Pitfalls

Not all clients understand what an advertising agency is and what an agency can do for them. Clients sometimes use the terms advertising, marketing, PR, branding, positioning and design interchangeably (and sometimes incorrectly).

From a client perspective, it is important to hire an agency that is a good fit for you and your company. It is important that the agency be given the opportunity to understand what you are doing – your business, your competitors, your goals, your needs. Of course, it helps clients understand what their own needs are.

On the agency side, agencies must be careful about the companies or clients they choose. As agencies, we are what we eat when it comes to our client list. If you take on bad clients, you are going to do bad work for them and for the agency.

There is an old saying in the industry I’ve heard agency veterans repeat over the years. There are two variations of it. One variation says that good clients get good advertising. The other less kind variation is that clients get the advertising they deserve. That is true. Great clients, if they deserve great advertising, will get great advertising. They don’t just invest money. They invest knowledge, time, information, a willingness to work as a partner, and an adequate budget to make it happen. If a client is looking for a quick fix, doesn’t want to share information, won’t take the time to meet and discuss, and doesn’t want to take the initiative to fund it, they will most assuredly not get what they expect from their agency relationship.

Unfortunately, agencies are put all too often in the position of having to create the proverbial silk purse out of a sow’s ear, especially when they are ill-informed and poorly budgeted. This is a set up for failure. Ad agencies continue to take on work because they are service-oriented; it is a highly competitive industry now and everyone takes on almost every account that walks in front of them. It’s a very risky business to be in these days.

Risk or not, we still fight over every client and every prospect. We still do it because we get highly charged by the thrill of the chase. We want to do great things for clients. We want to help them succeed. We love the challenge of developing the strategy. We love the challenge of matching that strategy with the right creative.