A suggestion for how to fix broken client-agency relationships, an examination of short- versus long-term marketing thinking, and the benefits of the four-day work week were among the topics discussed during AMA Toronto’s eighth annual agency panel in Toronto last week.
Content marketer and journalist Sean Stanleigh, head of The Globe and Mail’s content studio, moderated the event, posing questions about emerging trends as well as the challenges and opportunities facing the marketing industry in 2024. The panel featured Rethink’s global chief creative officerAaron Starkman; Citizen Relations’ senior vice-president of marketing Sue Jackman; Media Experts’ chief client officer Richard Ivey; and Media.Monks’ managing director Tessa Ohlendorf.
1. Rethink’s “Relationship accelerator”
“Are there specific trends you see emerging that agencies should factor into their planning for 2024?”
The new year is a time when clients tend to look at business performance and consider whether they’re in need of a change—something that could be particularly true in 2024 as economic anxiety is on the rise.
Rethink’s global CCO Aaron Starkman said that agencies landing a new client can't afford a bumpy start. Rethink has learned this from experience, after some rough starts that resulted in wasted time or client loss.
The agency came up with a solution to this after having a conversation with one client that was poised to end the relationship—Starkman wouldn’t name the client, but said it’s become one of their best.
Since it appeared they were close to parting ways, the two parties laid everything on the table. From the agency’s perspective the work wasn’t good, and from the client’s perspective, Rethink was doing multiple things that they secretly hated.
“We just had an honest conversation, and it went from ‘Maybe we’re going to get rid of each other’ to ‘Why have we never just said the thing?’” explained Starkman. Rethink subsequently implemented a formalized a process they call a “relationship accelerator" a one-day consultation in which the client shares what they didn’t like about their last agency, and what they don’t want to happen with their new one, and Rethink responds with transparency about its process.
For instance, Rethink doesn’t have client meetings on Mondays to ensure that employees don’t have to prepare over the weekends, and invites clients into the creative process early—it means more meetings, but fewer disappointing surprises about the work. “We get all the ugly stuff out of the way,” said Starkman.
2. Citizen Relations on being nimble in a reactionary time
“What do you think are some of the most important challenges that are facing clients/ advertisers at the moment? What do you see coming up on the horizon?”
Citizen’s senior vice-president of marketing Sue Jackman said the most important challenge facing the industry in 2024 is ensuring that clients and brands are nurturing and maintaining trust and authenticity in the minds of their consumers.
CMOs are increasingly interested in the PR/ earned media side of the business, so clients require more in-depth counsel and immediacy.
“We're in a very reactionary time. I think one social post and one message out there can literally undo so much good work,” said Jackman. “The reality is that we’re moving moment to moment, and week to week, and we as an agency have to be designed to be nimble and responsive in that moment."
“It’s given us an opportunity to move from just a value execution team to an indispensable business partner.”
3. Media Experts on navigating short- versus long-term thinking in a turbulent economy
Stanleigh posited that clients are less interested in long term results like brand awareness, and are increasingly looking for short-term gains (like lead generation) that impact the bottom line. With that in mind, he asked how clients should plan their marketing strategies for 2024.
“I think that if you spend all your time thinking about the short term, what's happening tomorrow, you will be dead, you will not survive,” said Media Experts’ CCO Richard Ivey. He explained that if an agency puts all of its resources into what they can achieve for a brand today, they won’t be filling the sales funnel. They’re not communicating what the brand stands for, and the values that can protect it from the usual ups and downs in the marketplace.
“During Covid, a lot of people switched completely into this short-term thinking,” he said. “And a lot of brands suffered greatly, and are still suffering, because all they were trying to do is move the needle today, and other brands came up and ate their lunch.”
Ivey’s solution is for the agency to be something of a “client whisperer”—hearing and validating the client when they need to sell immediately, but also reminding them what they need to do to protect themselves in the future. At the end of the day, it’s a matter of striking a balance, even when it’s not what the client wants to hear. “If you're a partner with your clients and you're feeling like you're a part of the team, you can have those conversations,” he said.
