Advertising agencies have long complained that the business is getting tougher, the hours long and the fees lower. While I agree, I also think this is the end result of agencies not getting quicker on their feet.
Paying a little more attention to the advice they give clients would help them tremendously. So with this in mind, here are 3 pieces of advice agencies give clients, that could make them better prepared for stronger long-term success.
1. Do the right thing
A big question agencies need to ask themselves is, are they being fair to their people (the lifeblood of their business)? Are they remunerating them well and treating them fairly? Are new people outearning existing people by a margin?
Other industries have set the standard by ensuring world-class training and development (some companies pay the cost of your MBA for example), matching remuneration (others raise the salary band for everyone at the same experience, not just that of a single employee) to give some basic examples.
It’s often the easiest thing to do, and it’s the one that will go the longest in terms of employee happiness.
2. Use your size to your advantage
Agencies sometime act like they are small companies. But WPP has 114,000, Publicis almost 100,000 with most other major agency networks numbering between 50k to 100k in headcount.
This is a large network of employees that these powerhouses can connect and leverage better. Imagine allowing clients to not just get creative work, but a 100,000 new customers with almost zero acquisition cost (a simple employee discount works).
And this is not new.An agency owned by a famous Korean electronics company gives great discounts to employees, and I think every agency can learn from them in realising that its a small step that saves employees a ton of money, but also makes them feel valued. I loved the benefits I received from my former employer (a sports organisation) which included a massive discount on a major sportswear brand. A famous big 4 company allowed employees to book personal travel from the work travel portals and enjoy the same discounts and benefits.
So look to your 100’s of clients and look at the benefits you can roll out globally and regionally for your employees. Trust me they will appreciate it.
3. Build loyalty
While most agencies employ 1000’s of people today, the number of people who have passed through the doors is in the millions. I myself have worked at 2 Wpp agencies, 3 Publicis agencies and 2 indie’s.
Doing the first 2 ensures that you have happier employees who leave for the right reaons. But also remember that most ex-employees at agencies go on to work within the agency ecosystem – as service providers, marketing folks etc.
Agency networks do almost nothing to engage these ex-employees who proudly display (at least on LinkedIn) the names of the agencies they have worked with. They could be sources of referrals (business and employees), an extended audience beyond your existing employees (I’m sure you can tap into them for advice, or even dipstick), and also potentially your biggest ambassadors.
And it doesn’t need to stop there. They multiple your impact manyfold from a benefits and testing POV. If your benefits portal works well with 100,000 people, trust me it will work even better with 1,000,000 people. And sure you can restrict some benefits to current employees, but this is a small yet powerful way for ex-employees to continue to think of their former employer positively.
While it’s critical to hunt down pitches and keep winning for clients on a daily basis, I think it’s important that agencies think of themselves too and build their brands out in a long-term manner.
I feel Publicis Groupe (no ex-employee bias here, I’ve worked with Publicis and WPP both) is better placed to implement 2 and 3 courtesy of the existence of MARCEL (which already helps employees collaborate) which can be adapted to these as well. But I’m curious to see who will be the first mover to start listening to the same advice that they keep telling brands.
Adityan Kayalakal is a former agency person for over a decade. Since then he has been a marketing and content leader, and is currently the head of brand marketing at a stealth startup. Views expressed are personal.