Debbie Morrison, MCCA board member and Director of Consultancy & Best Practice at ISBA:
The results of another survey out this week apparently proved that client marketers don’t understand how to use social networking, and that’s why they’re not investing in it. To be frank, the stat that 41% of marketers cite lack of understanding as the chief barrier is no surprise, nor is it limited to social networking. Through my work with ISBA, and with the MCCA, it has become clear that actually, clients need clarity on most aspects of the vast, varied discipline we have umbrella-termed as ‘digital’.
Digital is not another straightforward single channel that should slot in alongside ‘TV’, ‘Direct’ or ‘sales promotion’. Rather, it is a whole world of new ideas, channels, portals and technological development possibilities that have very different uses and audiences and potentially sit within all the traditional routes outlined above. And, arguably, the people who are best placed to navigate this now well-established but still misunderstood territory are those at the agencies themselves, those responsible for development of the client communications strategy.
Is it the responsibility of clients to go and swot up on digital so they know how to buy it? Of course not solely, it’s a joint responsibility. Agencies, speak to your clients. Educate them. Your clients don’t want to hear ‘you should be doing digital’, they want to know why a blog, or a new site, or social networking, or viral activity is right for their brand. And if it is right, how do they cost it, measure it, integrate it? These surveys will continue to turn out similar stats until the people championing the medium embrace the responsibility of communicating it deep into their client base.
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A worrying idea has been circulating this week; that big companies can use their weight to put pressure on their marketing suppliers to extend the payment terms. This is both unfair and unrealistic for the majority of marketing agencies. If you went to a shop or a restaurant you would not be allowed to get away with saying: “I’m a regular customer, let me pay later on”. So big brands must work with their marketing supplier to do everything they can to pay them on time.
No one can deny that brands, particularly in exposed sectors such as finance, automotive and retail are having a tough time of it, so it’s understandable that they are looking to cut costs. However targeting the marketing supplier will not help their cause. The idea that the pressure on them can be moved onto their suppliers will end up with those who market them and arguably are responsible for attracting their customers, going bust.
Meanwhile marketing agencies have their own pressures with budgets being cut, clients demanding more and radical shifts in the media landscape. Further to this agencies have a responsibility to their clients, employees and their own suppliers to keep on top of their finances. So brands must stop and recognise that agencies are businesses in their own right.
Unfortunately I think many agencies will find themselves facing these kinds of disagreements over the next year. My advice to them, if a dispute with a client does arise is deal with the problem head on. And remember there are plenty of resources you can use to help, including the trade bodies that are there to defend and support you.
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Scott Knox
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