We Are Brood.

Getting the best from your agency.

We often focus on what clients want from their agency, but what don’t they want?

Getting the best from your agency

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July 8, 2022
LinkedIn
Brood’s new Account Director, Sarah Langley, has recently joined us after working for many years in Pharmaceutical Marketing. Kelly Underwood-Fone, Co-Founder and Director of Brood thought this would be a great opportunity to gain an insight into the client’s perspective on common problems that arise when working with agencies.

K:

How would you describe the client’s perspective on working with creative agencies?

S:

I’ve always held a strong belief that your agency is your strategic partner. We invest a lot into our agencies and to get the best results, they need to be an extended part of the brand team. This is a two-way relationship, a deeper understanding of the brand strategy and objectives leads to better creative solutions.

K:

A partnership approach is what we always strive for but when issues do arise, are there any common themes that you have experienced?

S:

Generally, if there are issues, they probably centre around two things: a lack of understanding of the client’s needs or communication. For example, this might be not seeking clarification on a requested item and so presenting something that doesn’t meet the objectives or is way over budget. Both issues can be easily rectified via improved two-way dialogue and proper briefing.

K:

I think we both agree that communication is key! What do you think creates these issues?

S:

Working in crazy busy environments certainly doesn’t help! However, making time to get things right from the start has a positive impact on results down the line. One of the things that benefitted me the most at the start of my marketing career was an agency day. Experiencing the internal workings of an agency and learning about how insights are turned into creative, gave me an excellent understanding of processes and timelines and what was happening on the ‘other side’! When we’re busy though, sometimes this best practice doesn’t happen and that can lead to unnecessary errors, which is frustrating.

K:

Do you have any other examples that we should be aware of?

S:

The other areas that can be frustrating are financial surprises! When jobs have taken longer and incurred more costs than initially planned. Or when you’ve been waiting for an urgent piece to come back to you from internal agency review and there are errors.

K:

Overall, what advice would you give to agencies, to avoid these pitfalls?

S:

It all comes down to communication! And that is from both sides. I’m lucky to have worked with some wonderful agencies in my marketing roles, and my philosophy has always been to have ways of working agreed up front, with regular reviews to ensure that both the client and the agency are able to work to the best of their abilities.

K:

Thanks Sarah, I agree that communication is more important than ever, especially in these days of hybrid and remote working. At Brood we pride ourselves on the fiercely nurturing relationships we build inside and outside our agency. It is by working together that we get the best from each other.

We invest a lot into our agencies and to get the best results, they need to be an extended part of the brand team.

agency day training

If you are interested in sending one of your team on an Agency day as part of their training, you do not need to be an existing client. Please contact Kelly if you are interested.