Judging by the quality of most of the account execs I have had the misfortune to work with over the years, something fishy is going on in the ad world.
Here’s a tip for ad agency principals everywhere: Your creatives rock. Your media buyers are the bomb. You’re doing everything super well, for the most part… but most of your new account execs suck. They don’t get the client’s business. They don’t take the time to understand the cultures of the markets they are assigned to work with. They have no worldly experience. They’re ill-equipped to do their jobs, period. Most don’t last a year.
So I have to ask: What’s going on? What seems to be the problem?
Are you not paying well enough anymore?
Is it that difficult to find good people these days?
Or is it just that you’ve opted to just hire fresh batches of kids every few months so you can pay them as little as possible, work them to death, and then send them off to their next agency jobs with a few more fancy account names to paste to their resumes?
Is the HR revolving door your new MO?
What’s the tenure of an account exec these days anyway? Ten months?
Is this really what’s best for the client?
Check out this piece from Toad Stool.
Back in the Mad Men days, advertising agencies generally recruited out of the Ivy Leagues. Not a boon for diversity, but they did get the best people, smart, creative people who were attracted to a frequently glamorous industry that offered the possibility of serious cash. Ask any (very) senior account guy- back in the day, b-school grads all wanted to work for the agency, not client-side. These days the situation is reversed.We are never going to be taken seriously if we don’t change this perception. If clients regard agency employees as a bunch of second-rate talents who couldn’t land a job elsewhere, they’re not going to take our opinions very seriously. Or even entertain the idea of treating us as equals, let alone experts. And while I realize that much of this is a result of most agencies being owned by publicly traded holding companies whose business models are based on getting more value from fewer people, I’m afraid the net result is just going to be fewer people, as the value of retaining an ad agency becomes less and less apparent.
Come on, ad agencies everywhere (except maybe in NYC): Why is it that you are ready to invest heavily in your creatives, planners and buyers, but not on your account execs? Am I missing something?
I invite your comments on this one.
I think you make a valid point. Most AEs are yes men/women that just make a deal to get their commission. Most do not see the bigger picture. Design should have a good ROI for the client as well as the agency/designer.
If you have been a free-lancer or worked on your own, you can have a better understanding of this. You are both the AE and the art director/designer. You want the work to speak for itself and be at a fair price to the client. You also want the client to understand the creative process and what it involved.
When AEs do not bring the level of understanding to the client, they do not ensure that the client understands the ROI and the process that is to follow the work agreed on. Then you have problems and issues that lead to you holding the client’s hand.
A good friend of mine suggests the following: Understand cost, time and quality. When a client wants one, you may be able to deliver on two but never on all three. But if they (the client) understand that there is (must be) a balance between all three…you and the client both win. A good AE knows how to make the balance work for both the agency and the client. That is just one of the things that they miss.
If people (AEs) understand that this is a business and do things according to the business at hand, everyone wins. A good AE knows this and can communicate it. I think that many know but don’t communicate. One good way to see this is to take the advice of Benjamin Franklin…”Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I learn.” More AEs need to be involved with the process.