Ad Agency

While solutions exist, myriad problems continue to erode the trust between clients and their agencies

Given member interest resulting from coverage in the advertising/marketing trade press regarding changes in payment terms being implemented by a handful of companies to some suppliers, ANA initiated research to determine if such changes were isolated examples or reflective of a broader trend. The answer is clear: payment term changes, notably extended terms, are reflective of a broader trend. The services noted most for extended payment terms are agency fees, research, and production. The majority of respondents who have extended their payment terms have done so to derive better cash flow.

Advertising has never been a particularly admired profession. Indeed, some would say it isn't a profession at all. We're not doctors or teachers; we're not even lawyers or accountants. We don't make or do anything of any great practical use to humanity. We help people sell stuff.

Casanova//McCann announced that Vallarta Supermarkets has named CM its Digital & Social Media AOR following a competitive review.

What a strange business we're in. On the one hand, we talk a lot about the need for consistency in relationships — about the need to truly understand the client's business and the importance of our work being acknowledged and respected in the advertiser's boardroom. And on the other, we celebrate pitches as if we were involved in a sporting event.

By Gonzalo López Martí    Creative director, etc. / lmmiami.com/

• It happens again and again.
• Regardless of the number of weeks or months an agency is given to prepare a presentation for a pitch or RFP, the last stretch will involve sleepless nights, lost weekends, exhaustion and nervous breakdowns.
• Even if the entire payroll of said agency is assigned to the project with ample time to react, the outcome will be the same.
• The very definition of a paradox: the more staff one adds to complete a certain task, the longer it takes to be fulfilled.
• Pathological procrastination?

The great hope for digital/social media was addressable advertising, with its lower creation and production costs coupled with higher advertising effectiveness. How could one argue with this formula, particularly while the consuming public was retreating from broadcast advertising? Unrecognized by digital/social enthusiasts, though, are the hidden costs of complexity, which today threaten to erode the marketing effectiveness of advertisers and agencies alike.