Why do Adland leaders keep shooting us all in the foot?
Experience is a valuable tool the industry doesn’t value the way it could. OK, should. Rob Morrison is an experienced creative director. He has worked in top agencies and now he works with them. It’s a damn fine place from which to observe an industry. If Adland is frustrating right now, here is a fine observation. It might even be a useful one. [:ed]
If you’ve worked in Adland more than a minute you know we’re our own worst enemy. Practices which make no sense in any other industry are readily embraced by us. So, here are five errors we keep making and a suggestion on how we could at least start to cure what ails us all.
#1. We pitch without payment
Imagine you’re a baker. You get a call from someone wanting a special birthday cake. They tell you they’re also talking to 3 other bakers. They insist all 4 of you make a cake. Only one will win. You spend money on ingredients, hours mixing and baking and decorating. You proudly present the client with their cake. But so do 3 other bakers. You’ve done the job with a 1 in 4 chance you’ll get paid.
As agencies, we constantly give away the cake. A year’s worth of work and margin is bet on a 1 in 4 chance. I’ve been part of pitches where we are 1 of 9 agencies. Pitching through-the-line creative. How do we fix that? Agencies need to have their costs covered by a client who demands a full-blown strategy and creative presentation. Not credentials – that doesn’t cost anyone real money.
Crucially, we need an industry body or a trade publication to help us change the dynamic. Because, if left to our own devices, we’ll just keep pitching.
#2. We all target growth
Has there ever been an agency whose financial objective was “Let’s just match last year”? Every agency in town targets growth. Shareholders demand it. Seniors are rewarded if they achieve it. Mid-weights and juniors are pressured to make it.
But think about this. If everyone targets growth, but the pie is shrinking, where does the growth come from? We’re eating each other. For someone to win, someone else loses. We need to acknowledge the halcyon days of industry growth are over. We need to stop pretending.
Our financial mantra should be “Under promise, over deliver”. If the industry explodes again then great. But we all need a dose of reality in our planning. That’s tough for publicly listed groups but is it as tough as a profit downgrade?
#3. We’ve forgotten our roots
One of the saddest realities about advertising today is our lack of investment in training. Our attitude to junior talent seems to be “Chuck ‘em in. Sink or swim?” Sadly, there are a lot of kids at the bottom of the pool. Kids who could have been stars with the right encouragement, training and mentors. Ironically, they seem to end up as clients.
We need a more concerted effort to train our own – not just through AWARD and AFA. We need to help universities and colleges to train work-ready juniors. Plus we need to run extensive programs in our own agencies. Even lobby for government concessions to lessen the financial burden.
#4. We get distracted by self-congratulations
The number of award-shows in our industry puts Hollywood to shame. Cannes. D&AD. OneShow. AWARD. LIA. Cleos. It doesn’t look like a big problem until you realise how much time, effort and cash goes into each one. In 2023, there were over 27,000 entries into the Cannes Lions. At an average EUR 1,500 each, that’s raw revenue of AUD $40 million. Nope, not a typo. The GDP of a Pacific Island country. Then add the head-hours putting together the entries. Ever wondered how Singo kept margins so high? He didn’t enter awards.
So, be frugal. Choose the shows and the work that actually counts. The awards clients are impressed by. Not the ones your agency peers love. The really smart agencies know clients actually love awards – but primarily the awards which focus on effectiveness. Work that works.
#5. We’re co-conspirators in our death-spiral
Picture your agency has just won a big pitch (see #1). A game changer. Retainers are signed. Champagne flows. Backs are slapped. Flash forwards a year and it’s time to renew. Procurement threatens you with an expensive pitch you won’t be paid for (see #1 again). So, you agree a lower fee. But, because you’ve committed to growth (see #2) you have to reduce your cost base. So, you put more junior people on the business. But you haven’t trained them properly (see #3) What happens? Junior people make mistakes. Year 3 arrives. Procurement points to the mistakes and demand a further reduction. Agency agrees. More juniors. More mistakes. Ever decreasing circles with the inevitable endgame – the account pitches and moves agency.
Truth is, procurement people are professional toe-cutters – they eat inexperienced negotiators for breakfast. Warm-hearted, charming agency management simply can’t match them. It’s time agencies looked at independent negotiators. We need to be paid what we’re worth. And if that takes a hired gun at the table then, so be it.
Now, maybe these 5 observations are all a bit naïve. Or maybe the way Adland does business is hard-wired. Or maybe we’re all just so focused on battening down the hatches to care.
But ask yourself this: “If not now, when?”
Everyone is struggling with the post-COVID downturn. Surely, this is the perfect opportunity to make real change. At least then we can look back in 10-years and not see the same mistakes being made ad nauseum.
Or maybe our feet can still take more bullets.
Rob Morrison is a rarity in advertising – a grey-haired creative. Rob’s experience includes time as a Creative Director at Ogilvy, BWM (now Dentsu Creative), George Patts (now VML), Campaign Palace and Wunderman. He now runs his own consultancy – morrison.collective.
Here are two more opinion pieces from Rob Morrison:
Cover image by Jay Rembert on Unsplash
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