Today, we held our Agency Relations Forum - a gathering of ANA members to discuss and debate the state of the client-agency relationship. By all accounts, that relationship is faring pretty well. Our friends at Fed Ex identified how they'e been able to leverage their superb 15 year partnership with BBDO. Kraft indicated that adherence to key principles and focus on continuous improvement have served them well. Even ANA's proprietary research flagged more buoyancy than I would have imagined.
It seems that advertisers and agencies - despite a long spate of high profile historical issues - are learning how to work with each other. This "renewal" is seemingly providing marketers with the external "consultant" it needs to flourish in this increasingly complex communications environment.
With all of this being said, there is still a lot of industry grumbling - whether it's about procurement departments, agency consultants or transparency concerns. Nevertheless, it was "refreshing" to hear that real progress is being made with marketers most valued ally - the agency.
Let's hope this marks the long-awaited turnaround in this historically most treasured relationship. Time will tell, but having just returned from the 4A's Management Conference in South Beach last week, it seems that everyone is feeling better about the state of affairs.
Despite the analogies yesterday to marriages and separations and divorces, the client -agency relationship probably should never be a love fest. It also shouldn't be a supplier or vendor relationship. What it should be - and what seems to work best - is a true partnership. We attendees saw some great examples of partnerships yesterday. And with more skilled folks involved, and more effective tools in hand, partnerships can indeed be intensified, to everyone's advantage.
Posted by: Peter F, Eder | April 21, 2004 at 03:49 PM