ITIAPTWC Episode 49 – The Client
Last week I had the idea to interview a client.
Come on. Haven’t you always wanted to know what they hell they’re all thinking?
So I put the word out and found one: an automotive client for a big brand that works with a good agency, so he knows what good ads are and has been somewhat responsible for bringing them into the world (he also wanted to remain anonymous).
I actually found this to be one of the most revealing chats I’ve had, possibly because it was a window into a world I knew much less about.
We discussed…
How he became a client.
How things have changed (money/digital).
You need a big idea! And know what your brand stands for!
How they measure what the hell they’re doing and what the agency is responsible for.
Who gets to choose the overall idea, and how does it please everyone?
How well do the different agencies collaborate?
Giant power point decks suck.
His learning curve.
Why digital isn’t bollocks.
Responsibility for surveillance.
How do they decide what to spend their money on?
Outthink rather than outshout.
Giving feedback.
Face-to-face client contact is good.
Is ‘creativity’ important?
How do you judge an idea before it’s made?
Pitches!
Not choosing creatives to work on your account.
Research vs gut.
Disaster vs Success.
Do you care about directors etc.?
General client perspective on the agency.
Here’s the chat, the iTunes link and the Soundcloud link:
“Documents that are hundreds of slides long…[are] of no use to me whatsoever. That to me demonstrates poor thought rather than depth of thought. Everything needs to be distilled.”
US presentation-deck mills beware!
Clients always say this bullshit. They never fucking do it though.
‘Never’ is quite a generalisation.
They definitely do it sometimes, but few manage it on a regular basis.
I’d also add that lots of what The Client said are things I wouldn’t doubt. If you mean the parts about committing to creative solutions etc., then maybe you should have a word with your own clients.
I used to be a client and a lot of what he said rang true. If anything he didn’t put enough emphasis on just how hostile the environment is within the client organisation. It can be brutal – literally thousands of people (if it’s a big company) judging and commenting on the work of one or two people. It’s not an excuse for bad client behaviour but it’s worth remembering – the client organisation isn’t pulling as one team – behind the scenes will be a ton of agendas and power plays going on and your client is probably one of the few people in that business whose work everyone has an opinion on. You need a thick skin to survive it and you really do see the agency as your ally.
If you can understand the pressures that your client feels (and this could come down to one difficult individual or team within their organisation as much as a set of targets) you can work out how best to support them.
Ultimately, bad client behaviour comes down to fear. If you prove to them you’re there to protect them, they’ll help you protect your ideas.
Absolutely.
It is almost universally toilet.