http://www.trinityp3.com/ At a time when marketers are seeing tightening budgets and increased options and channels with an ever more elusive consumer, the pressure to reduce the cost of advertising is increasing. But often the biggest opportunity and the quickest win is in reducing waste within the marketing process that has often evolved over time. Based on more than a decade of advising some of Australia's biggest and most successful advertisers, TrinityP3 provides this presentation on the Top 10 ways marketers often waste money, which provides you with practical advise on how to avoid or reduce this waste, returning more spending power to your marketing budget.

1. Top ten most common ways
advertisers waste money…
and how to avoid them
Lessons from more than a decade of advising
Australia’s largest and most successful advertisers
Presented by TrinityP3
marketing management consultants

2. 1. Changing agencies when changing Marketing Directors
The loss of brand
and market knowledge
within the incumbent
agency is one of the great
unaccounted
assets.
marketing management consultants

3. Remember…
1. Changing agencies can take up to 3 months and require more than
600 internal head hours to complete successfully.
2. The new agency will require 3 - 6 months of 20% more time to get
“up to speed” on your business.
3. With marketers’ average tenure now less than 25 months the
agency is often the most consistent source of brand knowledge.
4. Poorly managed reviews can lead to irreparable damage to the
brand and corporate reputation.
marketing management consultants

4. To avoid this…
1. Clearly identify the areas were the agency is underperforming by
discussing expectations and delivery with the marketing team.
2. Meet with the agency management and communicate your concerns
and agree objectives, timelines and metrics for improvement.
3. Schedule and provide regular feedback to the agency or consider
using a relationship survey (such as Evalu8ing) to monitor the
relationship.
marketing management consultants

5. 2. Incomplete or poor quality briefing
If you don t know
what you want or need
how is the
agency going
to know?
marketing management consultants

6. Remember…
1. If the agency doesn’t “crack” the brief first time, it is more often the
brief rather than the agency.
2. Every iteration of creative work creates a hidden cost in agency
fees and tangible costs in production fees.
3. Time wasted on developing consecutive creative concepts eats into
production time, driving up cost or compromising quality.
marketing management consultants

7. To avoid this…
1. Develop the brief with stakeholder and agency input and before
work commences make sure all parties agree on the direction in
writing.
2. Always use the brief to judge and critique the work and when
presenting work make sure it is presented in the context of the
agreed brief.
marketing management consultants

8. 3. Lack of time and project management discipline
If you don t allow
enough time to
get the job done right,
be prepared
to pay for it
later.
marketing management consultants

9. Remember…
1. Mistakes are made more often when people are in a hurry and cost
more to fix later.
2. Quality requires either time or money to achieve and the less you
have of one the more you will need of the other.
3. The cost of revisions rises in direct relation to the approach of the
deadline, and if it doesn’t you have probably paid for it already.
marketing management consultants

10. To avoid this…
1. Have within your contract agreed timelines for strategy, creative
development and production.
2. Make the agency responsible for project management based on
your planned activities.
3. Have agreed processes for fast track activities that arise outside
of your planned activities.
marketing management consultants

11. 4. Spending the budget
Many marketers and agencies
are too focused
on how to spend the budget
rather than how to invest to
maximise
the results.
marketing management consultants

12. Remember…
1. “What sticks” says that it is not 50% of advertising that is wasted, it
is only 37.3% because marketeers do not learn from their mistakes.
2. You cannot learn if you do not bother to measure, record and
analyse the results of your actions.
3. Vague objectives and general statements on improvement do not
provide meaningful results.
marketing management consultants

13. To avoid this…
1. Make sure all activities have a specific and measurable outcome.
2. Implement a detailed and rigorous measuring and reporting
process for each activity / project / campaign.
3. Share this information with the agency and link their remuneration
to the result to drive efficiency and effectiveness improvements.
marketing management consultants

14. 5. Being too prescriptive in your requests
instead of
You re paying
slaves.
professional
rates,
treat the agency
so
like professionals…
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15. Remember…
1. If you are telling your agency what to do and how to do it, where do
they get to add value?
2. This behaviour leads to high agency staff turnover and lower quality
people working on your account.
3. Agencies are there to provide specific strategic and creative value,
not to be an outsourced personal assistant to the marketing
department.
marketing management consultants

16. To avoid this…
1. Always define the requirements and / or problem clearly and listen
to the agency s suggestions.
2. If it the agency is consistently not delivering to your requirements,
discuss the issue with them to determine why.
3. If yelling at the agency is the only way to get what you need, then
eventually you will end up with a new agency.
marketing management consultants

17. 6. Lack of clarity and focus in providing feedback
Garbage in
leads to garbage out
in IT and similarly
in advertising - so
careful and
be
concise
in providing
feedback
to the agency.
marketing management consultants

