunately, I do not have that time now.

However, although some of my observational pieces are related to particular events, most posts continue to have universal relevance to anyone on the agency side who embraces the challenge of working with clients and internal teams to develop great work.

The various themes can be referenced through the categories on the righthand side-bar. However, here are my Top 10 posts which are perennial subjects for debate. They are in no particular order but they will give you an insight into my approach and may give you an appetite for the other posts:

1. New Business Crash Course
I reviewed a number of books and Jon Steel's Perfect Pitch would be the first book I would recommend for understanding how agencies can win clients.

2. 4 Seconds To Save The World
My peers also consulted me and this talks about how to get to grips with a senior role in client services.

3. Son, You Can't Handle An Idea!
I love this spoof video which introduces the subject of evaluating creative work.

4. Art Nazi
Talking of developing creative work, this post hopes to help people dealing with internal teams and creative directors.

5. Old World Thinking
And while we are on the subject of collaboration, working with other agencies can be pleasure or a nightmare. This post discusses how to avoid some of the pitfalls.

6. Difficult Staff Conversations
Here someone asked for me for advice around making staff redundant.

7.Pulp Fiction
This tackles crisis management - whether major or minor.

8. Start As You Mean To Go On
Here the AD on a new account looked for tips about getting to grips with a new client and extending the honeymoon phase

9. Principals Up In Smoke?
A friend asked me about introducing a contraversial account into the agency (ie tobacco) fearing what it would do to the culture of a nascent agency.

10. I Didn't Have Time So I Wrote You A Long Answer
I always tried to inject a bit of light-heartedness into AgencyOpenmike and this post about time management contains one of my favourite short films.

A Timex Watch in a Digital Age

2011-02-19T11:55:00.007Z

I have admit to defeat re current workload and tell you that I have decided to mothball Agency Openmike until I can dedicate a bit more time to it. Thanks for all the support, questions and comments so far. I really enjoy working on the blog when I do have the time - I get the same kick out of writing it as I did with the books but it also stares out from my browser bookmarks as if a neglected offspring. So I need to pack it off to camp for a bit so I can concentrate on a few work and non-work things.

Film Four keeps running Die Hard 4.0 and I am sucker for this film. You could say that John McClane is proof of a post-digital world. I therefore leave you with a bit of Credence, some preposterous scenarios and the lingering hope that there is going to be a new instalment.

Management Schizoprehenia!

2010-11-10T08:40:00.001Z

Following last week's question, I saw Tom Fishburne's cartoon of the 8 types of manager. I think I should have warned my new team at Digitas that I am all these types!

Heeding The Warning Signs Early

2010-11-01T08:35:00.002Z

I am tearing my hair out about a situation at work. Our Group Account Director has moved a senior account director onto our account. I have just been appointed an account director and instead of overseeing my area and another account director’s, she is spending all her time on my side as she has little experience in the other area. She is arrogant, insensitive and keeps saying things about my performance. It is starting to make me question my work which was never the case before. I have spoken to the GAD who I get on well with but he is burying his head in the sand and hoping the problem will go away. The account director agrees with me but she is not affected. It is getting worse because the SAD is disrupting the team and saying things which imply that they are not doing their job (not the case) and that we should all be lucky that she is on the account to sort it out. As the client has said that things do need to improve, she does need to sort things out but she is going about it the wrong way and targeting the wrong people. She is a total nightmare and it is driving me to the daily feeling of not wanting to go into work. Help me! What can I do?

A very difficult situation but not uncommon. Your last point is very worrying and that sounds as though you could decide to leave your job because of another person’s incompetence. That’s why I am going to assume a few things and recommend an urgent course of action.

First of all, you need to discuss this with people outside the agency. Just talking about it will act as a bit of therapy but probably better with people outside the business. Make sure you are reading the situation correctly and feel comfortable talking about it a bit more objectively (well as much as you can). Get other people’s views. Also the more you see it as a business issue rather than a reflection of your status, you won’t be so sensitive to the daily interactions with her and you won’t get wound up so much.

Now my next course of recommended action is a very strong one but desperate times call for extreme measures. You will need to feel comfortable with the idea because you will be under the spotlight. However my instinct tells me that if you do not do something now then you will become even more miserable and the account could be put in jeopardy. And the latter point should be your angle. I suggest that you get the support of the other account director who can vouch for the fact the SAD is only doing one part of the job and is upsetting the team. Then convene a meeting with your GAD and Client Services Director (and/or HR depending on structure) and lay out the facts: you seriously believe that her remaining on the account could put the account in danger, the team dynamic is being disrupted and you are so unhappy that you are questioning your future.

This is something you may resist because it is quite hardcore but they obviously rate you as they have just promoted you and would not want to lose you. And most importantly for the CSD and GAD, it will highlight that the account is in jeopardy. Otherwise you could just bury your head in the sand like your GAD and post something on ihatemywork.net (yes there are some very bitter people out there).Good luck!

Thanks to Matt Frederick for the photo

Pulp Fiction

2010-10-04T08:45:00.002+01:00

A former colleague was talking to me the other night about a situation he had that day, namely a big mistake his team was trying to rectify before he had to tell the client. It is too complicated and delicate to elaborate on here but it was reinforced by the story about the American author, Jonathan Franzen, finding out that the English version had printed from an earlier draft and not from the final approved version.

Franzen found this out last week as he was being interviewed and after he had been asked to read a passage from the book. This quite serious author, a contender for the mantle of successor to Updike etc, was not happy – understandably so as he had spent the last 8 years getting it just right. This version of the novel has now been pulped and a partial recall has been made. The Saturday press was full of publishers saying that they were glad that it had not happened on their watch and how sorry for the person who had pushed the button on the wrong version.

In reality I wonder whether in this exceptional case – as within days English readers already have the right version on the shelves – whether this added publicity will not but work in Franzen’s favour. However it reminds us all, in our world of quality checks, version control, and potential nightmare scenarios, that we live in a very fragile world.

We are being told by our crisis management experts in PR that we should expect the worst, plan for the eventuality and be as transparent as possible when it happens. If I were a client and my agency had messed up in some way, I would expect honesty, contrition and fast thinking which could lead to a potential resolution. I would want my agency to stand up and do whatever it took to sort it out. I would not want to find out initially from my colleagues or suppliers. I would not want information withheld – I would need it all in order to manage communications to my colleagues.

So honesty and speed are key. There are times when things are withheld because issues are resolved without having to involve the client; to some extent, that’s why the client pays us to manage a project or campaign – we can take a lot of the pain away in this respect. Yet you have to be sure that it will be not detrimental to the relationship if the client finds out.

Speed is an obvious factor but things become slower when it is not clear whether the fault lies and there are large financial implications in the potential resolution. This is where you will have to involve the client and your MD.

Unfortunately I don’t think my friend’s situation will turn out as successful as Jonathan Franzen’s. All disasters will be different according to the specific circumstances so it is difficult to comment further. Nevertheless what is clear to me from the advice from crisis management experts is that any managers of agency businesses should be scenario planning already – particularly in the areas of data security, client campaign implementation and actions from ex-employees.

Premium Service

2010-09-24T18:34:00.003+01:00

I saw last week’s question and answer and wanted to make an observation. We had a review on a major account and we also had a top score but the client seems to have got even more demanding and I am worried that we will not maintain our score next time as the team are taking a bit of battering from a barrage of unusual requests.

I was talking to my team about this only this last week. Customer service has thresholds like learning a language. Whereas the uninitiated think there is an ultimate pinnacle to learning a language - where you think you will be a 100% fluent at the “end”, it is just like climbing an infinite mountain range. You reach a summit thinking that is the top then a new one comes into view. You become conversant in contemporary Italian but then you realise you don’t know a whole tranche of words to allow you to order your new kitchen.

Likewise, great customer service sets an even higher expectation. I noticed this when I was fortunate enough to stay at the new Soho House in Berlin. Wow, what a great place – they have spent a lot of time and effort to make those staying with them feel very at home. They have made sure it is a great customer experience. Every bathroom cosmetic possible, individually styled rooms, staff ready to act on every request. So then it makes you start asking for the unusual. And more pertinently, when something that you think would be a basic hygiene factor (in my case, light enough in the bathroom to have a decent shave – not the mood lighting which thwarted me), you get a bit petulant. This is what happens when you, as the service provider, raise the stakes or are acknowledged as a provider of a premium service; your customers or clients expect more and/or want more.

So my advice would be to involve the client post-review, get a sense of what you should be focussing on and understand whether these requests will keep on coming. If so, you should make her/him aware of the practicalities of delivering them while delivering “business as usual” activity. They may not be consciously doing this but at least a conversation will help them understand what trade-offs need to be considered.

Keep Keeping On

2010-09-13T08:54:00.004+01:00

We have just had an independent agency assessment commissioned by the client and we got an amazingly good score. We have worked really hard to get this. What do we do next to keep things so positive?

First of all, congratulations. It is a phenomenal achievement in these times. I don’t know how long you have had the account but considering you are as only good as your recent history, this is very good.

Something very important is to make sure all the team and agency are aware of the results. You should be openly celebrating such success so people understand how the account leads and/or management are appreciative of such results. It may sound obvious but in these busy times it is often put aside to get on with more pressing matters. Party and enjoy the moment.

Thinking of how to continue the momentum:

1) Share the detailed results with the wider team so they know what they have achieved and - focusing on the future - in order for them to grasp what is working and what needs to be improved. I think this should be done face to face so various aspects can be debated.

2) Talk to the other agencies who have been assessed so you know where you stand in the ranking and what they have to concentrate on. OK they may not tell you everything but there may be some common ground where you can combine forces and help each other and the client.

3) Be very clear what is working and what needs to be worked on. Put together an account plan which picks up on these areas and make sure that management sign up to it as there could be some resource or cost factors which you will need approval on.

4) If there have been a number of clients inputting into the assessment, make sure you thank them for their assessment (it doesn’t cost anything but it makes them feel part of the success).

5) Make sure you merchandise this with other contacts in the business who you do not work with. It could have a positive effect.

6) Don’t rest on your laurels – it is a very fickle, competitive marketplace. Put quarterly checks in place for monitoring the progress. And make sure you keep keeping on with the good work.

Pop-Up Post

2010-08-27T12:38:00.002+01:00

I have been off a few weeks under the guise of cycling in France though actually wine-tasting seemed the major activity. In one of the few serious cycling moments in the Alps, trying to juxtapose my successful performance up the 1400m ascent from Morzine to Alvoriaz with Lance’s pitiful efforts on this stage where his chances for the Tour were blown, I was thinking of the Rapha pop-up shops in London and New York. (yeah if we rewind on that last sentence - people with any knowledge of cycling will know that I cannot compare a morning’s ascent up a big hill with the three weeks of gruelling effort which those riders put in - but hey that’s how us wine-tasters see things.)

Anyway when I felt my lungs were not going to implode and I had taken enough Class A energy gels to get me to a point when I could drift off into inner thought, the success of Rapha, the cycle brand, was on my mind. I have mentioned them before in a previous post but for an online brand they just don’t seem to be putting a foot wrong in either virtual or physical worlds.

The challenge for any brand which does the majority of its business online is to make itself visible and tangible to its prospects and customers beyond its website. Rapha have an easier task as the visibility of cyclewear can do this for them but they have not stopped there. This summer they decided to launch temporary shops in London and New York. These were less clothes shops and more like meeting places for cyclists with a coffee shop on-site, an exhibition space, access to tv coverage of various cycle races and yes a few Rapha products to sample and purchase.

I think Antidote designed the space in London and it took the passion, history and beauty of cycling and brought it to life as part of the Rapha brand experience. Also the essence of a pop-up shop makes the visitor feels they are living on a precious time and it gave me a very privileged feel for I was lucky enough to be working around the corner whereas I know there are a number of cycle enthusiasts in Sheffield or Manchester who would have loved such a space.

Yet I think a lot of other brands can learn from the way they approach things. It does not have to be “enthusiast” brands which only operate in this way. It’s the vision of the brand owner not to be boxed in online and the ability to tap in to other brands and experiences which target their customers. I notice that Rapha is now teaming up with Paul Smith on some clothes designs and have just produced some short films with Ridley Scott. Going back to basics, it's just about servicing your customers in the way they want to be treated and surprising them with what will delight them. But how you do that differentiates you from the competition.

I also spoke to James Fairbank on the last day of the London shop. He is in charge of Rapha marketing and he told me that it had been a big success – both in terms of sales and as a brand extension. I am not surprised – they definitely get my vote.

Coming Up For Air

2010-07-12T15:25:00.002+01:00

It’s nearly a year since I started Openmike so I had a look through a few posts to work out what I had learnt.

