Work that matters Part 1: What do agency chiefs want from client partners?

Recently, Singapore brought home its first Cannes Lion for a piece of work that ran in the Thai market. Created by Ogilvy Singapore, the campaign – Vaseline’s “Transition Body Lotion” – was targeted at transgender women, where the lotion was created in collaboration with the transgender community.

While the agency was based out of Singapore, the work ran in the Thai market for the domestic audience.

Creating brave work that shifts society, and a client’s business needle, is any agency’s dream. But very often, what consumers in Singapore come across day to day are ads that are fleeting and forgettable. So, why is it that despite being the hub of Asia, consumers in Singapore are facing a sea of white noise when it comes to content?

At a recent roundtable hosted across two days by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, in collaboration with Shutterstock – “Navigating the attention landscape”, we asked agencies and clients where the disconnect was when it comes to creating work that cuts through the clutter.

Leading agency CEOs and creatives convened on day one (25 June), and one point that resonated across the table was that clients today had a never-ending list of demands that needed to be met, which resulted in watered-down creative work being launched.

Several agency heads agreed that with so many boxes needing to be ticked prior to a campaign launch, it is often hard to put creativity front and centre. Moreover, with the demands from briefs getting longer, agency creatives are often left without a clear campaign intent and KPIs that really matter to the client.

Accompanied by the fact that more clients are now wary of sharing actual customer data with insights or numbers that could allow for a better understanding of a business, agencies are often left with an opaque idea on what might work with a client and their target audience.

Another issue that was highlighted was the lack of trust in agency partners and relationships, which is needed to take that “creative leap of faith”. Given the increasingly transactional relationships between agencies and clients, more effort needs to be put in on both sides to foster a sense of trust.

As one agency creative head put it, there is a “master-servant” type of dynamic in Singapore. In comparison to Malaysia, there’s a better “partnership of equals which allows room for banter”.

“Younger creatives sometimes don’t bother to propose bold ideas beyond the surface because they know it will just be faster to get the work out based on what the client asks. This then creates average work and the relationship is simply not there,” said one creative chief.

According to Stephanie Kennedy, director, growth & essential rest of Asia at Shutterstock, as brands prioritise data-centric decision-making to inform their advertising initiatives, there is a risk of creativity becoming commoditised, alluding to the transactional relationships we are hearing about today.

This shift has created a risk of focusing on short-term gains over long-term brand building and storytelling, with Agencies expected to deliver quick, measurable results at the expense of creative depth and innovation. Another challenge with data-centricity over creativity is potentially becoming over reliant on the results, which leads to predictive outputs - thereby controlling the boundaries of creativity and original content. Finally, it would be remiss to ignore how macroeconomic pressures have placed significant pressure on the quality and scale of creative projects, leaving agencies and brands alike to do more with less.

There is an opportunity to leverage data to inform creative direction. The challenge is finding that balance between what is working, or on the flipside of that, what is waiting to be discovered.

So, how can we foster greater relationships between clients and agencies?

Guan Hin Tay, creative chairman, BBDO

To create better work with our clients, we must play detectives – always curious and ready to dig deeper. If we don’t know something, let’s ask questions instead of playing the guessing game.

This approach empowers us with knowledge and understanding. Kicking things off with brainstorming sessions is a must. This way, we get to the heart of what clients really need, not just what they think they want.

Treating our clients like true partners is key. Honesty and clear communication are the secret sauce for solving problems together. Regular check-ins? Absolutely! They keep us on track and keep relationships strong. Even a quick text or call can make a huge difference in keeping the conversation alive. Let’s make it a habit to chat with our clients often, and keep those lines of communication wide open.

Rowena Bhagchandani, BLK J Havas

Shared trust, responsibility and accountability. The best partnership is one where both us and the client partner shouldn’t be able to live with or live without each other. Can’t live with “Just because we know their business inside out and are also able to add value even from a marketing perspective”
. Only then we can be true partners, side by side with them and they can truly depend on us. Can’t live without it because they feel our loss when we are not around.

If we both agree upfront on what the ambition is, co-work and align on the brief, expectations, embrace risks and share responsibility for outcomes. Then we can spend more time learning from both successes and failures.

Prakash Kamdar, CEO, clients and solutions SEA & CEO, Singapore, Dentsu

It’s important to first acknowledge that better work is being produced with each passing year due to clearer briefs and stronger partnerships between clients and agencies.

That being said, in an attention economy where humans are being exposed to more content and experiences than ever before by more brands fighting for attention and love, I have become an even bigger believer in ‘fewer, bigger, better’.

This means that we, as a marketing fraternity, are more likely to be successful in helping brands to acquire, keep, and grow customers if we invest in fewer, but more strategic (powered by more meaningful data and insights) and bigger ideas (even if supported by micro pieces of content and experiences) that move at the speed of culture and that rise above the clutter.

