Tackling Client-Agency Relationship Dynamics

Whether you’re a brand or agency-side marketer, establishing strong relationships of mutual trust and respect between both camps can be tricky.

Whether you’re a brand or agency-side marketer, establishing strong relationships of mutual trust and respect between both camps can be tricky.

From the agency side, Mark Jones, chief storyteller and CEO at brand storytelling agency Filtered Media, and Andrew Davis, former chief strategy officer at U.S. digital marketing and advertising agency Tipping Point Labs, understand this challenge well.

Whether discovering the business outcomes a client wants to achieve or navigating the pitch process, Jones and Davis agreed that drawing out the right answers from clients and calling the shots is a balancing act. It’s also important to provide a clear set of expert offerings—and even partner with other agencies that can lend complementary capabilities, Jones said.

“I think it’s a point of maturity in the agency world to grow through that and to realise, ‘We can’t be all things for people,’” he said.

On the brand side, clients that engage with multiple agencies have to figure out how to keep them working together in harmony, said Louise Eyres, CMO at Sport Australia.

“I think the key is to make sure it’s a village that doesn’t become a metropolis because then we really will get ourselves into trouble,” she said.

Check out this special panel discussion episode of The CMO Show, hosted by CCO Magazine editor Jonathan Crossfield, for an in-depth look at the relationship between clients and agencies with marketing experts from both sides of the equation. Learn how you can do your part to foster a prosperous partnership.