My first post was on the 20th July with Prêt à Porter which, considering I was just wanting to show a bit of initial lightheartedness, seemed to hit a serious chord with people. In fact I have been in two recent conversations about the subject of work attire where I was representing the more liberal viewpoint. And funnily enough I don’t think whether you see contemporary lack of formalwear as abhorrent or something to be aspired to is anything to do with age. As I said most pretentiously in the post, we live in post-modern times.

Quite a few questions this last year relate to the account handler’s relationship with the creative department and the ensuing frustrations. That tranche of questions can be found here and you need to check out the A Few Good Men spoof which I have only just recently come across.

The business book I most enjoyed reading was Jon Steel’s Perfect Pitch, about the drive for new business, and I was glad that I had the chance through email to tell Jon directly how good that book is.

Doing the blog has opened my eyes to other blogs though interestingly I have noticed quite a few have slowed down, stopped entirely or moved their content into other areas. Adverblog is a daily inspiration but feels more like a slick commercial venture. So my award for best other homespun blog goes to Dave Mance’s Real Men Write Long Copy. He is very funny, consistently present and the only person I know who has related pitching to premature ejaculation.

I totally understand why a few bloggers have lost steam – it is another commitment fighting against work and personal life, sometimes a busman’s holiday and - when you know you need to overhaul some parts of the site - often gnaws on your conscience like peeling wallpaper.

So thinking back to a year ago when I had no clue even know how to publish a post or once I had embarked on it whether I would get beyond Christmas, it feels a good thing to have done. It definitely pushes my thinking and hopefully helps those who read it.

2010-06-23T08:24:00.001+01:00

I have just come back from 6 months off travelling. I am currently freelancing as an account director but since I have come back, my boyfriend and I are thinking of moving back to Bristol as after the space of travelling we are feeling claustrophobic in London. Is this a good time to look for a job elsewhere? My boyfriend is not convinced.

I haven’t worked in Bristol but have worked for London agencies with a Bristol office. Also I have clients in Bristol and funnily enough an old colleague has just moved there. You are the best to decide depending on your circumstances but you should bear in mind the following:

1) The chances of you both getting ideal jobs will be quite small just because the opportunities are more limited as you know.

2) I don’t know whether you have worked in Bristol agencies before and where you are now but my ex-colleague’s experience is worth mentioning. The agency he moved to was very interested in his big agency experience but not having worked in a small agency before, he did not realise that he would be not only fulfilling the account director role but an account manager role too and also changing the photocopier toner when necessary. Which is more typical for a small agency.

3) Bristol has a wealth of financial services companies so previous experience will be invaluable.

4) You need to seal contact with the recruitment consultants in the area. I hear good things about Direct Experience so this may be a starting point.

5) I hear at the moment that there are probably more client jobs going than agency jobs so you should give this consideration.
I have a lot of time for the companies I deal with in Bristol. For example Unigraph I think is a really strong operator. So there are some quality companies there but back to your original question, times are tough –particularly for agencies for less critical mass than those in London so you may have freelance to get a foot in the door.

Good luck.

4 Seconds to Save the World

2010-06-15T08:46:00.004+01:00

Mike, I am just about to take up a post as head of the account handling resource in a small integrated agency. Having worked with you, I wondered whether you had advice for what I should be doing in my first month. I want to make a difference quickly.

Oh yes. “New girl” syndrome at a more senior level is a bit more difficult. Remember those more junior halcyon days when nobody expected you to prove yourself in the first week because you were just learning the ropes in the new account manager role. Now you are faced with everybody trying to work out on the first day whether you are any good, what your appointment means for them and whether you are going to fire them or give them that pay rise they have been expecting for the last 6 months.

I remember in my first job that we had a new marketing manager start and at the end of the first day he very gracefully shouted across the small office thanks to people for making his first day so easy. Having gained the attention of the whole office, he then proceeded to exit into the fuse cupboard rather than the main door.

It is an enduring image of minor embarrassment but it has always stayed with me showing me that your first days can be fraught with the tension of such potential traps. So when you arrive at a new agency at a senior level with a certain amount of expectation, you have to be ready to hit the ground running very quickly to secure the confidence of your colleagues and clients.

Here would be my 5 point plan as a rough guide to the terrain:

1. Look at the data
The best source of info which is going to tell you more about the state of play of your team is the income, utilisation and profitability figures. They will, in association with any client account plans and customer satisfaction surveys, give you invaluable pointers on your some of your future priorities. Have you got the right shape of team on the business? Where should you directing your efforts? Are there some major issues around the corner?

2. Talk to the clients
In your first few days you are going to have a lot of staff giving you their opinions about the clients, the work and the agency. I personally would go straight to the clients and get their views as their opinions – albeit just as subjective – are definitely more defining. What do they think of the agency as a business partner? Who do they rate on the team? What do they think of the work, process, agency costs etc? Where are the opportunities, issues etc?

3. Identify the players
No doubt you will be spending some time with the creative director to understand the work? But who else is key? Planning Director? Financial Director? Head of Project Management? And who are the less obvious influential characters – the receptionist, the CEO’s PA, Head of HR, the social secretary?

4. Understand what makes the agency tick
An agency is an organism made up of an internal culture of values, personalities and practices. Get to grips with this quickly. Where does information exchange really go on? Down the pub at Friday lunchtime? In the kitchen? Who are the real opinion formers in your department? Is the culture determined by a few personalities?

5. Set out your stall
Your client services guys may be looking for the leadership you will provide. They may however be very cynical about your role - as the last person who they really liked got fired. They need to know who you are and what you are going to do for them. Meet them individually so you can get up to speed with them and their accounts. But then convene a departmental meeting and in brief terms give them your view and what your plan is going to be. Knowing you, you will get them on your side every easily. So don’t take too long in doing this as the waiting and uncertainty can cause inertia and ructions which can be very counter-productive.

Son, You Can't Handle An Idea!

2010-06-07T08:40:00.004+01:00

I have just started in my new agency and I am looking for tips how to evaluate creative work. Nobody asks my opinion in WIPs yet but I want to get to a point quickly that I can talk about the work with some sense of knowing what I am on about. Some of the concepts presented I get right away but others I struggle with to know whether the client will like them. My boss and the creative director make it look so easy.

This takes time and experience but there are a few shortcuts which will help you. What you trying to achieve is judgement based on knowledge of the brief and objectivity as the person evaluating the creative work.

Life is pretty hectic in agencies as we know and it is not unusual for people to forget to remind themselves of the brief. As someone learning the ropes, make sure you have re-read the brief and have the proposition in the forefront of your mind when you go into the WIP.

I talk about objectivity for clients when evaluating work in Working with Agencies – Chapter 5 (yes, this is a shameless bookplug) and the principles are the same. You are looking at the creative from the perspective of 1) a strategist, 2) a consumer and also 3) the client.

As a strategist you are looking at the work in terms of: Is it on brief/brand/proposition? Is it differentiating?

Putting yourself in the shoes of the target audience, you are looking at the work in terms of : Do I ‘get’ the work straightaway? What does it give me? (A new way of looking at the brand? Entertainment? Exclusive content? Intellectual satisfaction?) What insight about me, the target audience, does the work draw on? Am I inspired and motivated by the idea What does it ask me to do – is it reasonable?

From the client’s perspective, you are looking at the work in terms of: Have we done anything like this before? Is the work on brand guidelines? Can it be produced within the timeline and the budget?

This is all theoretical and correct. But you need to feed your perspectives with real life examples. A good way to do this is through a number of sources such the media your clients’ customers consumer (to put yourself in their shoes) Adverblog, creative award annuals and The FWA (for understanding of impactful creative work), the trade press and Google Alerts (relating to your client’s business.

Also observe how the creative director and your boss approach work. They no doubt can help you get you to the point you want. And your creative director hopefully won't be as harsh as our friend Jack!

Random Thoughts from the Back of the Room

2010-05-27T08:40:00.003+01:00

I attended a breakfast seminar to launch my friend’s new book – Creative Strategy. If the strong style and substance of the discussion reflects the content of the book, then it should be a good read. It explores the relationship between creativity in business and vice versa, The contributions to the discussion yesterday by Sir George Cox, ex Chair of The Design Council and Vikki Heywood, the Executive Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company were particularly impressive.

Two thoughts occurred to me while listening to both the panel and the audience who were made up of academics, those from arts and business quangos, business people etc.

One was that these guys knew how to express and talk richly about an idea.

And in stark contrast, in agencyland we pay lipservice to the idea of the “idea” but not only some of the ideas are not that rich in content but there are a lot of people who cannot communicate an idea adequately enough to convince a client of its relevance. Maybe we should be looking outside the industry in the arts, education and philosophy to be able to do this better. You'll see some good examples in recent TED vids.

And the other thought was around recession and recruitment - what other less obvious characteristics define a recessionary time?

It is acknowledged that good emerging companies take risks and seize opportunities in a recessionary marketplace which can be quite nervous otherwise; small companies can become big and strong through sharpening their teeth in a recession. Nothing new there - think of all the successful agency start-ups that thrived in previous such times to become recognised brands: Rainey Kelly, Partners Andrews Aldridge, Naked are just three examples that spring to mind. This is true of clients as well - it's all about the confidence and about the desire to build a better moustrap for customers and the excitement around doing so.

What was touched on in the breakfast seminar was the difficulty of recruiting the right skills for the emerging companies. And I got to thinking of this phenomenon may be a characteristic of a recession. And this is what I am hearing throughout our industry - those agencies that are doing well are looking to fill important roles but there is a lot of nervousness among those who would be potentially be looking so there are fewer candidates out there. In the meantime, the roles are not being filled and the agencies are not doing as well as they could be. The really good companies still manage to attract new recruits as well they do new clients. But those a level down - not so maybe high-profile - are suffering through lack of high quality candidates. So maybe recruitment consultants hold the key to our short term success if they concentrated their efforts on the harder briefs?

Just a thought ..or two.

Account Man's Best Friend

2010-05-18T08:40:00.003+01:00

I am the account director and my boss expects me to responsible for all aspects of the account but the creative director goes off and racks up a whole of time by doubling the number of teams working on a job or dumping a whole load of his time on my account job numbers. I don’t have a great relationship with him, he is a partner in the business and yet he seems to be unaware of profitability issues. He is making my job a misery – what should I do?

This is similar to a previous question which I answered last year. Have a look at the previous post but let me look at things specific to your question:

Firstly don’t take it personally. Just see it as something that needs sorting out like if a process is not working out. It would be very easy to slip into the trap of demonising him when in fact he should be your best friend. As you know, we can be extremely buttoned down account handlers working our hearts out on the client relationship, but what will really excite and inspire clients is the creative work and a good creative director can come in with all his/her non-account handling techniques and make all that happen. So you need to allow that creative spirit to flourish – with the client and within the account team.

However, you seem to have a tough situation. A partner in the business who is not conscious of profitability and someone to boot who does not know that his client services staff can be such strong allies in the pursuit of good creative work (if treated correctly) sounds very old-school.

You obviously need a conversation with him but you will need to couch it in his terms. Therefore anything which gets better work through the client, makes him look personally good and his department more famous is something he will listen to.
He may not realise what his actions are doing to the account profitability. A few choice examples may show him that he won’t be able to afford his new Harley at the end of the year if money is being wasted in this way.

Don’t forget there is going to be a healthy tension between an account director’s view of tidy finances and the desire to do speculative creative work. I find if that the rules for creating speculative work to excite the client can be agreed within teams, then some of the tensions are dissipated. And the account planning process can make sure that everyone is in agreement why speculative work should be undertaken and to what budget.

The account planning process also allows you to expose some of the issues to the wider management team and get agreement on how much time is going to be invested in new areas – without giving the creative director the impression you are ratting on him to his peers.

Experiment with these ideas. And good luck - just see it as an easier form of liontaming...

The Pitch Aftermath Will Not Be Televised

2010-05-10T08:41:00.001+01:00

We’ve just lost one of our main flagship accounts. I am not affected directly but it is obvious that they will have to make redundancies or people will leave through TUPE. I was thinking of moving on next year as I am fairly enjoying the work but not immensely. Should I think about leaving now as things are going to change for the worse in the next few months?

This is one of the typical times people review their own current job situation. Your question coincided with the news this week about the Virgin Media pitch – sad news for my old friends at Rapier (I thought their Samuel L. Jackson “The Revolution will not be Televised” style TV ads a few years back were particularly impressive) but exciting times for other friends of mine at DDB. And that’s the thing about these things – all is fair in love, war and pitches. Some agency’s loss is another’s massive gain.

At this stage of the year, the DDB management team will be very pleased with fulfilling a good chunk of their new business target and welcome the headache of resourcing such an account. Rapier on the other hand will be working out what it does for their income, morale and their new business drive.

In your situation, you are maybe using an external factor to accelerate your jobhunting. It doesn’t sound as though you are massively happy on the account so it is highlighting an issue. However I would look closely at whether it is the account or agency which is not working for you. If it is the agency, then yes you should think about moving as the forthcoming months will require a tenacity from you as a loyal employee; the agency will undoubtedly dip for a few months but the good agencies bounce back and sometimes the energy that a replacement account brings makes things even better. So it may be worth staying – in fact there may be new opportunities for you.

