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by Domenic Venuto
I recently saw this video on YouTube, and for a full five minutes I was rolling on the floor laughing. It’s a montage of daily humdrum activities—paying a restaurant bill, getting a haircut and renting a movie—that’s ridiculously funny. In the vignettes the consumer assumes the client’s position and the service providers (waiter, hairdresser and video rental clerk) take on the role of consultant or agency. The dialogue is the killer. It was as if the scriptwriters were eavesdropping on an agency-client contract negotiation in a publishing executive’s boardroom.
The humor is in the pain. When our clients’ behaviors are applied to these rather innocuous daily rituals their antics come across as absurd, inappropriate acts of extortion. Take the opening scene of a couple arguing with a waiter about their meal’s check total. The problem? Well the couple “didn’t budget” that amount for the meal they just finished. What about the woman in the hairdresser’s chair? She wants highlights and a trim, but only wants to pay for the trim. The video renter who only has $7 set aside for a DVD that costs $19.99? Well, he is generous. If he makes a call, maybe he can work out a way to give the video clerk $8.50.
Publishing clients hire agencies like ours for a variety of reasons. Maybe they have the base skills but need a fresh perspective. Perhaps an overly streamlined operation is in a rut and craves an innovative spark. A client may still be a print operation with no digital savvy that desperately wants to tap a new channel. Maybe a client simply wants to create content and leave the Web site building to someone else. Or perhaps they know it all but need extra bodies to get more done or a job done faster.
It isn’t surprising that over the last 12 months clients’ demands have intensified. As the pressure in a client’s business increases, it gets hotter for everyone else involved. But we like that kind of heat. In fact most agencies thrive on the challenge of helping businesses solve problems, translate brands online or reinvent categories. What is frustrating is being hired to do the job, but then not trusted to actually do the work.
Fear, panic and the need to find the silver bullet before anyone else are eroding trust from many a client-agency relationship and, in turn, is stifling creativity. The publishing industry needs this creativity more than ever before. Here are some things to keep in mind when working with an agency to help create a partnership that produces innovative work:
- Understand why you hired the agency. What need did you have or problem did you need to solve? Keep your team and the agency focused on achieving those goals.
- Define roles and expectations up front. Ask lots of questions. Scrutinize the plan, agree to the process and understand what the deliverables will actually contain before the work begins. Be wary of the words “high level” and make sure everyone knows what amount of detail will be provided.
- Don’t micro-manage. Evaluate an agency on the quality of work produced and progress to plan, not the minutiae of getting there.
- Trust your agency and build a strong relationship with them. Any agency that’s been around for a while isn’t in the business of screwing its clients, so trust them to do their job. Agencies that survive do so by providing value to a client again and again and again.
- Be fair. The more you squeeze an agency on their fees, the less they have to invest in your business. Don’t expect to get rock-bottom rates and a team that is able to throw in extras along the way.
- A fixed price contract is an insurance policy. The agency takes on more risk, so expect to pay a premium for fixed-price services. Time and materials contracts will get you better rates and provide the most flexibility. Retainer contracts are capacity driven and best suited for regular and recurring activities that come with AOR relationships and media campaigns.
- Be receptive and open to new ideas. Insist that an idea be grounded in strategy but don’t immediately discount weird, wacky or seemingly impossible ideas. Mine these for the nuggets of gold that could be the groundbreaking idea your business needs.
Agencies aren’t perfect either, and I am sure there’s an equally funny video about our bad behaviors (feel free to point me to it). But if we work together to build true trusting relationships we can create some real magic.
Minsider columnist Domenic Venuto is SVP and Head of the Media and Entertainment Practice with the New York City office of Razorfish, one of the world’s largest digital agencies. He can be reached at domenic.venuto@razorfish.com.
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Be fair. The more you squeeze a publication or website on their rates, the less they have to invest in reaching the readers your client wants to reach. Don’t expect to get rock-bottom rates and a team that is able to throw in extras along the way.
I hope what's good for the goose is good for the gander.