The Advertising Apocalypse
Speech Presented by Jane Bedford
I’m here; indeed we’re all here, to discuss the 4
Horsemen of the Advertising Apocalypse:
Flawed Relationships, Churn, Shortcutting
Service and Lean Compensation.
It’s interesting that here we are, newly linked by a
global Internet, with the entire universe only a
mouse click away, and we’re talking about the oldest
story every told . . . flawed relationships.
The Flawed Relationship
We’ve been hearing about that since the birth of
advertising. You know, when Adam removed his
little fig leaf. And, of course, we all know the result
of that. A flawed relationship.
And that’s been the story ever since.
In my opinion, nothing has really changed much in
the realm of advertising. After all, advertising is the
result of a marriage. An imperfect union between
client and agency. A union that can progress from
matrimony to acrimony. Just like that.
So, from my perspective, there’s nothing new. No
real impending doom. Nothing apocalyptic
happening in client/agency relationships.
Well, there is one thing.
The Birth of Consultants
The one thing Apocalyptic about what’s facing
advertising today, is that when the Man, called
“client,” comes together with the Woman, called
“Agency” . . . a child is born. And that child is
called “Consultant.”
You see, we consultants are the Love Children of
Flawed Relationships. And we are the beneficiaries
of flaw . . . . churn, short shrift and lean times.
After all, that is our life’s blood. Our raison d’etre.
Our birthright.
So, I’m happy to say that yes, as always, times are
not good.
So, rejoice. For ye shall have work!
“It would be helpful for the agency to put
themselves more into my mindset,” I was told by
one corporate executive, “and ferret out our
corporate needs.” Don’t misunderstand me; I’m
not absolving the client of responsibility to convey
his or her strategic vision. But, the fact is . . . few
clients have a good sense of what they can and
should be getting from their agency partners. Even
fewer know how to articulate their most critical
needs . . . the ones that could be deeply and
positively affected by an agency’s work product.
And it’s been that way for a long, long time.
Beyond the Creative
It’s easy to understand how this happens. CEO’s
and their key executives are inordinately busy
dealing with analysts . . . with the Board of
Directors . . . with the Stock Market. In the
horsemen analogy, clients are trying to cope with
their own herd of unruly and demanding horses . . .
Total Quality Management, Unions, Lawsuits and
Government Regulations. As if that weren’t
enough, add the constant need to upgrade their
infrastructures, advance to more robust servers. . .
more sophisticated intranets . . . more intelligent use
of new and emerging media.
So you see, one can’t just throw creative at a
problem and hope for the besting response to the
increasing complexities of the business they . . .
indeed, we all face.
Think about cost consciousness, for example.
When a client’s media schedule grows substantially
over the previous year . . . are the agency’s servicing
costs commensurate? Not necessarily.
In my experience, as accounts grow by quantum
leaps, agency spending to serve that growth is in
baby steps. Simply put, when an account grows
from $50,000,000 to $100,000,000, you can expect
to add more people. But certainly not double the
staffing needs.
So, when we’re talking about “leaner” compensation
models, (hence less service), well . . . it depends
upon whose financial profile you’re looking at . . .
the agency’s or the client’s.
A Personal Perspective
As I was preparing to make this presentation, I
toured several agencies to see what I could discover
that might help illustrate the key points of this
meeting’s agenda.
And I saw some things that I’d never really noticed
before.
For example, walking through one major, national
agency, I was startled not to see any computers in
the account service area. It could have been an
office of the 50’s.
And at another office, in a client presentation, the
president of the agency was actually proud of the
fact that he couldn’t turn on a computer.
What this has to do with the 4 Horsemen . . . with
churn, and sorry service . . . with reduced
compensation and rocky relationships . . . is simple.
You’d better get on-line get outta line. And I use
this example metaphorically.
The Advertiser’s View of an Agency
From a client’s viewpoint, what some agencies
simply aren’t doing is growing corporately and
personally . . . changing culturally . . . embracing the
spirit and the substance of the audiences they seek.
In their constant efforts to improve themselves,
agencies seem to look too much at other agencies
and not enough at how corporate business is being
reengineered, redefined, and re-formulated. I think
one advertising great characterized the notion of the
status quo vividly when he said, “the advertising
industry has been making the same toaster for over
fifty years.”
What’s equally troubling to advertisers is the
growing sense that award winning creative – in and
of itself – guarantees better sales. Perhaps, as
another eminent agency man once put it, “agencies
should spend their time figuring out how to make
the cash register ring again,” and less time making
spots that we all love . . . for the sake of art.
What Advertisers Want
Our “read” is that advertisers think it’s time for
agencies to de-mystify compensation . . . they want
to know when their account is unprofitable (labor
costs exceeding income). As well, they want
definitions of fair profit and more forthrightness
when margins are excessive. I have yet to work with
a client who didn’t want his agency to make a fair
profit.
You see, there is still a need . . . and there always will
be . . . for agencies to remember that they’re agents . . .
they serve their clients.
Focus on Relationship-Building
Maybe what is really needed is a cosmic attitude shift
… a shift toward building a better relationship, a
relationship wherein there’s a deep understanding of
the client’s business . . . the no-fun, no-glory issues .
. . issues like new product development, quality
control, manufacturing, distribution, display,
promotion and yes, actually pouring over Nielsen
ScanData, customer counts and conversions to
reveal what’s really driving customer business and
what is not.
Relationship-building means not only making a
client feel comfortable, but also assuring that the
feeling runs deep, deep down into the river of reality
that keeps the client’s business running . . . well.
In order to achieve peak performance as someone’s
agent . . . caring, understanding, technological savvy,
and cost-consciousness . . . all have to accompany
brilliant creative thinking.
Award winning advertising alone doesn’t achieve
that kind of relationship-building . . . that good
feeling one gets with the knowledge that they’re in
an ongoing, symbiotic relationship that exists in a
mutually beneficial partnership.
Because, after all, while technology may have
changed much in the way we do business . . . it has
not changed that much in the way we do life.
We still need our high-touch skills in an increasingly
high-tech world . . . perhaps more than ever. We
still need to recognize that successful unions are, in
the final analysis those among people . . . and as
such, their success hinges on a pronoun.
“When their product becomes your product . . .
when their problem becomes your problem . . .
when their success becomes your success . . . then
you will be touching your client, your customers, the
way they want to be touched.”
The Role of The Bedford Group
At The Bedford Group, we call our high-touch
theory, SMART EMPATHY. And when we’re
involved with an agency search or relationship
analysis, we believe it is important to put ourselves
in the shoes of both parties . . . Agency and Client.
In fact, we take our shoeness a step further . . . we
also put ourselves in the consumer’s shoes.
A Final Thought
So, let’s all take some time to remember . . . whether
we’re talking about agencies, clients or consultants .
. . they’re really just people. They have flawed
relationships . . . they change loyalties . . . they
would rather be served than serve . . . and they
constantly look for ways to spend less money. Just
like the rest of us.
My sense is that agencies, if they can create a
heightened sense of Client . . . can be proactive on
the continuous improvement front . . . can, on their
own volition, replace those nasty 4 Advertising
Horsemen. They could even create a new world
order. Nothing cataclysmic . . . just some non-
threatening new riders like
Loyalty, Selflessness,
Empathy, and Fair Profit.
And then there would be no need for consultants.
World without end. Amen.