Top Ten Sins of Agencies

Clearly there are two sides (or more) to every story. And tomorrow I will talk about learning opportunities for companies. Agencies need to change how they work with customers, or we will keep changing agencies like underwear as Marc Bresseel stated recently. The biggest question I challenge you with is one -- is the agency model broken?

I think it is. I think it's time to reinvent what it means to create a different kind of experience, and it begins in the relationship with the agency itself. Here's a list of behaviors and outcomes I observed from where I sit. They should be turned around to leap forward into the future of advertising.

Let's start by talking about those behaviors that get in the way of the real work -- prioritizing a mix of communications that encourage conversation with the people who matter: customers.

1. Thinking that "not invented here" is a problem. Creative is not the end all be all, it's a starting point. The real conversation happens afterwards, in the marketplace. Many companies are facing this same challenge of being led to the creative of a specific agency as Holy Grail. I see a new way of working possible - using what already exists as part of a company's DNA and building on it. Why reinvent the wheel every time?
    
2. Focusing too much on your process and not enough on the client's business. This may be true especially in a B2B model. I am reminded that businesses are made of people, too. A deep knowledge of the industry's sales cycle, buyers' behaviors, and products/services goes a long way to create a communication piece that works. An ad is (or should be) a communication piece.
      
3. Being inconsistent. Talent is a real problem, especially now that everyone scrambles to become "experts du jour" in social media. Yet there should not be such disparity between the promises made by the strategy team and the output delivered by the creative group. 
    
4. Lacking in originality. Leaf through a magazine and what do you see? A sea of sameness. Are these all clients who could not "go for it"? I suspect not. Every single time I dared propose something that was not "how we do things here" I was pleasantly surprised that the company would go for it. Dare to be different not for the sake of being different. Do it by becoming more yourself.
    
5. Signing up for one thing and wanting it all before delivering on that one. This is common to too many providers. Anyone enjoy sitting in hour-long capabilities presentations? How about delivering on the project you've been given first? Your work cross-sells you. Stop talking, start doing. It never fails, we hire for excellence - experiencing excellent is the best referral of all.
    
6. Listening but not hearing. Sometimes you may be tempted to push through early signs that you are off base. Stop saying you are listening and start hearing what the client is telling you. Do you want to know how you can tell? You are two months late on a project and the client is not talking with you anymore. They have given up.
    
7. Making it hard to get work done. This is a corollary to the previous point. If you've been in business long enough, you should know how to elicit (and take) feedback while you keep moving on the project.
    
8. Thinking only in terms of billable hours. In that case that's all the client ever sees. Wherever you focus your energy and attention, that's what gets brought to the fore. Soon enough the client will stop picking up the phone and calling you for projects. The whole compensation model needs to be revisited. The agency that cracks this code wins.
    
9. Not working on the relationship. Getting to know a client's business can be very valuable to your output in the end. That is if you think in terms of relationship on not just billable hours. Do you want to know how we can tell the difference? How quickly do you email estimates and invoices and how often do you follow up on those vs. the project?
    
10. Moving on before the work is done. Typos, slapping copy on without working from a strategy brief, a bevy of small mistakes are all indications that you've moved on, that you are not interested anymore.

It can be very rewarding to work with people who are passionate about what they do. If you are in the agency business and you don't wake up every morning wanting to change the world, you may be guilty of one or more of these sins.

I propose that the best kind of agency is the one that can be customized to the client's needs. I've been thinking a lot about the idea of virtual agency as a flexible solution that fits a client's business cycle. No overhead, the ability to choose the most important person in the whole group - your lead copy writer. Then finding the lead creative with the help of a creative director. No agency fees and none of that multiple agency problem where each tries to get more work in other areas.

This model requires confidence on the client's part that she can be the general manager. It has the potential to fit like a glove in the open media environment we are moving into more and more. Today, that's where we create conversations. What do you think? Could the virtual agency model work?

© 2006-2009 Valeria Maltoni. All rights reserved.

Comments

[Gordon Whitehead]

Only ten sins...working in an agency I can think of heaps, especially when Creative Directors are around.

But the idea of a virtual or a social media agency model is not a silly idea, I truely believe its possible...it just needs an entrepreneurial person or community such as the Age of Conversation group to design and build it.

Imagine the Age of Conversation community setting-up a Social Media marketing & Advertising think-tank/agency servicing global customers. It shouldn't be to much of a problem to fit the needs of customers, whether its a lead copy writer in New York working with a creative director in Sydney, planning & buying media in London.