We must challenge each other to do things that are a little different. This requires courage from both clients and their agencies as the more convenient thing to do is to tick boxes, create tactical work that is fleeting, forgettable, meets vanity metrics, and therefore, does not move the main needles for a business.

Marketing and creativity are ultimately growth drivers rather than cost centres and it’s incumbent upon us to always demonstrate this.

Julia Wei, CEO, Edelman

First, we need greater discipline in prioritising objectives, the audience, and the problems we are to solve. Trying to cover all bases in a brief means a diluted focus and watered down ideas, which will naturally lead to diluted outcomes.

Second, we need to know that attention alone isn’t enough to mobilise audiences – especially in an era of trust with a crisis between brands, people, and society. Ultimately, action earns trust and so brands can’t just talk anymore, they must act to earn trust and influence.

Third, good ideas and stories will create greater media efficiency – earning conversation in a way that reduces friction of media spend. The value of creative ideas is critical alongside data and performance, and good ideas have always been the ones that people talk about.

Fourth, being clear on a brand’s permission space to push creativity empowers clients with the confidence to make meaningful and bold decisions that are distinct and memorable. Clarity on the brand’s values, the stakeholder audience’s values as well as the political and cultural context helps define this own-able space.

Firrdaus Yusoff, head of creative, Forsman & Bodenfors

Clients need to ask themselves: “Are they ready for true creative partners?” Many are just paying lip service to this notion, but having a true partner means being genuinely ready for their agency partners to challenge them at every turn (not for the sake of it), and not just accepting all feedback at face value.

It can get uncomfortable at times, and that’s OK, because the best client-agency relationships are often filled with honest discussions, honest agendas, and a genuine desire to do work that is memorable – and not just for an ad.

A true creative partner will bend over backwards for any client if the relationship is based on trust and respect. But if a client is simply looking for a vendor to execute campaigns – then you will never get the best thinking needed to solve the business problem.

Alvina Seah, managing director, GOVT

It is key that both the client and agency aim for the same finishing line, and create this safe space that breeds trust and honesty in wanting to create better work together. Ironically, it is only with this shared knowledge of a safe space that teams can breed the spirit of fearlessness and fun.

A sense of fearlessness will help drive new ideas and explore fresher territories that will positively impact the business. It is from this courage that we can steer away from non-template or cliché work, and instead land on ideas that hopefully drive distinctiveness for the brand and business. And while we are at it, having fun is equally important because that keeps us motivated to keep trying, failing, and eventually winning together.

Valerie Madon, chief creative officer, McCann

Commit to disrupt, not blend in. Don’t ask for something you’ve seen done by another brand. Don’t default to your comfort zone or to formulaic work. Challenge the team to create something that makes you feel uncomfortable because it’s so new, in order to create work that people might share and talk about.

This also means starting with an attitude of being open to ideas and spotting opportunities. Finally, don’t use TV-style testing for work that’s going live online, because the mindset of audiences varies on different platforms, hence, content should be inspired and tailored for the platform.

With limited budgets, keep a realistic focus to make an impact. Don’t just rely on a modest media strategy alone. Make creativity your priority to generate earned media which can only happen with brave and surprising ideas that make people talk and share.

Joris Knetsch, managing director, MediaMonks

It’s easy to become complacent in any position, whether leading or second or third. But the moment competition kicks into high gear, that comfortable spot can quickly slip away. We need to challenge each other to stay ahead, constantly.

While the concept of a challenge sounds appealing, implementing it requires two crucial elements: confidence and trust. Clients need confidence that challenging briefs lead to better work, and confidence in their abilities as marketers to break away from tried-and-true approaches. Clients must also trust that challenging their agency partners will result in superior work and performance.

This trust extends to allowing for experiments and potential mistakes as long as they lead to valuable lessons. Longer client-agency relationships are key to embracing a culture of challenge and innovation. The current trend of pitching every single project can hinder the development of an open and innovative working culture.

The path forward may not always be easy, but if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you. And in today’s dynamic world, change is not just beneficial – it’s essential.

Paul Soon, CEO Singapore and China, MullenLowe

The biggest enemy is short “termism”. However, that can only be solved collectively if “creativity” is to be discussed again as a business tool in board meetings. There is a need to distinguish that “creativity” should be labelled more like “brand creativity”.

Brand creativity is utilising creativity to drive business performance and growth, especially in a highly competitive and noisy marketplace such as Singapore. Brand creativity has a multiplier effect when deployed effectively and with a clear sense of dominating the category.

However, the basic ingredients for success between agency and client must be forged to achieve this – a common vision, trust, transparency, and room for each side to take calculated risks when necessary. This ability to challenge each other respectfully has only led to memorable campaigns that last and outperform expectations.

