Why you should rethink calling for that pitch

The answer is simple: Agencies typically produced better work when they were retained.?According to a research by World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and The Observatory International,?advertisers surveyed were far more likely to rate the work of their agencies as excellent or very good if they were retained compared to those who worked with agencies on a project basis.

Majority of the advertisers also value more productive and longer-lasting relationships with their agencies. About 65% of the advertisers surveyed believe a long-term relationship with their agency is either important, very important or essential in producing great work. Only 12% said it is irrelevant. Most companies (81%) said they worked very collaboratively with their agencies and 45% said external partners were an essential part of their team.?Respondents typically enjoyed the?longest relationships with media and?creative agencies, with 36% indicating they have worked with their media agency for more than five years and 34% partnered their creative agency for a similar amount of time.

In the past 12 months, 65% of respondents said they had increased scope of work significantly or somewhat for content and social agencies. The figure?was 40% for media and creative agencies and 35% for PR agencies.

The research is based on responses from 42 senior client-side marketers representing 35 different brand owners. They are present in more than 14 categories that collectively spend just under US$50 billion on global advertising.

Ways to improve the relationships

In the study, clients recognised that they could make improvements to improve outcomes and prolong relationships. While 79% agreed that a great briefing was essential to produce great work, not one respondent company felt they were excellent at briefing, and only 17% described themselves as ?very good?. About 43% of the respondents admitted they are merely adequate, poor or very poor in this regard.

Meanwhile, improved collaboration between marketing and procurement has also been identified as critical, with 83% of marketers and 73% of procurement said they work together on fee negotiations. Making sure this works seamlessly means defining process and having absolute clarity of roles and responsibilities in relation to the various aspects of agency management, said the report.

However,?24% provide only a general overview of key initiatives despite 45% of respondents indicating that they supply their agencies with "reasonably detailed" scope of work.

WFA CEO Stephan Loerke said: ?No one can guarantee a great agency-advertiser relationship, but marketers and their procurement partners can behave in a way that will make it more likely. The end result will be longer, more effective relationships that will grow businesses and create more powerful brands.?

Stuart Pocock, co-founder and managing partner of The Observatory International, added that clients that change their behaviours to improve relationships can?ensure minimum disruption and the cost of having to find new agency partners. He said: "A commitment to regular monitoring of agency performance also ensures outputs and relationships stay on track by identifying issues before they become critical."