Why shoudn't it work!

[Nathania Johnson]

A virtual agency is the way you facilitate the change you're talking about.

But ultimately, the root focus needs to be on the change. Of course as a writer, I love what you wrote. Writing is so underrated and yet requires so much strategic thinking (in order to be good.) Of all personnel needed on a project, it is the writer that is most likely to "get" the business of the client.

And it is the writer who will work best in a Virtual Agency. It baffles my mind that companies limit themselves by requiring their workers to come to the office.

Business grows outside the office, and so should the workforce.

[David Farmer]

You couldn't be more dead on. Having now dealt directly with clients after 25 years of dealing with them from the agency side of the table, I have a new wealth of information from the source, clients, to support everything you have said here. A virtual agency model not only will work, it is the "way." Agencies will not make this leap. I have seen them stagnate for a decade trying to reinvent themselves. The problem is, their business model does not support the ability to become so "nimble." ( I feel like that SNL skit now with Chris Farley!) Anyway, I believe you will see a company emerge in the next 18 months with the new business model for delivering agency services in an "on-demand" fashion and become the standard. Not only do I believe that will happen...I know it will. Great article!

[kristine]

I do not usually comment on blogs, but I feel so strongly about this topic that I am posting a comment. I think this post is wonderful and I believe this is starting to happen. I know as an independent designer I work with developers and others as partners in more of a "virtual" office or agency model. I think one key component that should not be lost in this process is the idea of collaboration. I think this model works when everyone who is part of the team is committed to using all the tools available to collaborate despite the fact that everyone may not be housed in the same building, state or country. Historically, if you look at some of the best branding successes they are the result of amazing collaboration (client collaborating with agency and collaboration within an agency) I think that everyone involved in an "agency" is a creative thinker with a different perspective or piece to contribute. I think the best work is created when everyone is working together to help the business accomplish their goals. Some businesses are beginning to integrate this thinking into their daily process with great success. I seem to recall hearing at a conference that Method for example operates in this manner. They put product teams together including product development, writers, designers, marketing and have them sit together to encourage dialogue rather than grouping all the designers together as many companies do. Anyway, my main point is that I think it is important not to lose the idea of collaboration/dialogue when creating a virtual agency or team.

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Gordon -- there is a lot of talent out there that is not harnessed because of the "stories" that agencies have told themselves about what it means to be an agency. The work speaks to a lot of it, and so does the escalating frustration of companies. More and more, talent is in free agency, and that is just fine by me.

@Nathania -- good writing is very hard work, especially good persuasive writing. Anyone who finds a writer with the right voice and tone should hang on to them. And yes, we should not be married so much to a physical space. One issue at a time : )

[Valeria Maltoni]

@David -- it is usually not the establishment that makes the leap to the new. Change is too hard when the way we make a living is directly tied into the status quo. There already are companies that operate from that premise. And as you say here, there will be more of that. In the end, the market will drive demand.

@Kristine -- Thank you for weighing in from where you sit. I have great respect and admiration for designers as well. A collaborative attitude works. I have put together teams from different partners in the past and I have no problem doing that. Usually the difference with those teams is that people think they "get to" do the work vs. "have to. That's what yields great results. If you work with a smart lead, whoever that might be, they will manage to keep it all in sync.

[Gavin Heaton]

This is a popular topic at the moment! And that clearly indicates that something is rotten in the state of Denmark ;)

It seems there are pressures coming from within agencies as well as from clients. And while there are expectations that media is where things will shift, I still think there are other alternatives -- especially in the field of business consulting. As you say, creative is not the end point -- it is the start. And if you can't link it to business results or strategic objectives then it is just a waste of money. It is time to wise up ;)

[Dion Hughes]

nice list. shaming, really. your point one deserves to be right there, at the head of the list. turfs, silos, walls, supposed areas of expertise, all of it means that the flow of work, and the development of an idea, is constantly hitting roadblocks. the work becomes muddied as each person 'owns' it. the process grinds to a halt as each person argues their case. i've found over and over again that reinvention is a dead end strategy - and that opening up to the flow of other's ideas (learned this one in improv classes) is in fact the path to better, more surprising results... and of course it's a whole lot more fun.

[Darika]

I love the idea of a virtual agency. As long as you don't have to mess about creating an avatar