18. Remember…
1. Providing feedback on strategy, creative, concepts and aesthetics
is difficult as it is often abstract or highly subjective.
2. Misinterpretation of feedback can lead the agency in the wrong
direction and cause additional work and create costly delays.
3. No matter who is at fault for the misinterpretation, the advertiser
ends up paying for it in energy, time, frustration and budget.
marketing management consultants

19. To avoid this…
1. Do not allow yourself to be rushed into providing feedback, where
possible use the overnight test
2. Use the brief as the basis for providing feedback at all stages of
development, not just concept but right through production
3. Do not use subjective language like edgy or contemporary ,
but where words fail use pictures and examples instead
marketing management consultants

20. 7. Convoluted approval processes within the organisation
Everyone can have an
opinion, but in
the end the only
one that
counts …ultimate
is the… decision
maker.
marketing management consultants

21. Remember…
1. The more people involved in the approval process the greater
number of changes required to get an approved execution.
2. Each iteration of change incurs a cost and creates opportunities for
waste with unnecessary changes.
3. There is no incentive, other than the timely delivery of the job, for
the agency to keep the number of changes to a minimum as these
changes increase revenue and profit
marketing management consultants

22. To avoid this…
1. Identify who can say YES and minimise all of the approval stages
that can only say NO
2. Have everyone responsible present at the one time for approvals
3. If you can’t, get everyone’s feedback before de-briefing the
agency
marketing management consultants

23. 8. Poor understanding of the advertising process
This can lead to
making decisions at the
worst possible
time in the process.
Know the process
and you ll get
better
results.
marketing management consultants

24. Remember…
1. The creative process commences with the strategy and continues
through the concept and execution
2. At every stage decisions, feedback and directives have an impact
on the cost, quality and time required to deliver the final outcome
3. The agency will always focus on the delivery of the advertisers
stated requirements over the cost effective delivery of the concept
4. “In six months time no one will thank me for delivering it on time or
on budget” - Creative Director
marketing management consultants

25. To avoid this…
1. Never dictate specific executional outcomes unless you understand all
the cost, time and quality implications.
2. When discussing projects with the agency, always ask for a written
assessment of the cost implications before proceeding.
3. If changes are required to deliver strategic imperatives, ask the agency
to recommend multiple solutions and costs to achieve these.
marketing management consultants

26. 9. Having a remuneration model that rewards inefficiency
resources
Focusing on
head hours
instead of
outcomes
results
encourages
poor practices
efficiency.
marketing management consultants

27. Remember…
1. Paying for head hours can encourage agencies to work slowly and
inefficiently to increase revenue and profit.
2. Commissions and service fees reward the agency for spending
your budget and are not related to the cost or effort involved.
3. Head hours are a notoriously inaccurate record and measure of the
resources and efforts required to deliver a specific outcome.
marketing management consultants

28. To avoid this…
1. Define your requirements from the agency in the form of capabilities
and volume (scope of work).
2. Negotiate remuneration based on the delivery of those services and
outcomes not simply the resources required.
3. Monitor the scope of work and the agency performance and resources
to identify opportunities for improved efficiency.
marketing management consultants

29. 10. Falling in love with the (new) agency
While the best
advertiser/agency relationships
are based on
mutual respect
trust,
it is still a
business relationship
that requires
management.
marketing management consultants

30. Remember…
1. The honeymoon period does not last forever but a great working
relationship can.
2. Many contracts fall into three year cycles, the first year is great, the
second year is ordinary and the third year is not much better.
3. Great relationships deliver great outcomes and increased ROI, but
they take time and effort to manage.
marketing management consultants

31. To avoid this…
1. In establishing the relationship, ensure that agreement / contract
includes measurable expectations (SLA, KPI etc).
2. Plan an allocate the time and resources to manage the relationship on
a regular basis (ideally quarterly).
3. At each review stage, discuss outcomes, performance, process,
resources and remuneration with specific recommendations for
improvement.
marketing management consultants

32. Summary
Tired of
wasting
money?
marketing management consultants

33. then avoid…
1. Changing agencies before it is really necessary
2. Poor briefing practices and implement ways to improve quality
3. Being too prescriptive with the agency, it stops them being their best
4. The last minute minute rush, it increases the chance of costly mistakes
5. Simply spending the budget, instead of looking for ways to invest
6. Costly mistakes and misinterpretations in your feedback
7. Convoluted approval processes, instead look for ways to streamline
8. Making changes without understanding the real cost and impact
9. Remunerating your agency for time instead of outcomes
10. Forgetting to manage the relationship which needs investment to grow
and if all else fails…
marketing management consultants

34. Contact TrinityP3 to find out how to reduce waste
and increase value in your advertising.
TrinityP3 Pty Ltd
Sydney
+612 8399 0922
Melbourne
+613 9682 6800
Hong Kong
+852 3478 3982
Singapore
+65 6631 2861
people@trinityp3.com
www.trinityp3.com
marketing management consultants