6 lies agencies tell their clients (and the reason they tell them)

"What Mad Men did for making day-drinking look cool again, it has also done for making agencies seem disingenuous, amoral, and a bit gross. Meaning brand marketers are struggling to trust agencies, conscious that in the race for new business and retention, what are they prepared to promise? How much of what they say is real and what is pure Type-2 Liarbetes? An XL whopper meal with extra lies?"

"The A-team dazzles during the pitch, then disappears once the work begins, leaving sweaty, scared-looking juniors in their place. So, why lie? Agency selection processes are performative. Senior teams are put up front to provide depth and detail, because prospects want to be reassured, but their role will rarely be more than direction and support (as it should be). Marketers need to clarify their expectations: ask for the 'doing' team to be included in the process, specify level of involvement from seniors,"

Agencies frequently present senior teams and polished pitches to win business, then rely on junior staff for execution. Selection processes incentivize performative displays that reassure prospects but mask day-to-day realities. Senior involvement often shifts to direction and oversight rather than hands-on work. Long gaps between selection and project start increase the chance that proposed team members will be reassigned. Brand marketers should require the actual doing team in selection, specify levels of senior involvement, embed accountability in scopes of work, and challenge tenuous claims of industry-specific experience by asking for concrete, transferable case-study evidence.

Read at The Drum