Client agency bhai bhai

1. Client-agency
Bhai Bhai
BE decodes the rapidly-evolving
relationship status between
marketers and agencies

2. Contd..
We live in newer, stranger times. And more so if you're in the
advertising and marketing business. The `traditional media mix only'
ship has sailed for brands and marketers and we hope that no brand
missed that final boarding call. Today, a television commercial, a press
ad, a radio spot and a hoarding does not an adequate media mix make.
Especially with digital entering the fray, planning media has gotten
extremely complicated there is branded content, social media, online
relationship management and mobile marketing that are a part of the
digital umbrella. The demands of the business are changing, newer
mediums are coming up. This simply means that the typical client and
agency relationship is out of the window..

3. Show me the money, honey
The first fairly obvious consequence is that remuneration models are
becoming greyer, with the parameters on which agencies are evaluated
becoming RoI-driven. In light of this, are agencies making the fair sum
that is due to them? Obviously marketers think they do.
“Agency compensation needs to seen in the context of what adds value
to the client and what ensures a reasonable profit margin for the
agency,“ believes Sanjeeb Chaudhuri, global CMO and regional head,
South Asia, Standard Chartered Bank. He further adds, “A traditional
agency ecosystem doesn't really need to be taken into consideration in
every campaign designing process.“

4. Contd..
What that really means is that cost structures should be planned wisely
according to the client's needs without the agency getting the short end of
the stick. But of course, all of this can only happen when both parties are
open and transparent with each other, with clients appreciating that an
agency's remuneration cannot be subsidised. After all, you get what you
give.
Kamal Basu, head of marketing, Volkswagen India agrees with Chaudhuri,
further stating that the pay-per-performance model is becoming the order of
the day. “As marketers, we shouldn't just evaluate agency associates
thoroughly but make sure they are also making a profit.“ Having said that,
Basu feels that it isn't easy to handle multiple agencies for different services;
it means that brand teams will have to scale marketing resources too,
something that is easier said than done.

5. Relationship status: It's complicated
The bigger question is, where do holding companies stand in this big,
bad changing world? An association with a network agency may seem
like a cushy proposition, but it needn't necessarily have the
wherewithal to provide specialist services. With dynamic market
conditions come newer, different expectations from an agency.
Marketers believe that only agencies that understand job processes,
segment dynamics and the ones that create a knowledge base for the
brand will be the last ones standing.

6. The New Age Outlook
It is interesting to observe how the rule book is evolving for new businesses in
fledgling categories. In fact, Rathin Lahiri, CMO at Meru Cabs, believes that there
hardly is a rule book in the first place. The onus of performance, he says, shifting
towards the agencies as much as it was with marketers.
“E-commerce is seeing digitization at a crazy pace. It's consumers that are leading
the brands into technology, by adopting it so fiercely. The sheer speed at which we
need to acquire new consumers needs communication partners that can keep up
they need to be talented, flexible and agile,“ Lahiri explains.
The media mix for start ups and e-commerce brands is quite different than the rest.
The former incline heavily towards digital in its entirety, with just about 30-40% of
the spends being diverted to traditional media. In this scenario, agency partners
need to be accountable for performance delivery and not just brand metrics. Lahiri
emphasises that marketers are willing to shell out the big bucks if they see value
coming in.

7. Contd..
If marketers are to be believed, then the days of creating just clever
and heavily awarded campaigns are over. The work needs to be great,
but hey, what's the point if it isn't doing anything for the brand? With
so much happening in the start up space with such ferocity, brands are
only as good as their last campaign. The work needs to be churned out
quick, and only partners who appreciate this are welcomed. Like they
say, you snooze, you lose.
So does that mean that if the brand's primary custodian quits the
agency to form his own venture, brands would follow suit? Lahiri is on
the fence on that one. “If I think that one person understands my
business as well as I do, then I'd consider moving, surely .“

8. For details and bookings contact:-
Parveen Kumar Chadha… THINK TANK
(Founder and C.E.O of Saxbee Consultants & Other-Mother
marketingandcommunicationconsultants.com)
Email :-saxbeeconsultants@gmail.com
Mobile No. +91-9818308353
Address:-First Floor G-20(A), Kirti Nagar, New Delhi India Postal Code-110015