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According to a resent ISBA presentation by Aprais, a client/agency relationship specialist, “Successful marketing clients:

• are professional, disciplined, well organised
• understand and respect their agencies’ contributions
• know what they want, are demanding
• are committed to quality, expect to pay for it
• are honest and fair
• regard their agencies as partners, not just suppliers”

Recognising that not all clients are created equal, we always encourage agencies which are shortlisted for our clients’ briefs to be equally as selective as clients in making a choice at every stage of the pitch process. And while most of us who have worked in the industry for a while would self-volunteer most of these aspects if asked to describe the perfect client, perhaps it’s worth at least this brief reminder of those aspects which are markers for the most successful client-side marketers.

If you’re a UK marketing agency and haven’t yet registered for our database. What are you waiting for?! It’s easy….we promise.

Six months have passed since you began working with your new communications firm. And while they started out strong, they seem to be falling down from time to time on simple things. You’re starting to second-guess your decision and question whether you’ve selected the ‘right’ firm.

What should you do?

Imagine…you’re one of 4 children. You’re constantly on edge because your mom or dad continually compare and contrast what you do over and above your siblings (and vice versa). Their expressed love, approval and financial support depends wholly on how you’re perceived within the family. Would you ‘play fair’ as a child in this household, or seek every opportunity to self-promote and also detract attention and accolades from your siblings? Human nature would say that the later would be true.

This is also true of clients wishing to retain multiple agencies. For marketing agencies to ‘play fair’ toward a collectively shared integrated campaign goal and step away from selfish posturing, clients must first foster an environment which promotes it. Rules must be set upfront and client-side marketers must be unified and consistent in disciplining and rewarding agencies toward enforcing the rules. Insecurity and perceived untapped opportunity motivate marketing and communications firms to posture for a larger slice of a client’s budget.

Average account longevity stands at a very low 2.5 years. Just about every client we speak with asks that we find them an agency ‘partner’. But what is a partnership? And what steps are necessary for a communications agency or client to form a partnership?

According to one commonly accepted definition of partnership, two firms or partners establish a formal component of shared financial risk or an actual joint venture in which the success or failure of either greatly impacts the other. At times, the clients we work with are generally seeking this type of arrangement—a pay for performance model, but this isn’t universally true. So, what is it that clients and agencies really want to see in one another when speaking of a ‘partnership’?

I’m not a copywriter. Though a voracious reader (or so I like to think) with an OK vocabulary, my first drafts are often cluttered with tired lines and clichés. And despite drastic editing, one or two trite phrases always seem to creep into my final drafts.

Arguably however, it’s worse for time poor agency-side staff, who write pitch presentations and case studies while suffering from the same problem.