We are all aware of the constraints of operating in Singapore, and everyone wants to create the best work. So, maybe what needs to improve is the collective notion that greatness is a process, and that process, requires failures as much as it demands successes. And if we can achieve that together we can bring back the agenda of brand creativity in the boardroom.

Kunal Jeswani, group CEO – Singapore and Malaysia, Ogilvy

Here are seven things that clients and agencies can do to drive better creative work.

1. Start with a written client brief. No more than a page. Be clear on what the communication needs to achieve and how success for the client and the agency, together, will be measured.

2. Align on the creative brief with the creative team, the media agency, and the client before commencing the creative development. Align on what we want to say and what we want consumers to remember – and be realistic. What consumers remember will always be a fraction of what we want to say.

3. When evaluating work, put your checklists aside. No consumer will take away more than one simple message from any piece of communication. Is the work saying what we want to say? Is it memorable? Will consumers remember the one simple thing we want them to remember? If the work is doing this much, everything else is immaterial.

4. When evaluating work, focus on the big stuff. Does it meet the brief? What do you like? What has potential? What will people remember? Don’t sweat the small stuff. Give your agency partners the space and the trust to manage the way the message is delivered. Be stingy with strategic freedom. But be very liberal with creative freedom.

5. No great work will emerge from a system where multiple individuals are encouraged to all give feedback on one piece of work. All that does is put individuals on the spot and force them to contribute to a meeting by recommending changes. In our business, this is death by a thousand cuts. What you’ll be left with is a demotivated agency team and a watered-down idea that no one loves anymore. If you want everyone in your team to have a voice, that’s great. Discuss it amongst yourselves, let one client leader take the call on which elements of the feedback are critical to lifting the idea. Again, focus on the big stuff. Give your agency partners the space and the trust to manage the way the message is delivered.

6. Some of the best ideas are the hardest to execute. They may require clients to change the product or the packaging or activate something at retail or build a collaboration with another client or brand. Look for ideas that have the most potential. Take on the hard stuff.

7. Make time for craft. All great work requires time for crafting. If you have a three-week timeline to execute anything, you can kiss greatness goodbye. There’s nothing wrong with that, but let’s just recognise that great work requires time for crafting. And if you don’t make the time for crafting, you will get functional work. If you really want great work and if you see an idea that has potential, give the best people in the agency team the time they need to craft it into something great.

Joanne Theseira, CEO, Publicis

I’d love a little more time crafting the work. There’s always great ambition on both sides to do great work. But great work really needs time to be shaped and in today’s world, it’s a precious commodity. The gift of more time spent on developing approved concepts will bring the work a step closer to great.

We also need to have to be clear-eyed on how and when we use data. Everyone speaks of using data upfront in the creative process to shape the creative work, but that's arguably where is less useful for sparking creativity. What I'd love to see more practical use of data in the second half of the process, such as in AB testing or the optimisation of creative work. That's where we can make great work, work harder.

Eunice Tan, group CEO, TSLA

At The Secret Little Agency, we believe that it’s not about the company, it’s really about the team. Having the long view as a collective client and agency unit is paramount in an increasingly temporal and attention-deficit world. In order to truly shift the needle, a long view is required across the entire funnel.

This means deploying smart tools to drive short-term gains, taking learnings to collectively optimise and feed into the strategy, but also a consistent view towards how upper funnel work augments that within the entire strategy.

It’s impossible to do this in a spurt, or go at it alone. Involve the agency, craft the vision together, and execute the strategy to fuel work that serves both ends, with a constant cadence to look at the learnings together. Architect the journey such that it is a true partnership rather than it being a top-down mandate or one-way street. And don’t forget to celebrate the wins together.

Genevieve Tan, general manager APAC, Verticurl

1. Openness and honest feedback: We need transparent communication and an encouraging environment where both sides feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, concerns, and suggestions without fear of judgment. This helps identify issues early and fosters trust.

We also need regular two-way feedback sessions. Implement a structured two-way feedback session where clients can openly discuss what’s working and what isn’t. We have quarterly reviews and post-project debriefs as part of our current process and it works well for most of our client engagements.

2. Client investment: We have to encourage clients to be actively involved in the project, from initial planning to execution and review. Their engagement ensures that the final output aligns with their vision and needs. We must foster a sense of ownership in clients by involving them in key decision-making processes. When clients feel their input is valued, they are more likely to be committed to the project’s success.

3. Open-mindedness and constructive challenges: The best work emerges when a client is open to innovative and unconventional ideas. This openness can lead to breakthrough ideas that might not emerge from traditional thinking. We also want clients to challenge our ideas constructively. This will encourage our team to refine strategies and promote a culture of continuous improvement, driving better results.