March 30, 2010 in BriefLogic on Marketing, Marketing Effectiveness | Comments (0)
Tags: Advertising, Agency, Bud Light, Client, Drinkability, Input Process, Marketing, Wendell Grimsley
In a recent article on Budweiser’s scrapped “Drinkability” campaign (Ad Age, March 15 2010, “Bud’s big blunder: letting consultants run away with brand) Jeremy Mullen examines the growing influence management consultants have over creative agencies. As Mr. Mullen writes, “Management consultants popping up in marketing isn’t exactly new.” However, he concludes “the degree to which these consultants’ recommendations and findings can translate directly into creative is becoming a familiar frustration for agencies.”
Beyond the obvious roles & responsibilities debate, Mr. Mullen’s last statement raises an intriguing question: what information SHOULD “translate directly into creative?” Regardless of who originates it, an enormous amount of data is generated in preparation for a new campaign. Assumptions are made and conclusions are drawn. But not all of this is suitable for the creative brief which should, in fact, “translate directly into creative.”
How does one ensure the quality of the brief given to the agency? The first step is to follow a structured and disciplined process. Although it may be common practice to forward slides from the consultant straight to the agency, it is not a suitable substitution for a proper brief. There must be agreement between the client and agency on what information is required to initiate a new project. Information overload is just as debilitating as information gaps in the creative development process . . . so understanding the agency’s needs up front is critical. And there must be a robust approval process to ensure all internal stakeholders are in agreement with the instructions before they’re given to the agency.
The second step to ensuring the brief’s quality is to implement an objective standard to evaluate its content against. Even following a defined process, a “good brief” can be as elusive as “good creative.” That’s because evaluating content subjectively leaves it open to interpretation and opinion . . . and that puts the end-product at risk. Faulty logic, poor assumptions or weak arguments are harder to spot without established criteria with which to assess the content. Ironically, the risk of this is exceptionally high when a brief is being circulated for internal approval since there’s a chance that group-think has already set in.
It’s been said that success has many fathers while failure is an orphan. “Drinkability” it appears, is headed for the orphanage. Focusing on a more disciplined briefing process can both restore the delicate balance between client, consultant and agency and keep all three fighting to claim their progeny going forward.
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March 5, 2010 in Marketing Effectiveness | Comments (12)
Tags: Advertising, Client-Agency Relationship AdAge, CMO Strategy, Marketing, Pay for Performance, Process
Avi Dan, CEO of Avidan Strategies recently wrote a CMO Strategy article for AdAge titled, “As Shops Transform, Marketers Must Adapt Too: CMOs Must Draft a Blueprint for the New Client-Agency Relationship and Redesign Their Role.”
In the article, Mr. Dan expresses the shift in compensation from the model established at the dawn of the industry in the late 19th century to value-based agreements which base pay for performance, thereby aligning the interests of clients and agencies more closely. He mentions a number of key aspects that may be included in the new model, such as de-layering the service structure of agencies by reducing middle management; or relying more on freelance creatives and planners, this is something he calls Hollywoodization.
Mr. Dan also recommends that CMOs redesign the client’s side of the relationship as well by having marketers adapt a new set of skills and responsibilities. He primarily focuses on the skill set of the CMO and one aspect we at Jones&Bonevac especially agree with is what he calls, Process Audit and Design. The following is an excerpt from his article:
Process audit and design. With leaner agencies, single-mindedness is vital. CMOs should develop and champion a time-saving and labor-saving streamlined marketing and advertising process. You should ask yourself continuously, are assignments properly established and budgeted? Outcomes quantified, agreed to and documented? Is the approval process logical and prompt? Timetables unambiguous? During the transition, CMOs should establish a marketing and advertising process design plan to avoid operational bottlenecks.
Why we think that Mr. Dan is so spot-on will come as no surprise to those of you who regularly follow our blog. Just like Mr. Dan, we recognize the need to save time and labor by developing a process to streamline the marketing and advertising process.
We agree with the questions that he suggests to constantly be asking. While it may seem obvious that assignments should be properly budgeted, all too often the agency will go over budget as a result of unclear timetables or a lack of documented and quantified outcomes.
Mr. Dan also brought up the particularly important approval process; we suggest that one way to make it more logical and prompt is to reduce the number of decisions makers to one or two at the most. When the process clearly defines who is responsible for what and that there is little or no overlap among managers and decision makers, then the chances of success dramatically increase.
The ongoing transformation of the relationship between clients and agencies is something we at Jones&Bonevac take very seriously. We deliver multi-tiered solutions to our clients to help them quickly adapt to the challenges of the changing times. We offer training to companies seeking to give their marketers a head start in adopting these new roles and responsibilities. We provide a service as an objective third-party to review and audit our client’s communications with their agencies in order to design a more efficient and cost-saving process.
If you are interested about how your company can benefit by adopting these strategies then feel free to email info@jonesandbonevac.com, or visit our website at jonesandbonevac.com to find out more.
