Avoiding Bonus Envy

Ad and promo agency partnerships won’t work until people learn to check their excess baggage at the door.

Stepping back after three decades of involvement in the business, I feel the urge to reflect on my many experiences working in and around the ad agency/promotion agency struggle. The never-ending search for the secret to get the partnership to work has led me to some reasonably objective observations and conclusions on the subject. For those with open minds, it may lead to a prescription for getting it right.

The 1990s have provided the big marketing communications conglomerates, namely True North, Omnicom, Young & Rubicam, and WPP, with a fertile period of hard-knocks learning in their efforts to marry the brand-building talents of their ad agency units with the sales-building acumen of their acquired promotion agency counterparts. I use the term “promotion agency” in its broadest context in addressing these relationships.

The results, for the most part, have been less than outstanding, and how could anyone expect otherwise? The reasons are powerful and logical. The remedies are few and in most cases very painful. Many of my colleagues share my perspective on this. A number do not. In any case, I now will serve them up.

There are three big reasons why agencies fail to get it right:

1. IT’S THE PEOPLE, STUPID!

When you blow the smoke away, getting marketing agencies to collaborate on strategically sound creative solutions for their clients should not be an insurmountable challenge. The single biggest obstacle to getting there is the all-too-frequent failure of the participants to “play nice.” All too often, agencies fail to work together because someone is protecting his or her turf, a “we’re in charge” attitude prevails, or one party or the other simply fears that the other guys will screw things up. Bottom line: If people are determined not to make it work, they will succeed.

2. IT’S THE STUPID CLIENTS!

Of course it’s not, but agency folks have been known to joke that the business would be much more enjoyable if clients didn’t get in the way. Fact is, all too often, while they are well-intentioned, clients do not make the integration process easy. Thus, even when the two agencies have the willingness and the mindset to work effectively together, clients can mess up the works if they are unprepared or unappreciative. Having been a client before becoming an agency guy, I have been a guilty party on both sides of the desk.

3. SHOW ME THE MONEY!

Invariably, financial matters get in the way of effective collaboration. In effect, sibling rivalries arise over budgets and bucks. Call it bonus envy. No matter how you slice it, unless the parent company’s management provides tangible, meaningful financial incentives for the two agencies to work effectively in the client’s best interest, it typically does not happen. In this scenario, even if the client cooperates and tries to play the game the right way, agency people on the account who are evaluated based on revenue performance make decisions and behave in such a way as to ensure the fees and commissions end up in their unit’s coffers.

Now for the six “unshakable” principles for effective collaboration. Remember, this isn’t rocket science. All six relate directly to the three key reasons for failed collaboration named above.

1. Get to know each other up front.

Have a pizza party, and make sure that account, creative, and production teams attend. Showcase each other’s work. Talk about the way the agency functions. Get rid of the ignorance (which breeds fear, leading to distrust) syndrome.

2. Make sure the lead players check their egos and prejudices at the door!

Respect and trust are earned virtues. Unfortunately, we rarely give the other guy the benefit of the doubt as new relationships get off the ground. Make the assumption that the advertising account or creative person knows his stuff and will not screw up. The odds are that he will deliver.

3. Never shield the partner agency people from your client.

This is one of the most frequent, and most deadly, sins in the advertising agency/promotion agency working relationship. I have seen it destroy enthusiasm, foster mistrust, foul up important communications between parties, and ruin what might have been great work on a client’s behalf. Even if the client specifically requests only one point of contact between the two units, categorically refuse to operate in that manner. I have never seen this approach succeed.

To be successful, the people charged with interpreting a client’s direction and strategic intent must hear it right from the horse’s mouth. And the people who generate the marketing solution must be empowered to present it in person. No exceptions. This is a cardinal rule.

4. Institute an Equal Partner team approach.

The “big brother” method of agency collaboration needs to be thrown out the window in favor of a truly equal partnering relationship. Dragging in the promotion agency team and positioning it as “support” is a losing proposition. Ad agencies are guilty of this on a routine basis. If both agencies are serving the client, position both teams on equal footing and work that way. The end result will be infinitely better.

5. Lay the ground rules with the client right out of the starting blocks.

Assuming that the client wants and needs the expertise of both siblings, describe how the two agencies will interact with each other, and with the client, to deliver the end product. Do not let the client dictate these rules. Professional consultants never allow this.

6. Establish a shared bonus plan to recognize partnering performance.

If necessary, lock the two CFOs in a room and don’t let them come out until they have nailed down an equitable, measurable bonus incentive plan that not only encourages, but necessitates effective partnering practices. Keep it simple.

After nearly a decade at Wunderman Cato Johnson working alongside its sister agency, Young & Rubicam Advertising, I have had the opportunity to see and experience what works and what fails in the partnering process. Clients like Citibank, Sears, Xerox, Tricon Global Restaurants, and H&R Block often benefited from our teamwork, yet on occasion settled for less when our collaborative efforts fell short. Talking with colleagues in other agency groups, I am confident that it is no better and no worse elsewhere. With a little bit of effort, a sprinkling of empathy, and a big chunk of simple, common respect for our fellow professionals, there is light at the end of the tunnel.