When You Should Fire Your Ad Agency/Marketing Firm
I’m going to admit this up front: I have a few issues when it comes to advertising agencies and marketing firms. I don’t think they’re all bad, but I believe there are a lot of new options (which are better for the client) for people who need the same types of services that ad agencies and marketing firms offer.
For instance, you can find really good graphic design, web design, or web development services from a multitude of companies that have no more than two people in the company. More than likely, if you go with one of those you’ll pay about half of what the agency will charge you because you’re not covering a large overhead. I once worked for a company whose annual rent was more than what most of the people who worked there made in a year. It wasn’t that the work was that much better or that the technology was that much more expensive or that the staff was that much more talented. It was just that the company had a lot of overhead to cover and that was passed along to the clients. Again, not all the larger places are bad, but the best big ones are specialists, not generalists.
Here are three things to think about that may lead you to fire your current marketing firm or advertising agency:
If your agency doesn’t communicate with you, fire them. If you don’t recall the last time you heard from them, how are they supposed to know what your needs are? Even worse, I know of a company today that has an agency on retainer but doesn’t use their services. Their agency never contacts them and doesn’t have a clue about what’s going on with them, but they keep on collecting the fees every month. I think it’s dumb for the company to keep paying the retainer and very bad business for the agency to keep collecting without doing a thing for their client.
If your agency isn’t a learning organization, fire them. The world of marketing is changing too fast these days. If they’re not keeping up then they’re selling you outdated (and less useful) services. Many agencies did something well many years ago and are still trying to sell those same services. A lot of them have come to the cold realization that the old way doesn’t work anymore and are scrambling to figure out what to do next. I can only imagine how confused their clients are.
If your agency hasn’t given you a new idea in the last six months, fire them. This goes along with the learning organization point above but takes it a step further by actually expecting the agency to be leading in some way. It’s not enough to be learning, you have to be applying the new learning as well. If your agency is still making the same recommendations you got from them a year ago, they’re probably not learning and they’re certainly not leading.
Tags: advertising agencies, marketing firms, Nashville advertising, Nashville marketing firms, new media marketing, social media marketing, traditional advertising, traditional marketing
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Yes, I’ve worked for a few of those agencies, too. The fees are especially out of line when they get too hungry and start targeting accounts that are really too small for them to service efficiently. A big firm serving a big firm can work. But a big agency sucking the life out of a little one that wants to feel important (look I have an ad agency!) is tragic all the way around. You’re right. Fire ‘em.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Good point. Big agencies certainly can take advantage of small company. The real issue is that some agencies think they have to be predators to survive. It may work for a while but ultimately people find them out. In my experience, the agency just moves on to another victim once its found out…so while they keep the business afloat with new clients, they leave behind a trail of people who don’t like them very much. The agency may not ever know how much they harm themselves because they’re not aware of the perception most people have. I guess ignorance is bliss for them.