However if you are thinking of moving, then bear in mind that in addition to those whose jobs are directly affected by the loss, there will be others in your agency who will be dusting off their cvs. When recruiting for new roles, I have often encountered a glut of cvs from one agency which is either imploding or affected by a big loss. And because of this it is probably inevitable that your cvs will be viewed collectively rather than individually. In fact last month I interviewed separately two candidates from the same agency working on the same account and it was interesting to see where their stories agreed and diverged.

If you do decide on moving, maybe apply directly to the winning agency who took the account off your agency or DDB and Rapp. I am sure they are on the lookout for good people.

Lance, It’s Not About the Client

2010-04-15T08:45:00.007+01:00

I recently took up cycling to compete in a Cape Town race which my best friend persuaded me to do. You can see my surprising efforts at the photoblog, Bike Openmike. Having got into it and thinking about this blog, I was interested in what I have learnt that it is relevant for agency client services:

a) You cannot ignore the phenomenon of Lance Armstrong if you touch any part of cycling. It tickled me to know that I was racing against him in South Africa but we knew he would be back in his hotel having his second breakfast by the time we reached our first pitstop. I have not read his book (I was surprised that quite a few non-cycling women have) but know his story. What I take from him is his dogged adherence to a vision which secured him those victories. In the above staggering footage, there are scenes of true adversity where he just gets back on the bike and pursues his goals (not even to mention the recovery from cancer). I was thinking in these tough times for agencies where it is a buyer’s market, we have not spent enough time selling and reselling in our vision (creative, strategic, technological etc). This means that we are being blown off track by a myriad client comments. Maybe we should regroup and relook with the client at what the vision should be and then have the rationale to stick to our goals more.

b) “Train as you mean to play”. I remember Brian O’Driscoll saying this years ago in a documentary about the British and Irish Lions. It’s just as true as for cycling. You need to put in the hard work and use the equipment that you intend to use in the race. Then when something unexpected happens, you are only looking at one new variable. This can be translated into rehearsing for pitches (no, really rehearsing for pitches), exploring cost conversations with clients extensively with colleagues before you have them with the client, writing creative rationales before you present (rather when you send the concepts after the meeting) etc.

c) Cycling is obviously in the zeitgeist currently. Whether we are talking about riding to work or our Olympic team's performances, it’s amazing sometimes to see an idea converge around the areas of health, environment, return to childhood, male obsession with gadgets, girlpower etc - and motivate so many people. How are we using real understanding of what consumers are thinking generally about themselves and society. Are we targeting our research too narrowly to inform our work?

d) We all go on about social media, networking, word of mouth etc. Just have a look at some of those bike blogs - Velodramatic, London Cyclist, Pedal Strike. This is where real opinion is being influenced and products being promoted. Let’s forget about suggesting it like it was a media option and understand how we can develop the brand strategy to create useful content.

e) We also could do worse by studying how brands and sites like Rapha and Wiggle are clearing up out there. Sure, they are tapping into a passion rather a boring ISA product but they still need to make money – Wiggle after 10 years distributes in 70 countries and is a great British business success.

OK, enough about cycling...

Old World Thinking

2010-04-06T08:45:00.003+01:00

We are the direct marketing agency working with the ATL agency on a joint client. (We do the DM and digital). What is obvious is that we have a really difficult relationship with them. We often get emails with sentiments like “We’re the lead agency and these are our comments on your concepts”. It is making it difficult for my team. Any thoughts?

This is not an uncommon situation. Historically, ATL agencies have been the lead agency, others have felt the poor cousin in the client relationship and the client has propagated this. Yet with the need to engage customers different ways, all bets are off as to how to structure a number of agencies to deliver this for a client. Nevertheless, there are still some anachronistic attitudes between agencies. I find that they can often be promoted by the junior members of the team and these can be the most overt, annoying attitudes. Also the fact that you are the digital agency (not sure what this covers) will cause predatory actions by the ATL agency unless checked by the client.

As ever, I would suggest a 3-pronged approach. (well, come on – 3 things are easy to remember than 4!):

1) The one party who can change the dynamic in your relationship most with the other agency is the client. I appreciate that it may not be just one client contact we are talking about. However if you can influence that person/the relevant people, then you will make the greatest change. The senior member on your team needs to see whether the client is sympathetic to helping - by establishing some operating groundrules which will change the status quo. For example the overall campaign brief – do you feed into this? And does the other agency need to take on board your comments? If you can influence the brief you have a better chance of agreeing common ground (and the differences per media) before you ever start any creative.
It may be you have some radical groundwork to do before the client will help you for they see you in a too traditional way. What can you do to show your thinking is worthy of seat at the table? Added-value thought pieces? Name-checking case studies in your field which make the clients and other agencies think about approaching the customer differently? Suggesting taking the lead where your discipline is the dominant one? If the other agency sees the client responding to this differently , they may see you in a different light as well.

2) In addition, your account lead needs to sit with the ATL agency lead and have a one-to-one session which is rooted in an honesty about the perceptions on your side. Recently this has worked with an account I was involved in – particularly as we both knew that the client wanted us to sort out a better collaborative style. Beforehand your team should sit down with her/him and provide him not only with examples but with solutions as to how it can work better. Can you rework the process to work better together? Who are the worst proponents of this snobbish attitude? How can you avoid any territory disputes? (Better to bring this all out then keep it buried.) And to your point, how should feedback on creative concepts be handled?

3) Often when you feel the “poor cousin”, then it is a self-fulfilling prophesy where the “chip on your shoulder” grows bigger with every encounter. How can you, yourselves, break out of this perceptual cycle with the agency? How can you take the lead without making it a territory thing? Invite the team around for a social session (maybe with the client to ensure attendance), create a presentation around a particular area which they would benefit from, make their life easier (eg go to their offices for meetings for a while). Here the point is that you might be creating the situation by your actions – what can you do to change their perceptions?

Hope this helps. A video doing the rounds currently (no doubt promoted by all those “poor cousins”) may be some consolation. More importantly, your team needs to make sure it that its thinking is not from the Stone Age too:

The Last Advertising Agency On Earth from FITC on Vimeo.

Square Peg?

2010-03-25T08:43:00.003Z

I am recruiting and I have a very strong candidate but I am not sure that they will fit in with the culture of our agency. How important is this versus the skillset they could bring? We are desperate and I know the candidate will work well with the client.

Difficult situation indeed but if you can recognise this at such early stage then you are sensing problems down the line. You need to think about 3 months hence and what will your colleagues will be saying about this person and who will be saying it. Will the opinion formers in the agency be on his/her side? What will the board say about them? It seems to me that you can sense what they will be saying.

It all really depends on whether you are trying change the culture of the agency yourself and that person will be driver of such change. However no one person can shoulder such weight. It would have to be as part of a change which management and the agency had bought into.

We saw these culture shifts some time ago when comms planning or data planning were instituted into the fabric of certain agencies. More recently with digital being integrated into more traditional agency skills. There was a good deal of pain and failure in certain cases where the combination was an unproductive cocktail. Networks are littered with such memories.

Back to your personal situation, my recommendation would be to keep looking and source with a freelancer. I took someone on who I knew was of a different cut to the agency and regretted it because I spent more time trying to mop all the debris it caused. I had carefully involved the board and all the key players but I still felt it reflected on my decision-making than theirs. So keep looking. You may have to get colleagues’ recommendations rather than cvs from recruitment consultants as currently it seems as though good people are not actively looking –they are battening down the hatches – but they could be tempted by an exciting challenge.

Gone Cycling

2010-03-11T08:31:00.002Z

360 or Third Degree?

2010-03-04T08:43:00.006Z

We are being asked by the client to co-fund our agency performance evaluation by a specialist consultancy. I don’t think it is a bad idea but what is the norm? Do you think we should be paying?

Funnily enough I am in a similar situation with a client of mine (maybe the same client?). To answer your first question, my experience is that larger clients apart from some of the FMCG clients will have an agency evaluation process in place but they tend to do it in-house. And it is only when there is an issue, do they bring in an outside specialist.

I think if they expect you to jointly co-fund the evaluation, you should have a say as how it is done and who is used. Now this may cause the client a problem because presumably they want to use a common approach and company across all their agencies. However, surely your money gives you a voice? And consequently the evaluation company should see you as an important stakeholder.

In essence, as long as it is not horrendously expensive, there are more pros for independent evaluation than cons. There is more objectivity (especially when linked to performance bonus) and such consultancies are constantly enhancing their methodologies to evaluate service companies and they also have access to a database of market standards through their work with other agencies and clients.

All these things considered you have to weigh up the cost of co-funding and what it can bring your agency – extra performance bonus, stronger reputation and/or a clearer direction for you to improve your service. Maybe it will also give a few pointers as to how the clients could polish up their act?!

Telecon Rhetoric

2010-02-25T08:40:00.005Z

So I have a question but I don’t need an answer to my rhetoric question: Are we spending more time on teleconferences rather than in face to face client meetings where we can develop stronger relationships and have the luxury of discussing knottier problems?
It makes sense for clients in multi-locations but although it speeds things up it has a number of disadvantages apart from the two already mentioned. Really the issue I struggle with is that there is a lot of unwritten protocol about telecons which is being ignored with this need for speed. How many times are we on calls when we don’t quite know who the others are? How often does the conference organiser take control of the telecon by making sure everyone is briefed of the meeting objectives in advance , making sure everyone has a say and providing the documents to be discussed well in advance so it can be a productive conversation.
Often with so many people on the line it is a very cold clinical conversation whereas in a face to face meeting things would warm up. The last time I had a laugh on a call was when some wag when dialing in announced himself as Sir Martin Sorrell. It suddenly got everyone’s attention but that was a while back.
My plea to clients and agency folk alike is to use them wisely.
Please – it is doing my head in!

I agree. I think Tom Fishburne's recent cartoon above also highlights another aspect.

More Mythology, Analogy and Mixology

2010-02-18T08:39:00.011Z

We’re working on a major rebrand project for a client split across two geographic locations, with three separate, all equally significant, lines of report. There are a range of different tasks and budgets involved, so the ‘project’ is, in fact, a number of separate interlinked projects, requiring a number of different project managers, conversations etc. We have set up a weekly status telecon but it’s not delivering the goods, with the result that we’re spending more and more time ironing out details and agreements between the different parties. Needless to say there’s a healthy dollop of politics in the mix which also requires constant management. So what do we do? How are we going to stop this many-headed beast from swallowing us whole?

As Prince Charles and The City Beat Gang sang in pre-iPod days “War is a game of chess” and I was reminded of this cheesy refrain when I read your question. You have a very difficult situation and to be successful you need to operate in this constrained framework in a way chess players would formulate their strategy and put their pieces in place.

I sympathise with you as the many-headed beast you describe is less of the Cerberus in the last posting (purely coincidental to your description) and more of a Hydra – not sure where this surge of classical mythology has come from but let’s go with it - even it is a weird cocktail with the 80s music reference.

1) If I remember correctly, the Hydra that Hercules had to conquer was a tricky beast with 9 heads but there was one head which was key to its survival. You have to work out which decision maker to target so that all the other ones will fall in line. I think it is in the nature of some account handlers in certain types of agencies to try to please all the clients - tiptoeing through the politics and trying to steer the work through the dynamics of the many decision-makers. In my experience, a lot of good ATL guys are quite single-minded and solely target the big cheese, knowing they will get the work through if they convince the right person as everyone else will fall in line. I don’t always admire the means by which it is done but I respect the efficiency of the result. I think it is the bane of brand agencies to have to deal with a number of clients with conflicting interests but you may benefit from this type of singlemindedness.

2) You may have put in place a weekly status but the number of people involved and the level of those attending may mean that no strong direction and little decision-making will happen and that type of telecon just sucks up the energy and time of a project. I wonder whether you could suggest a higher level weekly status (not called that though) where the senior team get updated on the progress and are consulted on particular decisions which allow the project to keep on track in terms of objectives, budget and timings.

3) It may also be stating the bleeding-obvious but with the project being multi-headed then concentrate on the important – ie what is going to make the biggest difference to success and prioritise accordingly. It is easy to lose sight of this. Keep the client constantly reminded of the objectives and the agreed route to achieve them.

4) Also it may be too late but don’t let the creative work become the instrument to solve conflicting business issues. If you can resolve any such business discussions before the creative is shown you have a better to chance to get multi-lateral acceptance.

5) And finally because I know it is easy for me to theorise and harder for you to deliver with the practicalities of location and internal politics, make sure you always have a good bottle of Chablis chilling in the fridge for when you have escaped the monsters.

