Sparrow’s Nest: Over my long career of 40+ years in advertising both here and in the US, I’ve been very fortunate to have enjoyed long-term great client partnerships.
On reflection, some clients have been in passion categories e.g. entertainment/media such as Disney, Fox FM, and Herald Sun, others were just great clients in a variety of categories that we had a brilliant working relationship e.g. Ford, Kraft, NAB, Lotto, etc.
Sparrow’s Nest: The values and attributes I believe of a great client:
• Mutual trust
• Collaborative spirit
• Open and honest communication
• Shared goals and aspirations
• Respectfully challenge each other
• Together you can deliver great work that drives business results.
On a more human level, I want to work with clients I like, respect, and can have fun together … people that also value and appreciate great teamwork/talent that give their heart and soul to the business. Plus, it’s vital to celebrate shared success and more importantly openly discuss things that didn’t work. What can we learn from these and how do we move forward with this knowledge to make it better next time?
At the recent Cannes Festival of Creativity, some of the brilliant local work for Suncorp captured people’s attention and bagged a bunch of Lion trophies. A great collaborative client with outstanding relationships across the board with several creative agencies Burnetts, Ogilvy, and the media agency OMD.
Mentioning Ogilvy reminds me of a famous quote from David Ogilvy: “Clients get the advertising they deserve.” In his insightful book Confessions of an Advertising Man, David talked about the nine ways you can be a better client. You know what … they are still as relevant today as in 1963 when the book was written.
1. Emancipate your agency from fear
2. Select the right agency in the first place
3. Brief your agency very thoroughly indeed
4. Do not compete with your agency in the creative area
5. Don’t strain your advertising through too many levels
6. Be candid, and encourage condor
7. Set high standards
8. Hurry, time is money
9. Don’t underspend
The most exciting and rewarding times in my career were with special client partnerships where together we created great work that worked, pushed boundaries with media/creative firsts, and everyone involved celebrated the success.
However, being a great client is hard, it takes time and extra effort to build respect, trust, and empathy with a true agency partner. In most agencies I’ve worked we didn’t want to just be a vendor or supplier we went above and beyond every day to be trusted advisors and valued partners.
Great clients should be applauded, valued, and thanked, when you have that special spark and relationship with a client treasure and nurture it … together you will do outstanding work that makes a difference and could end up being the highlight of your career!
Read more Sparrow’s Nest columns here.
Have a question or topic idea for Sparrow? Send it to Greg Graham via [email protected].
Don’t miss Sparrow’s regular dine-out recommendations. The latest tips from the legendary luncher are here.