Westpac Upsets Advertising Agencies - and why small businesses shouldn't fall for the glitz of 'great ideas'
“In the industry we work in, the person who comes up with the idea is seen as the hero and the person who implements it, second class.” - a statement by Jacques Burger, CEO of The Campaign Palace (a major advertising agency).
Small business owners often get carried away with the excitement generated by advertising creative people and overlook the hugely important aspect of how to implement an idea and get results for their business.
The quote above confirms that agencies usually put emphasis on 'great ideas'. That's not all bad - we need great ideas. But we also need great implementation.
Westpac (a leading Australian bank) has decided they want to be able to get the best ideas, and the best implementation - even if it means working with seperate agencies, and getting those agencies to cooperate and collaborate with each other.
That is a great idea. But it's one that many agencies won't really like. After all, most suppliers (providers) don't like sharing their client with competitors!
Small business owners often get carried away with the excitement generated by advertising creative people and overlook the hugely important aspect of how to implement an idea and get results for their business.
The quote above confirms that agencies usually put emphasis on 'great ideas'. That's not all bad - we need great ideas. But we also need great implementation.
Westpac (a leading Australian bank) has decided they want to be able to get the best ideas, and the best implementation - even if it means working with seperate agencies, and getting those agencies to cooperate and collaborate with each other.
That is a great idea. But it's one that many agencies won't really like. After all, most suppliers (providers) don't like sharing their client with competitors!
Labels: advertising, small business, sme marketing
posted by Stuart Ayling @ 4:23 PM
2 Comments:
At 11:02 AM,
Daniel Eigenmann said…
Interesting Post Stuart.
It will be interesting to see how the different agencies/suppliers will work together (if at all).
Besides a reluctance to share clients - I can see an even bigger issue (at least from the client's point of view)... different suppliers are likely to have different agendas (i.e. focus).
For example, the typical advertising agency or graphic designer is primarily interested in image and branding (the way it looks) - elements that are extremely hard to measure at the best of times.
Other suppliers, e.g. promotional agencies or direct marketing companies, are all about results - i.e. measurability, accountability.
The way I see it... the challenge will be for the client (regardless of size) to mamage everybody's ego and agenda.
Good luck with that!
And ss a small business that would be even more diffcult. Try to tell an advertising agency that you want your communication to be measurable and accountable. Try to tell them that you can't afford to wait for their recommend brand/imagine advertising to pay for itself.
Stuart, as a sales trainer you know that advertising is salesmanship mulitplied by the media. But try to get a traditional advertising to admit to that. I'll have a better chance to convince my wife that pigs can fly!
Great post - keep them coming.
Regards,
Daniel Eigenmann
Perth, WA
At 11:40 AM,
Stuart Ayling said…
I agree with you Daniel. The advertising world has a lot of vested interests, and different priorities - not always in favour of their client. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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