4. Rethink on using AI for peer review
“Is AI fitting into the creative process in the agency, and if so what impact is it having? and how is it going to change the industry going forward?”
Rethink’s creative ideating begins with a lot of fast and loose ideas, said Starkman. The agency uses a peer review process, guided by the acronym CRAFTS–Is it clear? Is it relevant? Is it achievable? Is it fresh? Is it true? Is it shareable?
And while Starkman admitted that people are better than "robots" at reviewing work, the current hybrid working environment means there aren’t always people around to do an old school, "paper-on-the-wall" style review of ideas and work.
If Chat GPT says something is unique and engaging, that tends to mean it doesn't exist elsewhere on the internet, said Starkman. “If you can't get people looking at [the work] in the target, use the robots. It can work in a pinch.”
5. Media Monks on the four-day work week
The four-day work week has been getting a lot of buzz lately. "How did Media.Monks fall into this and what's the value for agencies and clients?"
“This is a pivotal moment if you're considering a reduced work week, or a four-day work week, because you've got an opportunity to leverage time saving technology and it's only going to get better,” said Media.Monks’ managing director Tessa Ohlendorf.
The agency fell into the four-day structure by accident, and credits the pandemic for the change. Media.Monks already had an "exercise hours" program in place, giving staff three hours of work off for physical activity each week. Then, to help employees deal with the stresses of the pandemic, they introduced "Covid Friday afternoons," closing the office each Friday at lunch. Someone pointed out that when the time was combined, it equaled a full day of business.
Research suggests that when chunks of time are combined into a meaningful block of time, people get more out of it. So the agency launched a pilot program with nonprofit 4 Day Week global, equipping Media.Monks with tracking and monitoring supported by a third party research team.
Media.Monks participated anonymously, and gained access to anonymized participant data from the other participating companies to understand how they were performing against other businesses. “We thought we would see the same [performance] and maybe a little down,” said Ohlendorf. “What we didn’t expect to see was better performance.”
The program has had a pronounced effect on employee engagement, she said. “It's not without its bumps and we're still constantly iterating and finding things that aren't working,” she said, but a four-day week option has had a dramatic impact on employee turnover, and reduced turnover is one of the best ways to improve performance with any client, she said.
Content marketer and journalist Sean Stanleigh, head of The Globe and Mail’s content studio, moderated the event, posing questions about emerging trends as well as the challenges and opportunities facing the marketing industry in 2024. The panel featured Rethink’s global chief creative officerAaron Starkman; Citizen Relations’ senior vice-president of marketing Sue Jackman; Media Experts’ chief client officer Richard Ivey; and Media.Monks’ managing director Tessa Ohlendorf.
1. Rethink’s “Relationship accelerator”
“Are there specific trends you see emerging that agencies should factor into their planning for 2024?”
The new year is a time when clients tend to look at business performance and consider whether they’re in need of a change—something that could be particularly true in 2024 as economic anxiety is on the rise.
Rethink’s global CCO Aaron Starkman said that agencies landing a new client can't afford a bumpy start. Rethink has learned this from experience, after some rough starts that resulted in wasted time or client loss.
The agency came up with a solution to this after having a conversation with one client that was poised to end the relationship—Starkman wouldn’t name the client, but said it’s become one of their best.
Since it appeared they were close to parting ways, the two parties laid everything on the table. From the agency’s perspective the work wasn’t good, and from the client’s perspective, Rethink was doing multiple things that they secretly hated.
“We just had an honest conversation, and it went from ‘Maybe we’re going to get rid of each other’ to ‘Why have we never just said the thing?’” explained Starkman. Rethink subsequently implemented a formalized a process they call a “relationship accelerator" a one-day consultation in which the client shares what they didn’t like about their last agency, and what they don’t want to happen with their new one, and Rethink responds with transparency about its process.
For instance, Rethink doesn’t have client meetings on Mondays to ensure that employees don’t have to prepare over the weekends, and invites clients into the creative process early—it means more meetings, but fewer disappointing surprises about the work. “We get all the ugly stuff out of the way,” said Starkman.
2. Citizen Relations on being nimble in a reactionary time
“What do you think are some of the most important challenges that are facing clients/ advertisers at the moment? What do you see coming up on the horizon?”
