Five Suggestions: Part 1: For Agencies

I've been on both sides of the client-agency relationship, and in a 2 part series I'm going to highlight the pain points of both clients and agencies, faced by both me and some of the people I know. In this first part, I've put down some basic client servicing expectations people have from their agencies.

How to NOT infuriate your clients

1. Deliver on Time
   Sound simple, doesn't it? But in reality it is just an alien concept for most agencies. I've lost count of the number of times I've had to run around to get things done because my agencies have not delivered as promised. And it's not just me - everybody I know who works as a client in a client-agency elationship, from PR and event managers to good old marketing managers, have horror stories of how the only consistent thing their agencies manage to do is deliver late. Agencies that deliver on time not only get respect, they also get more business. That's simple too.
   


2. Think before you execute
   I've come to believe that expecting this from agencies in Bangalore is asking for too much. After all, is it rocket science to do good work? How can you deliver collateral with headlines that a 10 year old child can write? Or design collateral that looks like it's for a client in another non-related industry? When you're given a brief or a requirement, please stop and think. Before you roll your sleeves up and dive into generating the communication collateral, take 10 minutes off to contemplate the big picture. If you're a designer or visualizer, this is extremely important as your work will be questioned and debated more if there's no apparent thought process behind it. Give it some thought, express that thought process while presenting the collateral, and your efforts will show that you've understood what your client wants to communicate.
   


3. Quality Control is not "nice to have", it's "need to have"!
   You know you're in trouble here if your client gets back to you with proofing corrections of typos and tells you that collateral with your client's logo (which you created!) is in the wrong colors. Whether it's a first draft or a final deliverable for approval, please proof read it and check for design inconsistencies. Alignment of objects, print ready files (CMYK images, cut marks) are the norm, not something your client should ask you to do. The last thing you need for your credibility is for your client to point out spelling mistakes in a headline. (Which, unfortunately, I've had to do in the past)
   


4. Listen, Ask Questions
   Listen to what your client's pain points are, and don't just draw up tactical answers. If you listen well, you can glean what your client really wants you to do. If you don't ask questions, you won't know everything you need to know about an assignment. As David Ogilvy once said "I prefer the discipline of knowledge to the chaos of ignorance". Find out more about your client's business, understand the markets they are in, ask for more information about deliverables and your client's intentions, question your client's decisions and come up with better ideas that promise better results. If you don't ask questions and just follow instructions blindly, then you'd rather work at a DTP Operator's shop and not be surprised why your client wants so many changes in the work you've delivered.
   


5. Integrity first, your client's business second, you last
   Sounds preachy? Well it is - because nobody seems to like that "Integrity" word and agencies and suppliers usually interchange the last two bits. Evaluate if what you're doing is extortionate, or detrimental to your client's business. It's not always apparent, but even simple direct mailers with the wrong message could be a disaster for your client's brand equity. If you're on a retainer, sitting back and expecting your client to call the shots and give direction while you absorb the monthly fee is not only unethical, it's also not going to help you be motivated to do good work.
   

Doing all this will mean only two things: You earn respect and trust, which in turn means more business and more money. It really is this simple - do a good, professional job and that itself will make you and your agency stand out from the crowd.

Why do people look for "inner meanings" in Advertisements?

Coming from an agency and having contributed to creating a few TV commercials in the past, I thought I’d share my two cents on this topic because of a discussion at work:

• One thing I’ve found incomprehensible amongst both agencies and clients is that people read too much into advertisements.
  
  1. The idea of mass media advertising is to get attention – get brand recognition. There is no other ulterior motive. Whether you like the Sprite or Appy or advertisement or not, the fact that you remember it, remember the brand and recognize the brand when you go shopping means that the ad’s purpose has been achieved and the advertisers, agencies and media companies have done their job.
  
  
  
  2. Advertisers do this in multiple ways, from boring off-the-track advertisements to humourous, entertaining ads. The idea is to gain mindshare – reading into how they do it, whether a crazy stunt or stupid looking character or sarcastic humor, is pointless because you’re not supposed to. At least, the people who create these ads don’t think you’re supposed to – they just want your attention for 30 seconds, and hope and pray that attention translates into sales indirectly.
  
  


• Communication is one of the most subjective fields to work in, and therefore one of the most challenging...
  
  1. We don’t know the process by which these ads get on our TV screens – it could have been a collection of 15 storyboards with 15 different concepts, and out of all of them 3 might have been brilliant, but because the CEO/Marketing manager has ego issues or doesn’t understand them, he/she chooses the most simple, stark storyboard of the lot. Or because the sales guy thinks this idea is better than that, it gets chosen even though it’s the wrong message.
  
  
  
  2. Budgets: you’d be amazed to see some really amazing ideas and concepts shot down because clients don’t want to spend 10 lakhs creating a great ad, but will have no qualms about spending 2 crores on media spends on multiple channels for a crappy ad.
  
  
  3. 
     At the end of the day, it’s all about perception – I see those ads and see an attempt to communicate with me through humour – some of it works, and some of it doesn’t because I’m either not their target audience or just don’t appreciate their communication style. But if I remember a crappy ad, and recognize the brand, then regardless of whether I like the ad or not, I’ll name the brand in a brand perception survey. And i might even buy it while shopping because I've heard of it and want to try it out. After all, have you ever not bought a product only because it has a crappy ad campaign?
  
  
  
  



As someone sensitive to advertising, I agree with the general view of people in the industry that Indian ads these days have better production values and are slicker looking. But ideas and "concepts" wise we’re wayyyyyy behind the west in terms of sophistication and subtlety.

But while agencies compain and groan about clients choosing run-of-the-mill storyboards, they also need to realise that the majority of the Indian audience hasn't gotten any more sophisticated than they were ten years ago. With 80% of the Indian population still in rural and semi-urban areas, only a select few have the education background, IQ levels and exposure to good communication that will enable them to grasp a sophisticated metaphor or a subtle visual connection.

The bad news? This isn't going to change anytime soon - the process of sensitizing the masses to great communicaiton is a long drawn one.

The good news? With education levels rising, increased competition in the Indian markets and globalization exposing India's adults and children to international communication, the overall process will speed up. Hopefully.