Remuneration is one of advertising’s most enduring issues but, as with most things last year, there were signs it reached a tipping point — even if it was just the start of one. Why are you so skeptical?

Every review we’re involved in seems to come through a consultant who wants you to fill out these forms of staffing hours and media prices before the client even wants to hear your ideas. That’s counterintuitive. Metrics like full-time equivalent are static and aren’t connected to any sort of campaign performance or business result. People talked about remuneration more than they have done for a while last year, and we were able to move to more nuanced payment models with some of our larger clients as a result of having built up trust with them, but it can’t drown out all the noise around this issue.

Noise?

Some marketers would talk a good game to us going into a pitch, but then send over this 5,000 line template for us to fill out so that they can compare our media rates with other agencies. And let’s not forget that pricing data travels with the client and the agency they hire. Usually, these are the clients that see their media investment as a cost rather than an investment.

Look at the number of reviews that have started since the pandemic really took hold of the world last March. There aren’t many accounts that were switched to other holding companies. Yes, it’s hard to build chemistry with a potential client over Zoom and it can be awkward presenting a concept remotely but you can’t help wondering whether clients are using these reviews as opportunities to squeeze a better deal from their current agency.

Are marketers prepared to address the topic of remuneration with you?

I’ve sat through countless pitch briefs from potential clients who want all these new services from us, whether its strategic expertise to help them do more marketing internally or products to gather, process and activate more data, but seem intent on sticking with a one-size fits all way to pay for them.

The real conversation should be bound by a non-disclosure agreement and revolve around my team showing marketers how they work and highlighting how those processes and services could improve what they are currently doing while saving them money. That’s a better conversation than filling out those templates.

Are those pitches mainly procurement-led?

Sometimes they are. Procurement shouldn’t be a bad thing for senior marketers and subsequently agencies but there’s no doubt it can have a detrimental impact on some pitches. The new …read more

Source:: Digiday

Author: Aaron