Citizen’s senior vice-president of marketing Sue Jackman said the most important challenge facing the industry in 2024 is ensuring that clients and brands are nurturing and maintaining trust and authenticity in the minds of their consumers.
CMOs are increasingly interested in the PR/ earned media side of the business, so clients require more in-depth counsel and immediacy.
“We're in a very reactionary time. I think one social post and one message out there can literally undo so much good work,” said Jackman. “The reality is that we’re moving moment to moment, and week to week, and we as an agency have to be designed to be nimble and responsive in that moment."
“It’s given us an opportunity to move from just a value execution team to an indispensable business partner.”
3. Media Experts on navigating short- versus long-term thinking in a turbulent economy
Stanleigh posited that clients are less interested in long term results like brand awareness, and are increasingly looking for short-term gains (like lead generation) that impact the bottom line. With that in mind, he asked how clients should plan their marketing strategies for 2024.
“I think that if you spend all your time thinking about the short term, what's happening tomorrow, you will be dead, you will not survive,” said Media Experts’ CCO Richard Ivey. He explained that if an agency puts all of its resources into what they can achieve for a brand today, they won’t be filling the sales funnel. They’re not communicating what the brand stands for, and the values that can protect it from the usual ups and downs in the marketplace.
“During Covid, a lot of people switched completely into this short-term thinking,” he said. “And a lot of brands suffered greatly, and are still suffering, because all they were trying to do is move the needle today, and other brands came up and ate their lunch.”
Ivey’s solution is for the agency to be something of a “client whisperer”—hearing and validating the client when they need to sell immediately, but also reminding them what they need to do to protect themselves in the future. At the end of the day, it’s a matter of striking a balance, even when it’s not what the client wants to hear. “If you're a partner with your clients and you're feeling like you're a part of the team, you can have those conversations,” he said.
4. Rethink on using AI for peer review
“Is AI fitting into the creative process in the agency, and if so what impact is it having? and how is it going to change the industry going forward?”
Rethink’s creative ideating begins with a lot of fast and loose ideas, said Starkman. The agency uses a peer review process, guided by the acronym CRAFTS–Is it clear? Is it relevant? Is it achievable? Is it fresh? Is it true? Is it shareable?
And while Starkman admitted that people are better than "robots" at reviewing work, the current hybrid working environment means there aren’t always people around to do an old school, "paper-on-the-wall" style review of ideas and work.
If Chat GPT says something is unique and engaging, that tends to mean it doesn't exist elsewhere on the internet, said Starkman. “If you can't get people looking at [the work] in the target, use the robots. It can work in a pinch.”
5. Media Monks on the four-day work week
The four-day work week has been getting a lot of buzz lately. "How did Media.Monks fall into this and what's the value for agencies and clients?"
“This is a pivotal moment if you're considering a reduced work week, or a four-day work week, because you've got an opportunity to leverage time saving technology and it's only going to get better,” said Media.Monks’ managing director Tessa Ohlendorf.
The agency fell into the four-day structure by accident, and credits the pandemic for the change. Media.Monks already had an "exercise hours" program in place, giving staff three hours of work off for physical activity each week. Then, to help employees deal with the stresses of the pandemic, they introduced "Covid Friday afternoons," closing the office each Friday at lunch. Someone pointed out that when the time was combined, it equaled a full day of business.
Research suggests that when chunks of time are combined into a meaningful block of time, people get more out of it. So the agency launched a pilot program with nonprofit 4 Day Week global, equipping Media.Monks with tracking and monitoring supported by a third party research team.
Media.Monks participated anonymously, and gained access to anonymized participant data from the other participating companies to understand how they were performing against other businesses. “We thought we would see the same [performance] and maybe a little down,” said Ohlendorf. “What we didn’t expect to see was better performance.”
The program has had a pronounced effect on employee engagement, she said. “It's not without its bumps and we're still constantly iterating and finding things that aren't working,” she said, but a four-day week option has had a dramatic impact on employee turnover, and reduced turnover is one of the best ways to improve performance with any client, she said.
Photo by Yakov Radyushin