Many Headed Client

2010-02-12T08:00:00.002Z

Our main client contact is a control freak and won’t allow the agency to have contact with any of their more senior colleagues. This is born out of fear that they will lose control of the work we have been briefed to do, but it’s affecting our ability create a meaningful, trusting and financially rewarding relationship with this client. How can we address this?

You have a guard-dog guarding the senior decision maker like Cerberus guarded Hades – to add a bit classical imagery – something no doubt Rory Sutherland would allude to if he were answering your question but much more eloquently. In various versions, Cerberus is overcome by doped honeycakes, wooed by enchanting music and enslaved in chains. I think with your difficult gatekeeper client I would use stealth tactics rather than overt aggressive behaviour. So rather than state that you are going to go to the senior client as it is your right as a commissioned agency, you need to employ more subtle methods.

Presumably you need to initiate a real relationship with the client before you can start an ongoing dialogue. Yes, this person may have sat on the pitch who appointed you but it doesn’t mean that you necessarily have a relationship with them. So how do you start this? Well back to the doped honeycakes and enchanting music. This is where I believe client hospitality can play a role. First of all do your homework – what is the senior client into rugby, rock music, opera, golf? Then put an invitation together which would appeal to the senior client and your Cerberus client (you do not want this person’s nose out of joint with an exclusive invite just for the senior client). Then put together a team from your side, choose your best shot to seal a connection with the client and make sure you have a few people to cover off your regular client.

If the client does not take up the traditional hospitality route or you feel it is not appropriate, invite them to an interesting seminar or maybe appeal to the professional ego: ask him/her to speak at a joint client seminar held at the agency (attended by other clients) on a theme you know they would be comfortable with.

Once you have sealed a connection, then the excuses for an ongoing dialogue are easier – regular one to one meetings with your senior equivalent, joint agency/client planning meetings, agency performance reviews etc.

PS Talking about Rory Sutherland you may have seen other blogs referencing his TED talk. You have to check it out – it’s a top performance and a great score for the IPA.

D.I.V.O.R.C.E?

2010-02-05T08:47:00.001Z

We have got to the end of our tether with a client of ours. The relationship is not significant financially at the moment, the work is tedious (as our staff keep reminding us) and they expect a lot for very little. We have a rolling contract with them, so should we just walk away?

This is similar territory to the question about taking on a tobacco account and having the agency split into two by the ethics of the situation. Both situations are undermining the spirit and energy of the agency.

Having been faced with similar clients before and knowing the downward spiral just continues, I would advise cutting your losses and getting out quick and focusing your energies on new, more productive clients. But that is easy for me to say without knowing whether in these times something for the agency is better than nothing and that also you are not contractually in risk.

Based on the assumption that you can get out of the relationship easily and are not gaining anything financially from having the account – which you sort of say in your question – I would make sure beforehand that you consult with the main client contact to see if there is anything that can be fixed. It also allows you to flag that there are problems and that from a business perspective, it is not sustainable. So what you are doing is preparing the client for a potential “it’s not working” conversation later on. Consequently, if you do have that conversation, it will not come out of the blue, it will not appear arrogant (as there is business sense behind it) and you may be able to leave the door open for projects which play to your skills and will work for you financially.

Difficult Staff Conversations

2010-01-29T18:00:00.000Z

My boyfriend in another agency has to let someone in his team go because they are not cutting it in their probation. Any tips for him?

I was thinking about making agency people redundant when I saw Up in the Air recently. George Clooney is a hired hand who travels the States, gaining a ridiculous number of airmiles and delivers the bad news to corporate employees.

In a way, being emotionally detached from the employees makes it easier but I think because of the detachment you would be the focus of the anger of the alienated staff too – I would expect a lot of car damage in that job. I am also reminded of a friend of a friend who was head of HR at the European HQ of a Silicon Valley company. He and his North American equivalent had to make a number of wide-ranging redundancies. My friend’s friend was luckier than his Californian colleague – one US employee demanded an appeal meeting with the head of HR after being told he was being made redundant and took a gun out and killed two people.

I mention these “upbeat” stories not to scare your boyfriend but to show we cannot forget that we are dealing with people’s lives, aspirations and livelihoods here. Also you cannot predict how people will react – maybe not with a gun but when I have been involved in such conversations, I am aware that people shut down and not always hear all that is said – it is a shock response. Therefore your boyfriend needs to display extreme sensitivity and phrase things in a very clear way.

The first questions that come flooding into one’s mind when one hears such news are “Why – what could I have done differently?” “How am I going to pay the rent?” “ What am I going to tell my family and friends?” Consequently, you need to bear in mind that you have to give a plausible rationale to the employee so they can process it emotionally. When it is an agency financial decision, it is easier – a case of the old “It’s not you, it’s me.” In this situation, where it is poor performance, although no doubt you can wrap it up in a financial excuse, I think you are better to address the real performance problem. – this is fairer for the employee’s future career. This means talking about what’s not working but not to the extent that the poor junior is bereft of all self-confidence.

Your boyfriend will need to involve HR in the meeting and make sure what he is doing is right according to employment law and right for the individual situation. This is when you need to make sure everything is by the book. I remember at a previous agency that someone tried to let someone go in their probationary period and then afterwards the employee rocked up with a letter from the dippy HR assistant confirming the probationary period was over a month before. Talking to HR can help you prepare how you phrase things and if your boyfriend has never done this sort of thing before, he should rehearse it in advance. What am I saying? I think even if you are a seasoned pro, you should rehearse it. The employee deserves this and and you will feel better afterwards having done it in a way that is sensitive and fair to everyone. Oh and choose your location wisely – the goldfish bowl meeting room in the centre of the agency is probably not the best place.

So in summary I would suggest he:

1) Involve HR and prepare for the meeting extensively

2) Be clear and sensitive in what is said

3) Be prepared for irrational reactions

It’s going to be one of those years where performance and financials is going to be under scrutiny so no doubt there will a number of these conversations throughout agencyland. Best of luck! And Up in the Air is just worth watching for those air travel tips - think again who you queue up behind in the security checks!

Fact or Friction?

2010-01-18T20:27:00.005Z

Our account manager and our client are not seeing eye to eye and there is a lot of friction. The client wants to get as much as they can for nothing and the account manager needs to ensure they maximise return on the relationship and protect the agency. Something's got to give or we might lose the account and it is quite big - help!

You have two things going on and it is easy to confuse the two and just solve one, leaving the other to fester. In essence you have a chemistry issue between the account handler and the client but more importantly your client seems to be under a misapprehension about your cost basis. The former might be as a result of the latter but you won’t know until you solve the cost issue.

You are right – something has to give (and it could be the account) so I would suggest that you understand why the client wants to “get as much as they can for nothing”. In my experience, clients like this one either do not appreciate the basis of the remuneration structure (another client created it and is the only one who understands the agreed thinking behind it) or they feel you are too expensive or “ripping them off” so they want to get as much as they can for their – in their minds – overinflated fees. Whichever mindset, you need to take quick action and get this client on side by understanding their perspective. Give them a call and meet up for a chat about the costs, how the projects are going. It may be the opportunity to understand the personality issues, reinforce the cost basis and see if you are coming over as too expensive. Once you know what is really driving the issues, you can then make a decision re your account handler staying on the business.

So What Are We Going To Do In 2010?

2010-01-10T12:20:00.008Z

I think we have enough commentators giving their prognoses on the world of on- and offline marketing this forthcoming year. So I thought I would share my very simple resolutions for 2010 with you:

Enjoy the work
I felt towards the end of last year we (myself included) were gritting our teeth and digging deep to get through the barrage of work. This year will be similar in terms of workload but my resolution is enjoy it more and make light of the challenges we face. I also think collectively we will do better work because of it.

Hold steady on the money
This will be another year where there will be downward pressure on costs. This is understandable and if a client has just let 10% of its marketing department staff go, then who are you to stand like Canute trying to resist cuts in your budgets. However, both your day to day clients and procurement will be trying to get more for less. This is where we do need to stand firm and have our arguments ready for what you can actually provide and also more innovative solutions to help them get to where they need to be on a smaller budget.

Do meetings more effectively
Tom Fishburne to whom I am grateful, as ever, for this post’s cartoon quotes Seth Godin on being more productive by reducing meeting drag. All of his suggestions make total sense. What I found last year is that clients as they are based in different offices are using meetings or telecons to catch on projects in bigger groups. The more productive thing would be to meet in smaller groups in advance and come to wider meetings with conclusions from the initial meetings. Also, as more and more meetings are virtual, I am constantly surprised how little concession is made to the fact people are not face to face (eg by circulating work in advance, eliciting feedback from all attendees to avoid dissension further down the line). Anyway for my part I am going to take Godin’s tip of 1) always circulating an agenda in advance and 2) doing more meetings around our pooltable which doesn’t have any chairs. Hopefully at least the latter will mean less time spent on meetings.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

2009-12-23T20:44:00.005Z

To all those who have been working like dogs these last few months, to those who have picking up well-deserved awards recently and to all readers and contributors, I wish you a relaxing time over the holidays. And here's to a new decade...

No Name And Shame

2009-12-11T08:45:00.007Z

Just finished reading the updated edition of The Art of Client Service by Robert Solomon who was CEO of Rapp Collins, New York as well being at Ammirati Puris Lintas, FCB and Bronner. Its subtitle is “58 things every advertising and marketing professional should know”. Obviously, I was interested because it deals with client services in agencies.

The 58 things are definitely principles an agency account handler needs to know and therefore I would recommend it on that basis. However I recognised the dilemma which I struggle with here in the blog and also struggled with in Agency Account Handling – namely the anonymising (if that is a word) of examples to allow discretion. Solomon comes up with some very good ideas but he has depersonalised all the names of clients and situations to avoid any insensitivity towards former clients. Consequently it is less of an engaging read.

Similarly my questioners want their and their clients’ anonymity so I am not sure how to overcome this. My hope is that by using the Q&A format in the blog which picks up real-life situations and couches thoughts in a realtime, contemporary context, that this may counterbalance the obvious downside of not naming names. Pity though, sometimes naming names can be very cathartic – but to do so I think comes under that category of “career limiting moves”.

Start As You Mean To Go On

2009-12-06T08:41:00.001Z

We seem to be bucking the trend by winning a lot of new business and I am one of the account directors on the new accounts. We need to deliver a number of things before Christmas and yet we are still getting to grips with the new client. What should I be focussing my team on in addition to the work?

I totally understand your situation as we are in a similar position currently. You feel relieved and elated that you have won the pitch and grateful to a higher being that you are not like some of your contemporaries who are experiencing headcount freezes and 9 day weeks. So you are conscious of this when the clients ask you to shave off weeks from the delivery schedule. Nevertheless this should be the honeymoon period. As my wise old mum maintains, you should start as you mean to go on. So what are the key things from any new client induction programme – formal or informal ?

1) Get the money and terms sorted out. This is the one thing that could make or break a new relationship as it is the guiding light for the existence of the account. So despite having to deliver that microsite by the 14th December, make sure confirming the money and terms happens sooner than later. Get your commercial director or head of client services to sort this out with the client. If it is for Purchasing/Procurement, you need to spend some quality time putting your terms and spreadsheets together. If you try to do this on the hop, you could be delaying the essential (so the team is not aware how they should deal financially with the deliverables) or ending up agreeing to the client’s terms (eg billing at end of projects, no travel costs etc) which you normally would want to push back on.

2) Understand that the client is in a different buying mode. When the client is in a pitch they have different evaluative criteria than when they work with you on the day to day. Also some of your day to day client will not have been in the pitch presentations – in fact may not even have wanted a different agency. Therefore do not forget to sell your agency, the team and your preferred working style back into the client now they are in a different mode. This can be done in a working session where you get the client team in, give them a quick run through as to who you are, who their team is, introduce them to some of the key day to day players and discuss how they want to work (eg communication preferences, what worked/did not work with previous agencies, how they want you to collaborate with other agencies etc).

3) Identify the big cheese. Whether you are under time pressure or not, the thing which will affect receipt and approval of your work is the decision-making process at your client’s company. Ask you main client what the approval process is and who she/he will need to consult with/get approval from. If you know this in advance, you can understand the stakeholder management and legislate for the time required, style presentations accordingly and provide the right level of support and information. Such insight can save you so much time and wasted money.

Hope this helps.

You do know there are only are only 14 working days to Christmas? Good luck to us all!

I Didn't Have The Time So I Wrote You A Long Answer

2009-11-14T11:19:00.009Z

Can you recommend any time management techniques?

There are lots of time management courses out there with their particular philosophy. When I was starting out there always seemed to be inserts in Marketing Week heralding the latest ones with other business courses with titles like – and I don’t think I am making this up – “How to Organise Your Handbag”.

Colleagues use a myriad of techniques including certain software like Microsoft OneNote, the email flagging method, a different ink system for their daily actions in the notebook, etc. I seem to use lots of post-it notes. I think you have to explore and use what works for you. However this can make you just focus on some very short term actions which will make you feel good for fulfilling them.

