Let me not cheat you, if something is not done about the state of client service and Account Management in this country, creative advertising is going to die and any idiot with a mac will be able to fill the shoes of creatives. Every week I am convinced that the good old days when people with brains were hired to be the liasion between the agency and the client are over and out.
I for one will keep on talking about this until the cows come home because of one reason, I have worked with the best so I am qualified to tell you the difference between a good suit and a bad suit.
Let me tell you how this cool breed used to operate.
These guys studied brands so intensely that they were able to even teach their clients a thing or two about whatever category they were working on. In return clients took them as valueable partners who could be called upon any time for solutions. These guys defeated the notion that the client is always right. In return clients became so dependent on them that they would hardly have a reason to move their account elsewhere.
These guys used to write a damn good brief. I am not just talking about filling in a brief template but rather giving creatives so much information that they would get the client scope and requirements easily. These guys had time to meet up with clients and discuss the problem at hand rather than just e-mail them a brief template to fill in. They would even share the brief with the clients before sharing it with creatives just to make sure everyone was on the same page.
These guys had balls. The reason they had unbelievable confidence is because they were so knowledgeable about their work and the brands they dealt with that they had no fear when advising clients against taking certain directions or defending creative work. These guys were not afraid of engaging clients in constructive arguments about their work. Hell, they would even refuse to take certain directions that some clients would insist on. At the end of it they gained mad client respect.
These guys understood the creative process. They would never accept mediocre work from their creative teams, they would contribute good ideas to creatives, they would inspire creatives to take their work to the next level. They knew how to positively criticize creatives and always listened to creative opinions. In return creatives were more than willing to share thoughts with them and seek their opinions. The result? Spot on creative executions.
These guys never panicked. The client service world nowadays is driven by a bunch of people who suffer anxiety attacks every fifteen minutes shouting THE CLIENT SAID, THE CLIENT SAID. You see these guys would access the situation and if there was a need to extend the deadline, they would simple pick up the phone and tell client the truth. No one likes a whiner OH MY GOD WE ARE GOING TO LOSE REVENUE BECAUSE OF YOU, OH MY GOD THE CLIENT IS GOING TO TAKE THE BUSINESS SOMEWHERE ELSE,......Cool, Calm, Composed. These guys had client service swag.
It has been said before. There are two types of suits the postman and the business developer. The unfortunate thing is that right now in Kenya, the former is in the majority and low IQ seems to have become a hiring pre-requisite. God help us all.
Hey, thats just my opinion.
Truth is a bitter pill huh? But at least your chest is lighter.
ReplyDeleteSpot on! This is the sad truth of Kenyan Advertising. You nailed this one Ted. Couldn't have put it better myself. And we wonder why there's so much garbage out there we audaciously call advertising.
ReplyDeletehapo ni ukweli kabisaaaaaaaa!
ReplyDeleteThe Article is spot on. As Steve Jobs always asserts, sometimes clients do not know what they want unless you show it to them...in this case a way that a client will have no option but say yes to your charisma.
ReplyDeleteIts time for suits to wake up.No apologies here.
natural systems have a way of sorting wheat from the chaff!!
ReplyDeleteMail order suits. Mail order clients. SMH.
ReplyDeleteAmen
ReplyDeleteDead on
ReplyDeleteI came across this article on FB and I thought it was excellent. I congratulate the author and encourage to take that bold step and put together a team to show them how it’s done. That is if he is in the business. This is what pace setters are made of. If you cannot accept mediocrity, don’t let other get it. Go go go.
ReplyDeleteTeddy, what an interesting article and as sad as it is, you've nailed it.
ReplyDeletePoint of correction from my end will be around the following statement you made "...and low IQ seems to have become a hiring pre-requisite". I think the advertising work force in kenya is very much qualify and as such reducing the talent to a low IQ talent pool is not been appreciative of the said talent potential.
The fact remains that there's a clear difference between an academic qualification and one ability to actually take up a challenge / role and rise above it.
In my view the failure of the current suit to rise above the challenge / role reside more in them being more focus in getting to the top as quick as they can without necessarily ensuring that the foundation upon which they elevate themselves is as solid as it can be and therefore resulting to them thinking that the best way to be a suit is to become a "glorify waiter" in their dealings with clients.
Rather than comparing the previous suit team to the current one, let's ask ourselves if we (old school) did not contribute to the current state of the suit and creative pool in not sharing our knowledge / wisdom and empowering them.
With the above in mind, what should be done to have the industry where it belongs?
Ciao