Brand Republic
 
Edition:
UK |
Asia
 
Digital jobs

Jobs

Find over 3000 jobs
 

Directory

 

The Wethey Forecast

Why don't agencies sell problem-solving? 

Comments:6   Add your comment
Big ideas. 360º. Red hot service in 47 markets. Digital at the heart of the agency. A complete campaign ready-to-run within 6 weeks of the pitch. A saving of 20% on what you are paying now. We’ll create a completely new agency for you. Try our Brand Orgasm proprietary tool.………………There’s a lot on offer from agencies right now. But is all this what clients want? We have been running pitches for very nearly 20 years now, and most clients want a transformation. A new look. A radical and fresh approach. In short they have a problem, and they want someone to help solve it. Not: 
  • Free goods
  • A year’s campaign put together in four weeks
  • A hastily put-together team to outperform the one we have now
 

No. Most clients look to pitch their way out of a problem, not into an instant creative solution. Restraint and professionalism is everything. Less is more. A problem shared is a problem half way to being solved.

Published Mar 17 2008, 08:24 AM by David Wethey

Comments

by charlie robertson
March 17, 2008 9:56 AM
 
Hear Hear!
 
 
by Gellan Watt
March 17, 2008 11:35 AM
 
Agreed!!!
 
 
by Susan Imgrund
March 17, 2008 8:06 PM
 
Absolutely. Giveaways, even a Brand Orgasm Tool (!), are rarely valued.
 
 
by steve vaile
March 18, 2008 1:04 AM
 
Look at Ascala in Dubai - 220% growth per month for exactly that -
 
 
by mazafer iqbal
March 18, 2008 10:41 AM
 
If agencies are not solving business problems then it is reasonable to assume that either they do not have the necessary skills, the desire or that they are not set up to make money from problem solving. As a consultant who come into digital marketing I find that the business model of consulting companies is set up around problem solving whereas the business model of marketing agencies is around production - creative production.
 
 
by Rory Sutherland
March 18, 2008 12:43 PM
 
Actually consulting firms make money by pretending that problem solving is much more laborious and time consuming than it actually is, thereby requiring vast numbers of people over months or even years. The problem agencies have is that we have failed to disguise the fact that we can solve problems quite rapidly. We therefore have to give away all our solutions for free in the hope that we'll get some production on the back of it. This is not a wholly bizarre approach to business - M&A investment bankers do the same thing when they conceive of mergers - they make the money on the back end.
 
To comment on this post you have to be logged in

 

About this blog

The Wethey Forecast

Musings from Agency Assessments' Chairman on agencies, clients and the business of advertising
 

About the author

David Wethey

Blogging for:

The Wethey Forecast

Member since: 03 Jun 2008

Last login: 28 Jan 2009

Total Posts: 69

 
 
 
 

Tags

 

Syndication