In terms of client services your best steer should be a combination of your account plan – which should give you clear direction on how to develop the long term relationship – and the campaign or project plan relating to things which will drive the day to day development of the work. What often happens though is the day to day to work takes over and you may end up having delivered a project on time and on budget yet you may not have moved the longer term relationship/business on with the client.

In projects, sometimes it is a matter of experience to foresee problems coming up and act accordingly. If a client is keen to use a customer testimonial route in a set of ads which need to run in a quick turnaround campaign and they have not identified the customers already, someone with more experience will know to steer the client away from that route - saving everybody a lot of time and money.

More difficult to explain is the experience and ensuing confidence that when unforeseen events happen which would make a more junior person spend a lot of time planning for the new scenario. A senior person however may anticipate that nothing needs to be done as things will revert to originally planned. For example, we had just sent out “save the date” emails for our client Christmas party – we love the logistics of client hospitality don’t we! This was after checking with all senior clients that they were available. Then somebody comes back to tell me that our main client – though knowing about our party – was organising a day’s internal conference with a social element afterwards for most of our invites. You could say I stuck my head firmly in the sand but I let it ride out without doing anything because I thought it highly unlikely he could organise something with so many people’s diaries in December. Maybe it was less related to saving time and it was a game of Blink I was playing with myself. Anyway I heard yesterday everything is going ahead as originally planned. So my advice relating to the last two points is have someone as your sounding board – if you are an account manager, then the account director is your obvious port of call. But if you are a group account director then don’t feel you should not share the burden of such problem solving with those more detached from the issue.

In a previous post I talked about Stephen Covey’s view on time management and relationships. He also cites a study of highly successful Harvard graduates who had similar success traits. One was their ability to tackle the things which some of us would shy away from – those things on our to do list that just seem to remain there but we guiltily know that they would actually change the game with the client – and the reason why they remain there is that they are not easy actions – they require difficult work.

In my days when I was meaning to sit down at my laptop trying to write a book but actually spending a lot of time exploring the contents of my fridge, I should have watched this portrayal of procrastination by Lev Yilmaz. It is spot on:

Putting Your Foot Down

2009-11-05T08:00:00.000Z

I am in charge of a client team - a bunch of intelligent people - but I get hacked off with the way our processes (and those at our client's) get in the way of delivering really innovative thinking. We often use a sledgehammer to crack a walnut - people are not thinking creatively enough. And clients add to the slowness and inertia. What am I doing wrong?

I know what you mean. Sometimes you can get frustrated that things are just too slow on a project or with a client dynamic. That tired old linear thinking is driving the dynosauric pace of change. You want to move fast and take people, whether your team or clients, along with you. You want people to get it and not just say they get it.

My only real advice is to dramatise what they are missing out on and what a fast moving marketplace you are operating in. What you personally need to do is physically demonstrate to those people how innovative thinking can get you to a different space. Or what the downside of staying in the slow lane will mean.

When Amelia Torode quotes the Life Moves Pretty Fast line from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, she is not wrong. What you need to give your clients for a test drive is your equivalent of the 1961 Ferrari 250GT California. Then they may get your urgency for speed or different thinking.

That's why I like Gary Hayes' social media, mobile phone and games counters below. They really bring to life the pace of global "media" change; they make me realise we need to keep adapting ourselves or we will meet a dynosauric demise.

Clients With Clipboards

2009-10-29T08:00:00.005Z

I am an account director at a small integrated agency. We were pitching for some work for a supermarket and I caught sight at the presentation of some "Finding an Agency" guidelines which the junior client had with her? What were these – any idea?

These will have been the Finding an Agency guidelines originally created by CAF, DMA, IPA, ISBA, MCCA and PRCA. I think the DMA now has a different set and the others have teamed up with CIPS to produce theirs. They are all downloadable from the relevant trade body websites – found on the sidebar on this site under Useful Links. They are a set of very comprehensive best practice guidelines and if you are pitching you should know which boxes you need tick in the mind of the client. Cheekily I will say that you should check out Chapter 4 of Working with Agencies by a very promising author. I worked with the IPA and the AAR to build on those guidelines for writing the Selecting the Agency chapter . Also, if you are an agency person on new business I still maintain that everyone needs to read Jon Steel’s Perfect Pitch.

Principals Up In Smoke?

2009-10-22T08:00:00.010+01:00

My agency partners and I are faced with a dilemma on some new business. Do we accept a tobacco account on the basis that some in our relatively young and small agency are happy to work on a tobacco client or stick to my (and others’) principles and decline it? Would members of the agency feel like they really have the choice of not working on the account? Do I have the right to deny others the financial rewards this could provide? Would we be hypocrites to take the cash and not publicise the relationship?

You are asking someone who helped develop the original NHS Together Programme which supports smokers in giving up. Yet being an ex-smoker I know the pull it has and I also understand the ethical conflict you have as a business. You are a young, small agency – no doubt finding the climate tough and wanting to generate income to secure everyone’s short term futures. It is a difficult dilemma.

You are in a formative stage in the development of your business. I could suggest a democratic way by having an agency vote and abiding by the decision but I think you will still come up against the problem later. Smoking is quite an emotive issue. Some people have lost relatives through cancer. Others do not get smoking at all and think it should be banned. A tobacco account is consequently a highly charged issue and the agency is not at a size where it can be hived off in a separate division. In fact, depending on how big you are, most of the agency will need to be involved in it – from creative teams to finance.

I would advise staying away from it – for the key reason that you mention the management team is also not in agreement. Considering you/they should provide clear leadership and conversely need a tight ship, I suspect this issue will create more dangerous rifts than it will help secure business.

How to Get to the Grosvenor House Hotel ...or not!

2009-10-15T08:00:00.004+01:00

This last week I was judging the DMA awards. As ever really well organised and a good chance to catch up with people and debate what is pushing our industry forward. If you want to see what I said about the categories I was judging it’s to be read on the Marketing Direct section of Brand Republic - here.

I was judging ECRM, Campaign Websites, New Technology and just for good measure Door Drops. Now the last one you may think slightly old skool in comparison but actually there were really strong candidates in there and I am glad that I had it in the mix with the digital ones. However my message today goes out to those who put a lot of time in filling those darned entry forms – whether for on- or offline categories: you still have got a lot of work to do! Not a very motivational thought so maybe I should explain:

Having done them myself, I know that it is a thankless task and is another “cobblers’ shoes” activity along with the likes of the agency website and the client Christmas party. Nevertheless, if you are going spend £150 a shot on these things and a good deal of time putting them together, then you are throwing away a good deal of money if you get it wrong. As I saw a number of agencies this week still getting it wrong, I have some quick thoughts that may help you for the next batch:

1) Obvious stuff but put yourself in the shoes of the judges. They may have max. 5 minutes per entry including engaging with the work and therefore your succinctness is critical. Remember that yours might the first one they pick up in the first category they are judging and they might be just getting their heads around the whole process. If you can make it easier for them, the better the chances you have of gaining the right attention for your work.

2) A bit like in pitches, confident storytelling is a sign of a rigorously thought-out strategy. It is a bit “chicken and egg” but you have to really understand what the entry sections are asking for. I was surprised by some entries that did not go into the relevant depth of the targeting strategy or assumed that the judges would be bought off by some spurious big numbers in the results section. I know that a lot of agencies use their planners to write their entries which makes sense but that has its own time pressures and can lead to cut and paste jobs – which I saw across some category entries.

3) Then the presentation of the work – some agencies were brilliant at this, others not. I saw incomplete creative and was really frustrated by one entry which featured some quite interesting technology that all the judges tried to access through various methods – but to no avail. I think once again before you react to this and start doing your Oscar-winning demo film , you just need to bear in mind the principle of what the judges are looking for and how you can put over the right message in a pressured timeframe.

Hope this helps with the entries and ultimately winning the awards. See you at the awards bash. In the meantime, I would like to thank the DMA, Brand Republic, all my fellow judges, all my colleagues, Sony Laptops, my family, my friends, my hairdresser, my.....

Pig Ignorant Metacognition

2009-10-06T08:00:00.009+01:00

I came across your blog .... saw your last posting and it just made me think that I struggle just to get through my client work, let alone keep up with all these blogs and articles. Tell me, how do other people find time to read them? .... do they really get that much out of them?

I don’t think this view is uncommon. A number of my acquaintances are very complimentary about the content here but represent the view that life is too short to fill up on too much blog reading. I started this blog for the very reasons that Seth Godin mentions in the extract below:

Yeah, right. It's all about metacognition! I just learnt a new word.

As to why I read other blogs and recommend this habit become a regular thing for those in client services and frontline client relationships, I would say the following to those acquaintances and the questioner above:

An agency is dead in the water if it does not keep its thinking fresh with its clients. More than ever with increasing time and budget pressures, clients expect more from agencies. Even if you just create the artwork rather than do the strategic thinking, you should be showing the clients that you know about their business and are thinking about ways to enhance your offering to them. With the other agencies on the client roster snapping at your heels, you are being forced to either drop your prices or show more added value. The way you can do the latter is by keeping yourself informed and making that knowledge relevant to your clients. I am not saying it has to be blogs but they are useful in giving you information or discussion in bite-size chunks. It then allows you for example to talk about using Brands in Public for your clients' brands, understand what's going on with consumers globally through Did You Know? or debate the latest development on the back of a TEDTalk podcast.

Stephen Covey talks about prioritising your workload in another way and that the focus should be on the High Importance, non-Urgent quadrant activities. This is because they deal with building relationships, long-term planning, prevention and maintenance and these activities deliver high impact, long term results. The way you can do this is keeping your mind open to new ways of looking at old problems. Also if you, as a client services person, rely on your planning or strategy department to have the ideas, you start to become just a project manager. You have the opportunity of keeping up with new developments and re-packaging them with an added relevance to the client situation. Consequently, if you feel that this information monitoring (whether it is through blogs or elsewhere) is just not intrinsic to your client relationship and is too much for your workload, I would strongly recommend sitting down and doing a radical review of where you are spending your time. If you can carve out 20% of your time to spend on things that really develop the client relationship, the 80:20 success rule will follow.

Also this goes for agency management who rely solely on their strategists to come up with the ideas. Or more critically, those who treat certain subjects as a “black boxes” and feel they need to get unnecessary specialist consultants in to advise them. They run the risk of getting generic recommendations as knowledge of a client context takes time and money. Better that you see new developments through the lens of knowing what is right for the client’s organisation and customers. Then you may avoid kneejerk reactions like the one below:

PS: Live Young

2009-09-30T08:00:00.008+01:00

Another question: how do you keep up with what's going on?

OK, I shall follow your theme of brevity as I think you can see some of how I keep up to speed in my other postings.

Apart from reading various publications, I subscribe to a number of blogs which give me an overview of what’s going on. Some of them are listed on the right. You need to tap into what people are currently thinking and saying. I know Passive-Aggressive Notes is a little left of field (really here only for entertainment) but is a good example of real people doing real, unedited things - for example in the office space; hence the photo above. The industry blogs are great for other reasons but you cannot beat raw behaviour and thought – not filtered through clinical analysis or industry-speak. Make sure you grasp what motivates your people. If you need to really understand what’s going on, talk to them - go to the source. Talking of the source, Adverblog recently showed the Paul Smith Evian vid. For somebody from the North who went frequently to Nottingham and always made his way to one particular shop, I have admired Paul Smith and looked to him for inspiration. His mantra at the end of the short film and his “yesterday’s papers” comment in the middle are spot-on for those looking for new ideas:

Fun Time

2009-09-23T08:00:00.003+01:00

How come a particular client will go to corporate hospitality events of another agency but we can’t manage it?

Yes, this is nightmare territory – the potential for stronger relationships and the equal likelihood of squandered money. The simple answer, to quote a movie line, is that you just ain’t doing it right. The more complicated one takes a bit longer to explain. Actually the fact that the other agency has succeeded shows that the client is on for such entertainment in the first place. You just have to work out how you can make it work for your agency.

First of all, you have to decide what you are trying to get out of your corporate hospitality. Is it stronger day-to-day team relationships, connection with a new senior decision maker or change in agency perceptions? For example, if it is a stronger client-agency team you may want to consider something interactive. This can range from activities like outsourced management survival courses to a few beers and ten-pin bowling. If it is change in agency perceptions, it may be more work-based and be a breakfast or evening seminar for a number of clients where the content is geared around something which the clients will be interested in and a revered outside speaker takes the lead. Getting Rory Sutherland to be his entertaining self may be easier if you are part of WPP or arranging for Robert Peston to speak about the economy may pay off with senior clients you are wishing to impress.

