Tim's Right, It is About Relationships

Last Wednesday I had the honor of giving a presentation to the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association. It turned into a lively discussion on the future of advertising. My host, Tim Brunelle did a wonderful job of capturing the essence of the conversation in a recent blog post.

I totally agree with Tim. Advertising is all about relationships. And at the core of the client/agency relationship is trust. These days, that trust is being eroded by a lack of transparency and, oftentimes, resistance to change. Over the past few months, I've spent a lot of time in CMO offices of Fortune 500 companies. The theme is consistent. They tell me stories of being charged $10,000 per second for video editing for videos to go on YouTube, $1,000 for a single foamcore presentation board, $25,000 for event banners, unwillingness to collaborate, not to mention all the indirect charges for world-class parties and A-list travel.

Clients are frustrated.

Somewhere along the way, the big agency business became a lifestyle cultivated by the delusions of a time gone by.

Clients want great creative and strategy that pushes their business forward for an honest and transparent price.

It's pretty simple. The trust needs to be regained.

But lifestyles tend to be a hard thing to give up.

What do you think?

Comments

[Angrybovine]

I agree. I left big agency life to escape exactly what you speak of. I think there is almost an expectation to fleece the client these days if you have a nice set of offices and a large client or 10. I started my own small practice...where a more pure direct honest relationship devoid of egos and layers of management. I think the work that comes out of this close relationship approach is much more collaborative, open AND streamlined (translation, costs way less and usually deliviers a much better result). Additionally its a more nimble way to work, I can adapt ideas to solve business problems much more rapidly than conventional approaches which become mired in hardened schedules, media buys and the like. Because the reality of business today is more than likely the problem you initially came to solve has changed by the time the solution is ready, that means you need to adapt. The right realtionship puts you in a position to do so. close collaboration gives you that right.