Building Strong Partnerships: Execs on Cultivating Client-Agency Collaboration

The best client work comes from a solid foundation built upon the strength of the relationship between a brand and its agency partner. A great partnership can transform bold ideas into reality and drive exceptional results. But when things are slightly off, even the best concepts can fall flat. As performance expectations reach new heights against ever-diminishing budgets, honest, transparent communication between agencies and brands is critical to succeed.

However, The LIONS State of Creativity report from March reveals an apparent gap in communication between clients and agencies. Brands tend to see their partnerships with agencies in a more positive light, but agencies don’t always share that view, hinting that brands might not fully grasp the realities of these relationships. Nearly half (45 per cent) of agency professionals said it’s “difficult” to work efficiently with clients, while only 37 per cent of brand-side professionals felt the same about working with agencies.

And that doesn't look set to improve anytime soon.

As AI drives change across the entire ad sector, client expectations are also evolving, not least when it comes to the always sensitive topic of renumeration. According to research from the World Federation of Advertisers, three-quarters of advertisers plan to change their compensation models over the next three years and alarmingly - but unsurprisingly - over half (58 per cent) plan a fee reduction directly connected to the deployment of AI. Add to that the finding that 74 per cent of marketers want a greater focus on accountability from their agency, and more compensation tied to business performance, and it's clear that remuneration models need to change.

That alone indicates that some clients don't fully understand the workings of their agency partner nor the fees they still charge. Relationships are only going to be under growing pressure should this remain so long-term.

if the key to success lies in how these partnerships are nurtured and maintained, then things will have to improve somehow.

Rebuilding for the best

Long-term collaborations are highly effective and still achievable: i.e. McDonald’s with Leo Burnett for four decades, more than 80 years of VML (in its various forms) with Kit Kat and longstanding engagements for Dove with Ogilvy and also Edelman - demonstrate the benefits of strong relationships.

Pete Markey, CMO at Boots, reflects on the importance of open, honest dialogue in fostering strong partnerships. "Like any relationship, the one between a client and the agency is something worth investing in. At its heart is open and strong communication on both sides. It is only when you can have that honest and frank exchange of views that you can really start to shift the dial, and together produce amazing work that helps both businesses to grow."

For Markey, this approach not only drives innovation but also helps protect the long-term growth of the brand.

Similarly, Will Harrison, group brand director at The AA, highlights that a good relationship requires mutual excitement about a shared vision. "It’s about open and clear dialogue, holding each other to account and mutual excitement about a future vision that holds mutual benefit," he says. Harrison also stresses the importance of passion on the client’s part, believing that it’s the client’s drive and vision that fuels the agency’s enthusiasm.

"Driving the creative vision and bringing the passion as a job for the client just as much as the agency," he explains, underscoring the need for clients and agencies to work hand in hand.

A report by Agency Analytics supports these views, showing that 70 per cent of agencies retain clients for over two years, showing that long-term, well-nurtured relationships are key to success. Even newer partnerships can produce impressive results, as seen with The Gate and The AA, whose collaboration has already demonstrated success within just three years.

From the first three months of tracking up until its most recent report a couple of months ago, over 70 per cent of people spontaneously associate the ‘It’s OK’ line with The AA.

Key to these successes is open dialogue, empathy and shared accountability, which allow agencies and clients to overcome challenges together and achieve creative and business success.

Here’s what some industry leaders had to say about building strong partnerships:

Ben Shaw, chief strategy officer, MullenLowe

Clients are not the enemy.

Clients are not stupid.

Clients are not trying to make bad work.

Too many agency staff think they are in a battle against clients, an everlasting war of creativity versus commercial selling, brand versus product, brilliance versus boredom.

This is not the truth.

What is true is that most agency staff don’t understand their customer. Not the customer in the target audience on the brief they’re working on - the customer that is their marketing client.

They don’t understand the day-to-day of their roles, they don’t understand the politics, and they don’t understand what and why they’ve chosen them as the agency partner.

Marketing clients have to wear so many different hats, manage a huge number of different stakeholders and competing interests, and all whilst trying to not get fired and ideally get promoted. Agencies looking to improve their communication with their clients need to realise that partnership is mutual. Everyone is trying to do the best thing with the money on the table.

Agencies need to spend more time understanding and empathising with clients so they can become proper, trusted partners. When clients and agencies feel like one team, the best work in the world can happen.

Without understanding and empathy on either side, everyone ends up frustrated and we end up with the crap that is 95 per cent of what our industry produces.

It’s not a process, it’s a partnership.

Fiona Gordon, global CEO, Ogilvy Advertising

Honesty and context. The best relationships are when you are open about what's working, what's not, what the ambition is, and who is responsible for what roles. Clients who are open about how they buy ideas and strategy, how their stakeholders operate and think, and any market shifts that are affecting timing or big future decisions, empower us to jointly find the best solution much faster.

Jamie Elliott, CEO, The Gate

Effective client-agency communication is mission critical: the difference between a flourishing client-agency partnership and a meagre transactional relationship, between happy staff and staff churn, between the best and worst work. As one of the foundational elements on which good companies in our space are built, you cannot put enough time, effort or thought into the three core facets of it: the set-up; the quality of the ongoing dialogue; response to changing dynamics.

The set-up: We are explicit about what we are looking for in potential clients – an open, honest partnership, not a transactional relationship and an appetite for bold and ambitious work; we are not here to do category generic work that won’t move the needle. We select clients on this basis and create a shared ambition that is a key point of reference for the partnership – this sets the tone of communication and keeps us both honest and on track. We also have ways of working workshops to establish the best mode and cadence of communication, these are bespoke to each partnership.

The quality of the ongoing dialogue is the difference between trust and its erosion. Ensuring that the dialogue is happening at all levels and with key stakeholders is important, we do 1-1 interviews with key members of the broader client business to understand perspectives as part of onboarding. We emphasized real-world relationships and meetings to keep teams bonded and the dialogue open and honest – particularly important in response to mistakes when they get made, to enable issues to be nipped in the bud and so forth.

Responding to changing dynamics is critical for the long term. Listening carefully and then being alive to the feedback to turn it into actions that help the partnership continue to progress and for you to remain a valued, relevant partner has, in a fast-changing environment, never been more important. We use TRR to help us get a quantitative read on our partnerships and ask future-facing questions to add to the qualitative feedback from our ongoing dialogue. We then have internal processes to ensure we’re making the changes in team make-up or service required to respond to that feedback.

Helen Bennett, CEO, The Weber Shandwick Collective UK

Shared accountability to achieving clear goals and a mutual commitment to holding each other to account along the way, even when that sometimes means having tough conversations. Someone once told me that clients get the agency they deserve - and it’s definitely true that a client who invests time and energy into setting their agency partners up for success will undoubtedly unlock more value from the relationship. But I also think there’s a responsibility on agencies to reward that trust by caring passionately about making sure the work we do delivers real value to a client. If we can’t readily explain why our work will help contribute to a client’s business goals, it will always be an uphill struggle to be seen as more than a vendor.