You also need to get the tone and timing right. In my experience, getting clients to come to events has seemed harder over the last few years and with the current “post crunch” pressures in every client organisation, it is becoming even more problematic. So making sure you are designing the right type of event is even more essential. Clients will only come if they really want to come. Therefore see it from your clients’ perspective. Are we talking about a breakfast session of intellectual discussion or a drunken evening culminating with your MD showing off his exclusive party trick of setting fire to his Sambucca-drenched testicles? (I kid you not. I could not make this type of story up!). What would work for your clients? Is the most senior client going to accept/like it? What signals about the agency does it give out to the other clients?

A good friend feels that alcohol is an essential ingredient for corporate entertainment and I tend to agree with him but he goes further by explaining it is a lubricant that enables clients subsequently to award projects to assuage their embarrassing behaviour. Then again he told me the Sambucca story so he moves in slightly different circles. However I do feel you need somebody in your team who is the catalyst for things to happen. They may not always be the most senior but it helps. It may be you....they are the ones without any prompting who get the party started and lead the initially reluctant clients to the dancefloor and get them to enjoy themselves.

Summer entertaining around sports or Christmas parties are laden with timing problems. There are invariably expensive but if you book Goodwood when the Wimbledon semi-finals are on or you schedule your Christmas bash on the night of the main industry awards you may have wasted your money. Time things carefully and consider teaming up with other agencies or suppliers to host a client event (your clients will thank you around Christmas time). Also think about not doing a broadcast event but use the money to do exclusive, discreet things which will have a greater effect. The Claridges Chef’s Table may create a stronger experience with a select client list than the agency team trooping down to Basingstoke to take out the whole marketing department out to the local Café Pasta.

Hope this helps. In the meantime, don’t forget Christmas is around the corner. (and thanks to Holly O’Neil for the photo above).

New World Whine

2009-09-16T08:00:00.010+01:00

I mentioned in my last post that I was reading Steve Harrison’s How to Do Better Creative Work. Well I have just finished it and I owe him a "virtual" apology as a few months ago I was talking to someone about the book. My friend had been to the book launch and it was the same day I had a read an extract in Campaign. I can’t remember exactly why I thought this but I had got the impression from the extract that Steve was stuck in a groove and the world had slightly moved on from this viewpoint. Well, I misrepresented him in that conversation and I should set the record straight.

I had intended to read it after that but I intend to do a lot of things. It was only because I pass by a new bookshop called Clerkenwell Tales on my daily walk to work and one day I noticed his book in the window display that I resolved to buy it. The first thing I noticed about it as someone who has had arguments with publishers about pricing of my own books that it was being sold at just under £15. This is definitely a plus point – nobody wants to pay £30-£35 for a book of this type. I also liked that it was well designed inside. Anyway it was a good read, offered real insight and a good breadth of case studies. I would recommend it to anyone engaging with the creative process. Don’t get me wrong, though. I did not always agree with his way of going about things but you don’t get to be one of the most awarded creative directors in the business by appealing to everyone all the time.

The reason why I mention it here again is that I had a lot of sympathy with his concluding chapter in which he encouraged people not to throw out the communications rulebook with what currently seems to be a new age in communications. I am no doubt misrepresenting him again because what I call the rulebook he would probably describe as the sum of valuable learnings gained along the way since the communications industry started to mature.

I think back to April this year when the IPA Excellence Diploma essays were published and the likes of Alex Dunsdon from M&C and Matt Sadler at Euro RSCG got us to think about the consumer communications landscape in a different way. I was genuinely excited about having the chance - through those essays - to think a bit differently about customers, communications and how agencies will need to gear themselves differently around these challenges.

You might think that some of the IPA essays were in direct conflict with what Steve is promoting. Well I am not so sure. There is no doubt that the consumers’ world is changing but we need to look for new approaches through the filter of some of what has gone on before. Our emotions and behaviours have not totally changed – they just have a new contemporary context. Steve’s heroes of Ogilvy and Bernbach did not have our historical perspective. They used their intellectual curiosity, rigour and instinct to master their particular moment. We need to do the same for ours by embracing the new but not throwing out all the old - something we could easily do just because we don’t have the imagination to update its guiding principles to cater for a new challenge.

What that means is that we have to take a look at a number of areas. For example, how does the sacred cow of the brand idea work in this new context? As I am currently in danger of creating a "supersize" posting, this is something I am going to return to in a subsequent blog.

Art Nazi

2009-09-09T08:00:00.007+01:00

This is my first agency and I am struggling with the creative head who is assigned to my main account. He does not take me as seriously as he does other colleagues. How can I work better with him?

The issue will be more with him with you if he is the senior in the relationship. He should be making you feel part of the team but that is obviously not happening. I remember the unnerving experience of being an account exec caught in between clients and a stroppy creative team so I know that you will be the one having to work at the relationship.

This would be my 3-pronged attack:

1) Put yourself in his shoes. Are you doing something (or not doing something) which is aggravating the situation? Or is it work overload or another concern on his part? Ask one of the colleagues he does get on with, what is their way to get him on side. Understand what makes him tick and through what you can connect with him.

2) Creative people respond well to those with passion about their work and knowledge of an account. You are in a good position to help the creative head look good in front of the client by providing him uptodate info about the client’s products and what is going on in the marketplace (but do not inundate him – find out whether that would be useful). In terms of being passionate about creative work, maybe he feels you do not understand the creative process enough and have not been exposed to enough work to appreciate the creative perspective. I am currently reading Steve Harrison’s How to Do Better Creative Work and although he has a specific way of seeing things (who would expect anything less..!), he does give an good insight into the creative process. Also I think adverblog is a great way to keep up with new campaigns and the ways creativity is developing.

3) Be patient in your expectations. Things will not change overnight but if you show your worth and use chemistry to connect, things will get better. And remember you are not the first to encounter problems. How do you think cartoon stereotypes come about? See below – of course these "cardboard cutouts" don’t really exist....!

Mind the Gap

2009-09-02T08:00:00.004+01:00

Listening to the radio this week, I was surprised to hear that it has been two decades since the release of When Harry Met Sally. Today sees the UK release of the most recent take on boy-girl relationships – 500 Days of Summer - and it is being vaunted as the 21st century version of the Meg Ryan/Billy Crystal film.

I was reminded of the more traditional “Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus” view on relationships when I went to an AAR/BIMA presentation of some agency/client relationship research. Agencies were portrayed as more “touchy feely”, believing that perceptions could be mainly steered by the state of the relationship and clients were more single-minded in their view that performance was everything. In fact, the widening of this gap was one of the main symptoms of a relationship about to break down.

Maybe 500 Days of Summer will give us a few hints to view the state of the 21st century agency/client relationship as well. The dynamics are becoming more complex as both sides re-engineer the traditional model. And as agency-folk know - if we tinker with our client relationships in the wrong way – adding the equivalent of a different soundtrack, giving it an edgier voiceover, we may end up with a monster:

May the Force be with You...

2009-08-25T08:00:00.012+01:00

I am an Account Director with great experience in branding but my company does not fully develop digital comms like we would do print materials. I know the basics but I feel I may be being left behind. I want to expand my digital knowledge so I can advise clients with confidence. Do you have any ideas on the best and most effective way to do this?

Good question. I think everyone - from agency CEOs to junior creatives – are struggling with how to keep up with new developments. It’s just that you may feel like the archetypal teenager wanting to lose their cherry because you think everyone of your peers is doing it and you’re not. The digital world is so massive that it makes people who are dealing less with digital solutions feel as though they are missing out. The reality is you are and you are not – you have realised that you could be doing more but there is so much of it, you need to decide what is relevant to you, your client and your agency.
You work in the area of brand and design and I think those agencies – in contrast to other traditional agencies like advertising agencies - are in a very interesting position with regard to structuring themselves for the new challenges all agencies face. They are less constrained by the old art director/copywriter model and have always dialled up and down different resources like design, copy, film, modelmaking according to the brief. This sort of flexibility is what all agencies will need to show a lot more of.

So what can you do personally? Here are just some initial suggestions:

1) Decide what knowledge is relevant to you in your job and mine this vein of info as it will make most sense to you and should bring business benefits. I would start with your clients’ customers and understand how they are using or could be using online to engage with your client’s brand. I would register for Google Alerts (google.com/alerts) so you can see what is being said or not being said on the web about your clients’s brand. You can get more detailed about this by also registering at moreover.com for sector-specific related breaking news. Technorati allows you to set up RSS feeds for blog-generated info if blogs are used frequently to talk about your client’s products (eg mobile phones). In fact, everyone is talking about social networks as the key for brand engagement. They are definitely part of the story but I thought Seth Godin brought a level headed view in a recent debate about how businesses could use them:

2) Because there is so much out there, you need to treat gaining knowledge in this area like learning a language – you will learn more if you have to learn it and it is in a live environment. Like when you are asking the way in Paris and you have to make sure your French is good enough to be understood to find the railway station, I suggest that you choose something which will help you familiarise yourself with some digital channels and force you to engage with them in quite a granular detail. So take one of your interests and see if you can use the web to help you further it. So if you are into cooking, create a blog using one of the easy platforms like Blogger, Wordpress or Typepad to blog about the results of using new recipes. If you have a company or school reunion use Facebook to organise and record it. If you are a mad-keen cyclist, then use Twitter to tell people of your exploits. My point is that these platforms cannot be seen as normal media as they have changed the way people see the world, interact with each other and engage with brands. So you need to interact them with yourself and a little more deeply than just your average customer. In my case with this blog, I have had to learn about online reputation management, website analytics, social bookmarks, coding issues and many more things. Sure if you had asked me about online reputation management, I could have given you the theory and the mechanisms but now I have a much more practical understanding and the continuing need to keep on top of it. And that is helping me think differently about client problems.

3) There are some many great sources in our industry and beyond that will provoke your thinking, you should consider signing up for RSS feeds from the likes of Adverblog, Seth Godin's blog, Digital Connections and mashable.com. Once you have visited a few they will point you in the directions which may be more your style and taste. Also because you will be finding stuff on the web which you will return for reference, you may want to sign up for a bookmarking site. Somebody recommended me Diigo and I find it really easy to use. I don’t share my bookmarks but it is great way to keep a handle on all that you come across which may be of relevance later down the line.

So that it is my starter guide. The problem you will have is keeping up with all the information but it will be up to you to decide what is relevant. And you have to bear in mind that this sort of thing takes a chunk of time out of your week so you need to legislate it for it. Also as Princess Leia in Family Guy's Blue Harvest found out, there are people out there to help you –with so much talent and inspiration. It just may take a bit of time to open the lines of communication.

Game of two sides

2009-08-17T08:00:00.007+01:00

Who was your worst client?

It’s funny; when I think of the answer to that question, I am routed back to the first real mistake I made as an account handler, the feeling of pure naive embarrassment and the hell the client made for me as a consequence. I was an account manager with not much production experience. We needed a shot of the incentive for a mailpack and the art director wanted to use a particular photographer. It was a pack shot of an electronic address book and in my inexperience I did not realise he was using the likes of David Bailey for the equivalent of a tube pass photo. In my head now, the cost is £500 but I would like to think that I have priced it up over the years of telling the story to equate to modern day prices but I have to say I am not sure whether it was not really £500! Anyway like a lot of familiar agency stories, time was tight and I could not get client approval because of holidays so I gave the go-ahead and when the client got back, she refused to pay for it and wanted me off the business for such a crass error (so you can see why I am not sure whether it was not actually £500). For years afterwards I was mortified that I had done this, felt under supported by the production manager who should have known better and advised me accordingly - but you know what - I never made another production error like that again – in fact I was more on the ball than most because of it. Looking back on it, whether the cost was £200 or £500, the client was right to kick up a stink about it and I think she was really using it to show to my MD that she felt that the account was under-resourced by not having an account director on her business – which she was also probably right about. Historically, she had been a “hardass client” with a number of my colleagues having rubbed her up the wrong way so my reputation in the agency was not really damaged but at the time I felt like she was my worst client. In effect, how bad your client is depends on where you are standing – whether in the middle of your own personal maelstrom or with perspective some time later. My learning now – as that happened in another severe downturn – would be from a management perspective, ie about making decisions re under-resourcing accounts to make the books balance without considering the risks involved.

The packshot story was my personal experience. A more recent one which I observed but was not personally involved in other than in resourcing decisions was where the client had taken ages with the pitch process, screwed us down too much in the negotiations and, with it being a very big account, let the floodgates open with the number of briefs which had been delayed in the 2-3 month pitch process. Now that was stress! – with everyone working overtime to get off the backfoot, much crying in the toilets on account of the demanding clients and everyone knowing we had bent over backwards too much to make decent enough money. The fault was equally with the agency for agreeing to certain terms but what was missing from the client side was a sense that both the client and agency had to make the relationship work.

