THE NEW ERA OF ADVERTISING: WHAT AGENCIES AND CLIENTS MUST DO DIFFERENTLY TO SUCCEED

April 03, 2016

Alexei Orlov, RAPP’s Global CEO, sits down with Forbes, to discuss the challenges faced by agencies and brands in an ever-changing industry landscape. The days of “Mad Men” are long behind us – this, we know. But how exactly can agencies and brands break through the clutter now?

“Whitler: What do agencies need to do differently?

Orlov: Agencies are actually pretty appalling at selling their work; the reason, I believe, is related to the point I mentioned earlier—the fear that they have. While clients need to help alleviate that fear, agencies need to do more careful research and should argue not from emotion, but from fact. When the two parties are having difference discussions, one from fact and one from emotion, it’s easy to miss each other’s points. Agencies need to learn to speak and understand the language of clients to be able to have the right sort of conversations.

Additionally, while clients need to listen, agencies also need to listen and to ask the right questions. I’ve found that typically, when you lose a pitch, it’s often because you don’t ask the right questions. Agency folks often don’t understand the importance of the client’s KPIs (of creating objectives and meeting them) and need to ask about, understand, and center work on delivering against the KPIs. Finally, agencies need to live up to what they sell. Tell the client what you will do for them and do it well. You don’t need to shower clients with a ton of ideas. Often, less is more. Share the best ideas and explain why.”

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