Respect Others, Respect Experience, Respect the Job to be Done

The reason I say it39s rare is that it outlines a number of issues rarely talked about indeed glossed over by those who lead agencies these days even if I know several who would privately agree with every wordamp160It39s also unusual in that it was written by someone current not some old blogger who left the agency business over a decade agoThe issues raised are worrying for the future of agencies who after all only succeed because of the talent within them If they can39t offer a workplace environment that39s rewarding and indeed fun then they won39t attract the talent in the first placeI don39t know Anthony but he has impeccable credentials and 25 years in agenciesamp160The first canard heamp160shoots is that media agencies should be places only for the young Apparently only they have the energy only they can survive the stress and the long hoursAs he says a little later how very machismo How totally rubbishquotWhat I want to say is this how utterly amp8230 stupidamp160The media agency business is still a young business that hasn39t escaped its dilettante origins and so can39t trust itself to be wise Media agencies deep in their DNA amp8230 don39t want to believe that they matter enough to invest in that great destroyer that great leveller that great learner TIMEquotWe all have stories Mine involves meeting a young agency guy who began with great pomposity quotLet me just explain to you how advertising works amp8230 quotI sat quietly listened and responded politely I believe he left the agency soon afterIn many professions age and experience are valued In ours not so much Look at the number of exagency CEOs consulting for ad tech businesses or for media vendors Why aren39t those people sufficiently valued by the industry sector they39ve recently leftAnthony raises the general awfulness of most pitches As he writesquotWhat is wrong with pitches They are too long We kill ourselves doing them They have a massively adverse impact on people39s mental health This helps no one and nothing and it could be done better with zero impact on the rectitude of client decisionmakingquotTo be honest we do sometimes run pitches We do so rarely as we believe that often the last thing the client needs is a pitchI was brought up at Leo Burnett one of whose clients Kellogg39s had a brand manager bible given to every starter The first paragraph read I paraphrase quotIt is not your job to change the agency It is your job to get the most from the agencyquotOne large FMCG client many years ago asked us to help them change a media agency as quotthey39re rubbishquot As the incumbent was one of the largest and most awarded agencies they transparently weren39t quotrubbishquotWe talked the client out of precipitous action saw the agency helped them strengthen their team advised the client on improving their briefing and operating procedures and leftThe agency retained the business for a number of yearsWe could have run a media pitch taken the fee changed the agency on the promise of an apparent reduction in costs or nevertobeseen again tools seen promises broken blamed the agency rinsed and repeated Over and overMeantime the client would have run up substantial hidden costs in time and lost opportunities and no doubt sold less productWho wins Yes I know When we do run pitches we satisfy ourselves first that it truly is the best route for the client We discuss the options with the client including not pitchingWhen we do go ahead we try to treat agencies politely and with respect We brief thoroughly we give everyone sufficient time we do everything we can to keep to timelines we respond to calls andamp160we do our best to ensure that each agency presents itself in the best possible lightWe offer honest debriefs to those that don39t winWe try to treat others as I would have liked to be treated when I was doing the pitchingSadly often we fail to convince clients so we just don39t participate We have that luxuryNone of us can change the world on our own All we can do is affect our very small bit of itRespect others respect experience respect the job to be doneRespect to Anthony SwedeClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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