So the obvious next question: my best client so far? I know that definitively – one of those moments in your career where the stars align – chemistry with the clients, right people on the business, sense of collaboration, shared objectives and mutual agenda. It all leads to great work and amazing business results. I remember some of the business highlights which we achieved together. I also remember the risks the main client contact took and the way she worked with us in partnership. I also remember the celebrations we had – one Christmas taking over Café Kick and the client and account supervisor taking over the bar and pouring the beers while the caipirinhas were being made late into the night but that’s another story.... In the meantime if anyone needs a pack shot of some foosball players as above, my rates start from £500...

The man who mistook his client for an iPhone

2009-08-07T08:00:00.005+01:00

We have taken on board a new client and have added in some quite innovative ways of working to our service delivery including using a project management extranet, hotdesking at the clients’ premises and a very collaborative method of developing work. Yet they don’t seem that happy – are clients just getting more demanding and we will never satisfy them?

Yes they are getting more demanding but it may be not be anything to do with you and your agency. Everyone is under the cosh at the moment so business performance may be influencing things. Having just moved from their previous agency, they may have been on the rebound and now realise not everything can be solved by making a new appointment.

Without knowing the details of the relationship I can only surmise what the reasons are but, as you mentioned the innovative ways of working, it reminded me of an experience I am going through at the moment. Having just bought the iPhone 3Gs, I am struggling with somebody’s – not sure whether it lies at the door of Apple or O2 – implementation of innovation and basic functionality. As a mini computer which fits into my pocket, replaces my iPod and allows me to design a new pair of training shoes and subsequently order them online (see below), it is a thing of mesmerising technology and seductive beauty. As a basic phone from which you expect good reception, no dropped calls etc , it sucks.

But if I think about it, before buying I focussed on the new innovative things which I thought would make my life of a higher quality. I did not give reception and dropped calls a second thought. Though when I complained to a friend who had previously told me he had been having problems –he just said “Yeah – welcome to my world” – so I probably had not even wanted to acknowledge it. These are just hygiene factors in today’s world, I thought. I realise now – as I wait 5 minutes for the signal to come back – how wrong I was.

So translating this to your situation you should ask yourself whether the introduction of your new ways has impacted on the basic delivery of what they were expecting. For example, does your working at the client’s office mean that you are not spending enough time at the agency making sure the internal teams are briefed and on track. Has your team getting up to speed with the new client organisation impinged on delivering top quality output straightaway? Also in this age where open source collaboration, beta versions and Agile-type methodologies are now being adapted for other work contexts, was the client aware that operating with your “very collaborative method of developing work” may mean compromises and trade-offs in certain areas? In other words – back to the basics of expectation management – did they know the risks as well as the benefits of signing up to the new way of working?

Probably it is best to assess things now rather than wait for a more formal performance survey. Just a quick email to your client contacts asking what’s working and not working will give you a good understanding and show your main client that you are committed to high standards of service delivery. Then you can see what is the real cause of their disquiet.

Cushioned Landing

2009-07-31T08:46:00.000+01:00

I read in Campaign that supposedly Helen Calcraft had had a bit of a strop after the result of the B&Q pitch. It was reported that she had learnt about the result from one of her clients - not the B&Q client. I actually heard that it had been through other sources – still not the B&Q client. Either way, her kicking the cushions around reception (or whatever she did to vent her anger) seems justified as her agency and her competitors had been working on the pitch process since January. So well done to Chris MacDonald and his team at McCann and commiserations to MCBD, Rapier etc but I have a question. How come clients, knowing that the grapevine is very active in agencyland and considering the time and effort that pitching clients demand of agencies in the process don’t have the wherewithal – I think I just mean common decency – to tell everyone straightaway?

Financing Placements

2009-07-31T08:41:00.003+01:00

Here’s a question. Work experience in account handling– should agencies pay newbies or not?

Just from a practical point of view, I would ask yourself how long the placement is for and which side is getting they most out of it. If we are talking about a week or two weeks in the summer holidays - to give a student invaluable experience of what an agency is about - then I would see the payment happening "in kind". If you need someone for longer and to cover for excessive workload then it feels right to pay them.

Nevertheless, if you cast your mind back to when you started, money has always been an issue to newcomers in London and unless your student is staying in his chairman uncle’s pied à terre in Knightsbridge and using the company driver, you may want to take pity and subsidise travel costs etc.

Money Too Tight To Mention

2009-07-24T18:32:00.001+01:00

We are about to renegotiate our contract and monthly fee with a major client. We have had good reviews recently. I am the main account person and will be attending the meetings with our commercial director. However, in such an economic time – when they are looking to make budget cuts - are we about to driven into the ground on costs? It’s happened on other clients.

The thing I see in this recession is that there are no blanket patterns. One day we are hearing about green shoots of recovery in one sector, the next we are hearing of gloomy long term forecasts. I know of agencies really hurting because of what is going on, others (though in the minority) have had their best trading periods. One thing we know is that there are always going to be both winners and losers. So your presumed prognosis of the negotiations is a little premature.

But let’s face it - it is a difficult market out there. You’ve got agencies undercutting each other, others using their existing business to subsidise the servicing of new areas for the client. In fact, you have every example of aggressive business practice – it is just more acutely present in a downturn. I was at a breakfast seminar recently, run by Chris Merrington of the training company Spring8020, and a lot of people there from network agencies and independents were saying that they were facing some pretty harsh challenges. The topic being discussed was negotiations in these difficult times ; it was suggested that agencies need to bear in mind the 3 principles of 1) knowing one’s value, 2) holding one’s price and 3) being confident. Good advice – but what does this mean for your agency’s situation and your personal role in the negotiations?

1) You personally are probably even better placed than your commercial director to know what the various clients value about your agency’s service delivery. You are working with them on a day to day basis. You know what is currently in the minds of the clients. And you are aware what the business or marketing strategy is. This context will help you evaluate whether, for example, it’s your creativity, a particular individual on the team, your speed of response or your board director’s leverage with their CEO which makes you invaluable to them. In your regular conversations with the client (way before the negotiations), you need to be subtlety playing this back to them. In agency performance reviews or new client introductions, you should be doing the same – with the result that when they weigh up moving agencies or downgrading your involvement, it is not an option: they have come to rely heavily on the agency. So, as you can see, this is not something you can cosmetically conjure up for the negotiation but it is something you can exploit within the negotiation if it is there.

2) Holding one’s price is easily said. Many a tough managing director has buckled under the stress of hard negotiation or the chilling realisation that the particular piece of business is vital to the health of their company. But what is more chilling is that even a 10% cut in hourly rates can reduce your margin by 50% - a serious business constraint.
I am not going to go into all the preparation which is needed for such a negotiation but a few thing areas are worth mentioning. Both of you need to have discussed a strategy around how the conversation should go. You both need to know what you are willing to give up and when you need to walk away. You, as an account person, may be more hard-wired to concede to clients’ demands - your commercial director will be able to set you boundaries to avoid this happening. Also if you both have to give some up, get something back in return –whether introductions to other parts of the business, change in payment terms or something as small as inclusive travel costs. In addition, if they do want to cut costs, be a bit more creative and see if it can work in your favour too. (eg introducing an agreed menu pricing to cut down on your time haggling over costs, or automating some processes)

3) Confidence comes from a number of sources. Make sure for example that you and the commercial director are aligned – don’t assume that you are both on the same page –have a rehearsal with a colleague firing different questions at you both. Confidence comes from being able to explain any figures under discussion in the meeting. And ultimately, confidence will also allow you to use time – a very strong negotiating tool – to walk away from the meeting not having agreed everything but allowing you to deliberate your next move.

So, good luck. I am sure I have missed some stuff out. Maybe we might get a few more suggestions in the comments to this post to help you out. In the meantime, have a look at this video. I feel a fraud including it as it has done the rounds a bit in the US – but – hey - as we know from the green agenda, recycling is what it’s all about these days. Anyone who has been beaten down on a project cost will recognise some of these scenarios:

Account Handling Prêt à Porter

2009-07-20T08:44:00.000+01:00

Mike, you asked me for a question to start your blog off. I know you are wanting to encourage serious debate but let me be a bit left of field and get to the root of what’s bugging me. Maybe I am getting old but I am not sure our younger account handlers have quite got the measure of what they should be wearing in client meetings. Particularly the guys. Does anyone else find this? Any advice?

OK, interesting question particularly for you. I remember a few years ago some of my female industry friends felt it was inappropriate for some girls in agencies to be wearing crop-tops at work. But I don’t remember you, my friend, getting on the barricades about this. So with this knowledge I will be taking a more balanced view in my answer. And sorry ladies I might just limit myself to what I know but I would encourage you to give me your views on the female perspective. So here goes...

Let’s face it. It’s been 10 years since the start of the decline of the tie in agencies. And although Mark Jacobs and friends have reintroduced it in the skinny form as a sort of “nouvelle vague” new wave, it hasn’t led to wholesale re-adoption. When someone proposed the theory of ties would come back in with the recession, I was interested in whether the theory would have as much credence as the one about length of women’s skirts and the health of the economy. But considering the acuteness of the crunch in certain agency disciplines, I see no change - the theory does not float. In fact the lack of tie thing has impacted on the wearing of suits by account handlers.

Surely modern times require modern thinking? Or, in other words, we need a dress code to suit the time we operate in. And we operate in a post-modernist world - full of fragmentation and cross-referencing. We are a result of where we have come from and what is currently happening to break down the old barriers- and it doesn't feel reversible.

Though , you are definitely not alone in your comments. At one agency I went into recently, one of the directors was complaining about the scruffiness of one of his account directors and I had to agree with him. But with the current vogue for beards, the mishmash themes of the high street and shoe-systems which were developed for rugged treks of the Andes, it is easy to appear like a colour-blind devotee of Joaquin Phoenix fresh from the Inca trail.

Having worked in a very informal agency with a mix of quite formal clients, I have seen the potential minefield that you are alluding to. My only sartorial tips are 1) always get the shoes right, 2) dress for expectations and 3) don’t confuse the concepts of fashion and style.

The shoe thing is funny as I don’t immediately check out people’s shoes but am one of these people who think you can tell quite a lot from shoes. I know that when I looked down at the shoes of quite an impressive agency CEO, I recognised in them the scuffs and flaws from his playground childhood. And, as I say, I do not seek shoes out but I know loads of people who do.

Dressing according to people’s expectations is not just about varying your clothes for meetings at the client offices but if you have a boss like you, my friend, one needs to know what signals are being given out by one's attire.

And getting fashion to work in a stylish way is an art in itself - colleagues and I amuse ourselves in surreal discussions about current use of double-denim in streetwear. Anyway I do not feel qualified to offer up state of art advice in this area other than what I have said in relation to clients and colleagues but I will end this post by referring to one of my favourite photo blogs who definitely understands style and where fashion fits into it: thesartorialist.blogspot.com

...and if you are still struggling with the reference to Joaquin Phoenix you may want to check out this as well...

Client Services vs Project Management

2009-07-17T13:59:00.004+01:00

Is there a size of account/project under which pure account management isn't a necessity? We find that sub £100k it is much more cost effective to have both PM and AM roles performed by a hybrid producer. Is this the best way to do things?

Hybrid? - like half man, half plant? Presumably we are talking about a digital project – I think a lot of design and digital agencies are looking at the client services vs project management question at the moment. I have been working in this area with a digital company and my experience is that a lot of the time it is about a mindset than a fundamental difference in process between the two.

You will be best placed to say whether your hybrid producer with his/her individual skills can fulfil both the internal project management task and the client service roles. But your ultimate decision depends on your overall approach to clients. I think if you want to develop project-based clients into longer-term ones then a hybrid may fall short because they are covering too many bases in the short term. Ideally an account director should understand the business your client is in, identify the business challenges and match what you can offer to their needs. Good ones are hard-wired to identify new opportunities, be sensitive to the politics of the organisation and promote the agency in the best way. They should also be thinking about where the account could be going and what the client thinks of the agency. This does not mean that they should be swanning around at the client’s and not focused on the delivery of a particular project. So a project manager will be responsible for the day to day delivery but the account director should be making sure the vision of the client is being realised in the work and quality-controlling that aspect. The best teams are where the roles are dovetailing in every aspect of the delivery but I think you have to be very clear with the client how the roles work together so there is no confusion and feeling of duplication.

I also don’t know what say a £80k project would include – ie are we talking technical build or do you back off at wireframes etc? Either way, that strikes me as quite a large project still and if you are wanting more projects from the same client then your hybrid producer may be too stretched to be able to extend the momentum of the account as they are concentrating on just delivering the project.

Oh by the way, on a related subject, I know my friend Paul Canty (paul@preloaded.com) is looking for someone at group account director level to work across some pretty exciting clients like the BBC, Channel 4, The Arts Council etc. A funky outfit but serious operators.

Keeping in Touch with Failed Pitch Clients

2009-07-16T14:05:00.000+01:00

We were recently invited to pitch for a large project/account which we didn't win. Feedback was that they liked us and would keep us in mind for future projects. How can we ensure we remain on their radar and be first in line next time a project comes up?

