Brand builders express divergent views on client-agency relationship
By Felicia Nwosu
Overtime, the rising demands of clients on agencies have continued to upset their relationship, leading to a negative impact on both partners. On this premise, some industry thought leaders have pointed out the need for agencies to be proactive and innovative to make sure that their clients get more. They also suggested that such move will boost mutual trust in client-agency relationship. More importantly, the industry professionals urged agencies to expand beyond strategy to other service portfolios by migrating to a boundless delivery of models to discourage non-professionals from encroaching the domain.
Speaking on the subject, Bolaji Okusaga, the Managing Director of Market Engine, noted that clients are now much more loyal than they used to be when it comes to the retention cycle. He affirmed that the ever-evolving landscape of the ecosystem has revolutionized and reshaped the way clients relate with their agencies presently.
“It is not as long as it used to be. Gone are the days when, in Nigerian Breweries, we stayed within communication for over 30 years. I am not quite sure that any agency will be that lucky going into the future, because the clients are just all shopping for value this time around. They are not looking at age-old relationships.
“So, to that extent, the dynamics of the relationship between agencies and clients are changing. It has become more transaction-based than relationship-based. Is it a good thing? I am not quite sure. What it just shows is that the attention span of the clients is becoming shorter and shorter and shorter. And this patience for mediocrity is also becoming shorter and shorter,” he said.
In her view, Tolu Medebem, President of Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN) and Chief Executive Officer of Aster Integrated Marketing Limited, said the state of client-agency relationship, given the new economic situation, has also greatly impacted on the marketing budget. She admitted that clients are trying to maximize the limited budget available with focus on value.
“What I have realised about agency-client relationships is that at the end of the day, value addition, partnership and honesty are the cornerstone for its growth. For most people right now, it is based essentially on partnership. And once you are in that partnership, it is more like marriage, because that corresponding support comes only when value exists. You would not be forcing partnership when you are not offering value to the client. For me, it is about partnership and how much value you actually give to one another,” she said.
Femi Adelusi, founder/Group CEO, BrandEye/Mediaplus and President, Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN), while comparing the current realities with what was obtainable in the past, revealed the emergence of an obvious transition in agency-client relationship in today’s businesses. He noted the huge difference in relation to mutual trust and benefits.
“If I am to compare, when I came into the industry versus now, there is a lot more that can be desired or desirable. In my early days in the advertising industry, we had clients who saw agencies as real strategy business partners who invested in agencies. I had been trained on account of my clients. I have attended the same meetings with brand managers, even though I started my career on the agency side, we did both workshops and brand building together.
“We sat in meetings with all the others such as sales, activations, research, with everyone in developing the plan and there was a lot of respect. There was mutual respect and that was how client agency relationships were in my early days. Right now, I cannot say that it is the same experience and we need to go back to that because I believe the best relationship is when we work together with our clients as one team; that is how we get the best result for the brands.”
Israel Obatunde, Chief Executive Officer of Idea Origin Media, a fast-rising creative agency, corroborated that advertising in Nigeria has taken a new dimension in recent times. He emphasized the need for agencies to understand the importance of clients’ KPIs through value delivery and urged them to live up to what they sell.
“The number one factor is relevance. The world is moving at a very fast pace, and the only way you can catch up is by remaining relevant. We should be confident as practitioners to propose solutions to clients; the confidence that it will build and the result it will achieve mean a lot. If you are not providing solutions in this time and age, then why are you a creative agency in the first place?” he asked.
Steve Babaeko, CEO of X3M Ideas and President of the International Advertising Association (IAA Nigeria Chapter), opined that the agency-client relationship is evolving with more demands from clients. The Creative expert averred that the black box era of creation is over, urging agency practitioners to collaborate with their clients, as well as co-create with a common goal built on transparency and trust.
“I think the relationship between a client and an agency is like the one between a husband and a wife sometimes. You are all part of one union, but it is not devoid of disagreement because you have major decisions to take together that will make you guys look at yourselves in the eye and say, I do not agree with you. That should be encouraged and respected.
“When you see brands winning awards and global recognitions, check out their relationships. My own theory is that the clients that have the best relationships with their agencies are the ones that actually win. This is because winning is the aftermath of how you have been able to forge those relationships and work together as a team; winning is just the result of a good relationship between client and agency,” he said.
Kelechi Nwosu, the Chief Executive Officer of TBWA Concept, advised agencies to focus on providing real values that are measurable to clients and also ensure that such values are directly tied to the clients’ bottom-line and boost return on investment to stand out in this surfeited market.
“There is a need for agencies to come to the table with more value, with more measurement. There is a need for clients to come to the table with more appreciation and better payment. In the relationship between the agencies and the clients, the power is still very much skewed on the side of the clients, because there are few big advertisers in our country and everyone is chasing after them. Sometimes, you realise that when you partner with agencies, you get the best out of them and that requires good money to be paid. But you need to make sure that agencies are delivering on what you are paying them for,” he said.
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