My friend at MCBD, Nina Jasinski, would have a whole contact strategy around keeping failed pitch clients warm until the next opportunity. She would put them on the e-newsletter circulation, send them examples of new work, diarise courtesy calls and send messages of congratulations from holiday when they are promoted. It is a very small world and even if they do not award you business in their current role, they may put you on the pitch list when they inherit a dog of an agency in a new role down the line.

If the chemistry is good, catching up for a coffee on a regular basis (or initially after a few months) may be something they are willing to commit to.

But be wary of clients who cannot give valid feedback and just want to be loved by all losing agencies and most pertinently just want to move on from the arduous pitch process. The number of agencies who come a “close second” can sometimes equal the total of pitching agencies minus the successful one. So validate and qualify if/why they liked you and keep in mind for future conversations.

And sometimes you should just be thankful that you didn’t win but that’s another story…

Useless Client Feedback

2009-07-15T14:26:00.003+01:00

As account director on a client, I can see my team getting hacked off with the feedback on creative work which they get. There are particularly 2 or 3 clients who are either vague or very proscriptive. What can I do before my creative director gives the order to issue the AK47s?

Well hold on there. Before war is declared, I have a few suggestions but I get the feeling I will be returning to this subject again and again in different guises in other posts.

Here are some quick questions which may provoke some ideas how to solve this deadlock:

1) Ask yourself if the issue is further up the line at the client. I’ve found a lot of the time the problem is that the senior decision makers are approvers of the creative but have not seen the brief or been exposed fully to the thinking that got you there. Maybe a shorthand rationale of the thinking emailed to the senior client before they see any creative. Ideally what saves time in the long run is a face to face presentation of the work to all approvers.

2) Do the clients feed back via phone or email? I reckon the vagueness comes from interpretations of verbal comments. Ask your guys to encourage the clients to follow up any unclear phone calls with emails. Hopefully the process of writing it down should identify any anomalies and get more logic into their feedback.

3) Can you put together a short workshop run by your planner and/or creative director/team? It would could be positioned as a “value add”, establish how you want to get feedback, may show them the error of the ways and get them to think how they want feedback from their colleagues. Use of humour can sometimes hit the nail on the head and show people the error of their ways. My proof? Exhibit A – well not this but like this....or yes like this...or not..

New Business Crash Course

2009-07-14T14:35:00.001+01:00

I am a senior account manager and although I think I’m good at what I do with clients I have not had much new business experience. In fact I have only worked on one pitch as an account executive. We have just lost a major client and we are trying to get on more pitch lists. I have been asked to get involved in a pitch next month. Can you give me any tips?

Definitely. The best book about agencies I have read for some time is Jon Steel’s Perfect Pitch. To be honest, I found Truth, Lies and Advertising great for the case studies but quite tough to read. Perfect Pitch – about the whole area of new business - is a very easy read with some great tips for newcomers and veterans like.

My other observations about your situation is that the instincts and client management skills you have developed on existing clients will stand you in good stead for communicating and interacting with clients. Also as someone who has something to prove in this area, you have the opportunity to shine. Do your research on the customer, product and client through trawling reports, mystery shopping and looking up old press stories and you can add invaluably to the team’s thinking. Also – if you have a role in the presentation, just put yourself in the customers’ or clients’ shoes and you will be a step closer to a good response.

Also thanks for the question, after finishing Perfect Pitch I said I would email Jon Steel what a good book it is and got waylaid. I am going to do it now.

Going Green

2009-07-13T11:50:00.001+01:00

My client takes CSR really seriously. My agency just starts a few green initiatives every so often when we are pitching for a socially responsible client. We are a relatively small agency and my MD is not someone who would do this naturally. How can I get them to take things more seriously as we should do a lot more and I also think it will win us a few points with our client?

I lived in Germany as a student (some while ago - let’s just say the Wall was still up in those days) and it’s funny how long it has taken for the UK public to adopt some of the environmental habits which the Germans and Scandanavians took for granted even then. Although the crunch has slowed down the recent Green momentum in the UK, it is something which younger generations and certain baby boomers will not let go away. I applaud your determination to do something and more and more agencies are taking it seriously and not using it as a “greenwash”.

And as you know, a lot of this stuff can start at grass roots level without the company needing to change radically to begin with. My present agency has a self-appointed Green Team who have educated themselves about office environment initiatives and then established certain ones themselves.

I know it will sound the norm to certain agencies but the first thing I noticed was the use of double-sided printing as the default setting on the printers and copiers. For the first week it was so, so annoying but then I got used to it and then I thought I had discovered sliced-bread. Anyway these types of initiatives which also have economic advantages maybe will get more cynical management interested and a momentum going.

Your big question should be why certain initiatives have not worked previously and how you can avoid this.

It sounds as though your MD may be the major stumbling block. I also suggest targeting other board members individually who you feel could support your cause – particularly if you can show a business advantage – whether internally or via clients. Then getting group of like-minded people together and planning an easily actionable set of measures to begin with. Ask for a slot at the next company meeting and also make sure you recruit into your team people who can cajole people into changing their ways and can get heavy if things are not happening.

My Green Team colleagues recommend having a look at www.recyclenow.com. And also making sure you have really investigated the benefits they will give you as a business (by getting your validated arguments ready for the disbelievers). At Rufus they are doing a really good job. Here is one of their ads which adorned the loos for seated comtemplation during Obama’s inauguration:

Any questions?

2009-07-13T09:00:00.001+01:00

Let me know if you have any questions you want answered in this blog by commenting below. I will either answer them myself or get someone I know to give their opinion. They should pertain to the agency-client relationship and will be dealt with according to how relevant they are to the ongoing discussions.(Usual comment policy applies -no defamation, inflamatory remarks etc).

About this blog

2009-07-10T18:58:00.000+01:00

Openmike is my idea for a discussion blog about client services and the agency-client relationship in advertising and marketing agencies. I think a lot of what we do in dealing with clients is common-sense psychology but sometimes such principles don't give us all the answers - it is the dynamics of the situation which dictate the outcome. Because of the changing nature of clients and agencies and particularly at this economic time I also think we should be reassessing how we work with clients.

I suppose why I am doing this is because I miss the creative output that writing two books gave me. Putting them together furthered my thinking in the whole area of client-agency relationships. Yet, as anyone has published a business book alongside the day-job will tell you, it is a very large commitment and I have no particular desire to go down that route again for some time. So I like the informality of a blog and the possibility to interact with others on the same wavelength – and maybe with those on different ones.

Also along the way I have been given some good advice. Other times I could have done with some to stop me making the mistakes I have. So in Openmike I will be calling on other people’s experience to answer some of the issues posed - keeping it down to earth and practical, avoiding any academic discourses and having a bit of fun. And I have my own questions – like “why are agencies programmed to make the same mistakes?”, “can we work with clients differently?” and “why do all planners at the moment seem to be called Ben?”

It is for account handlers, working on the day to day of client business and agency management, trying to fathom solutions to client issues.

So there will be a chance to ask questions, look at what’s going on and have a bit of fun at the same time.

I don’t know if people need another blog but here goes. In the meantime enjoy! And let me know your questions.

People watching gallery

2009-06-30T11:18:00.000+01:00

Paul Canty md @preloaded
Another Sheffield boy made good. All that electronica must have stood him in good stead in the digital world. Co-founder of the agency that brought you Spooks online.

2009-06-29T11:28:00.002+01:00

Sophie Dalglish executive producer @Inferno
Definitely a rising star. A graduate of the Craik Jones school of creativity and client delivery, she approaches things with that Yorkshire down-to-earthiness you need in agencies. Another mad keen urban cyclist.

2009-06-28T11:35:00.000+01:00

Freddie Baveystock brand consultant @Rufus Leonard
A scholar and a gentleman. Also his musical credentials are second to none, having been part of the Big Chill team. Annoyingly, he easily outpunked me at the Christmas fancy dress party.

2009-06-27T11:40:00.000+01:00

Neil Francis creative force @Stephens Francis Whitson
One of his charms is his humour. Although he takes cycling pretty seriously and when the Rapha Condor team plump for the Tour de France, work and family will be hoping that he will not be answering the call.

2009-06-26T11:36:00.002+01:00

Victoria Fox managing partner @DDB UK
Clients must love it when they get her on their business. Colleagues do. One of the best account handlers in London. Practises what she preaches and does it with a smile. Presently racking up the airmiles with various client service charm offensives.

2009-06-25T12:07:00.002+01:00

Nina Jasinski marketing director @Engine Group
Fantastic at new business and passionate about what she does, a tireless performer. Somehow she has managed to bring up a beautiful family at the same time – a definite achiever on all levels and ironically an all-round good egg.

2009-06-24T12:02:00.000+01:00

Phil Allison founder of Culture Shock Media
One of the most charming men I know. Sickenly good-looking, although dogged by daily references to the Bourne Identity. He has made Culture Shock the place you go if you need publishing, content provision or filmmaking in the arts world.

2009-06-23T23:11:00.000+01:00

Steve Aldridge big cheese @ Partners Andrews Aldridge
One of the best in the business. Somebody who you would want on your team. Highly competitive and very engaging. And yet an unhealthy obsession with SuperDry T-shirts.

2009-06-22T21:15:00.000+01:00

Dolly Clew house photographer
Just out of 14 years with EMI promoting bands to college yoof and now wielding a camera around the streets of the world like a Leica master. When not travelling for herself and Lonely Planet Image Library, she is available for weddings, bar mitzvahs and the arts. I owe you bigtime Dolly

Useful Trade Body Links

2009-06-21T19:18:00.000+01:00

The Advertising Association www.adassoc.org.uk

Advertising Standards Authority www.asa.org.uk

Association of Publishing Agencies www.apa.co.uk

British Design & Art Direction www.dandad.org

British Exhibition Contractors Association www.beca.org.uk

British Interactive Media Association www.bima.co.uk

Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre www.bacc.org.uk

The Chartered Institute of Marketing www.cim.co.uk

Commercial Radio Companies Association www.crca.co.uk

Committee of Advertising Practice www.cap.org.uk

The Communication, Advertising and Marketing Education Foundation www.camfoundation.com

The Communications Agencies Federation www.cafinfo.com

Design Business Association www.dba.org.uk

Direct Mail Information Service www.dmis.co.uk

The Direct Marketing Association www.dma.org.uk

Incorporated Society of British Advertisers www.isba.org.uk

Institute of Sales and Marketing Management www.ismm.co.uk

The Institute of Direct Marketing www.theidm.com

Institute of Practitioners in Advertising www.ipa.co.uk

Institute of Public Relations www.ipr.org.uk

Institute of Sales Promotion www.isp.org.uk

Internet Advertising Bureau UK www.iabuk.net

The Market Research Society www.mrs.org.uk

Marketing Communication Consultants Association www.mcca.org.uk

The Marketing Society www.marketingsociety.org.uk

Ofcom www.ofcom.org.uk

The Public Relations Consultants Association www.prca.org.uk

Radio Advertising Bureau www.rab.co.uk

Radio Advertising Clearance Centre www.racc.co.uk

Royal Mail www.royalmail.com

Satellite & Cable Broadcasters Group www.scbg.org.uk

2009-06-21T17:08:00.002+01:00

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This is a test page. Just click on the title box above to see latest post.

The formal stuff

2009-06-20T20:33:00.001+01:00

The Openmike blog at http://agencyopenmike.blogspot.com is the personal website of Michael Sims. Written entries on this blog are my personal opinions and are not representative of any employer or client. Copyright © 2009 Michael Sims. All rights reserved.

I welcome and encourage you to participate in the discussion on this site. Comments are owned by the poster and will be moderated to ensure propriety.

Any unwitting breach of copyright or relevant code can be reported to me at MSims999@gmail.com and it will be remedied accordingly.

Any questions?

2009-06-18T09:40:00.001+01:00

About me

2008-01-03T21:35:00.000Z

I am currently working as an independent consultant; I have just finished a project, helping to set up a new digital agency within the Publicis Groupe.

My credentials? Well, I have worked in client services and senior management in brand, direct and digital agencies - independents and network-owned – at Kitcatt Nohr Digitas, Partners Andrews Aldridge, Rufus Leonard, Wunderman, EHS Brann and Rapier.

My recent experience is in the area of setting up new agency teams and operations, helping agencies define their client offering and developing business. Plus helping clients work better with agencies and develop their marketing activity. I became a freelance consultant through needing the flexibility to move to the US - which I have shelved now.

I am also an awards judge, a visiting lecturer at Warwick Business School and run internal training courses for clients and agencies in the area of briefing and creative evaluation. I have written two books focusing on key practical tips and techniques for the agency-client relationship – Agency Account Handling: Avoiding Blood, Sweat and Tears and the other for clients - Working with Agencies: An Insider's Guide