Agencies v clients - Whose grass is greener?

Everyone wants to know what it’s like on the other side – or the dark side, depending on your point of view! But moving from agency to client side, or vice versa, is the grass really greener? This year, I’ve had the biggest and best opportunity to find out.

Some context

After 16 years applying my own brand of #imaginationandgraft agency-side, in the spring of 2016, I took the plunge, jumped over the fence and went client side. Big time.

I now look after Global Campaign Development at Sage, an organisation with a 14,000 head count, 800 of whom are in the marketing department alone. Until now, no company I’ve ever worked for has employed more than about 100 people, some a lot fewer. So boy, was I in for an eye opener!

I’ll be honest, over the years, I developed some pretty sweeping – sometimes naive – preconceptions about what client side is like. Some of them still stand up, but I’ve been taken aback by the number that have been completely swept away.

Here are some areas where I’ve learned some pretty big lessons.

Everyone wants to know what it’s like on the other side – or the dark side, depending on your point of view! But moving from agency to client side, or vice versa, is the grass really greener? This year, I’ve had the biggest and best opportunity to find out.

Some context

After 16 years applying my own brand of #imaginationandgraft agency-side, in the spring of 2016, I took the plunge, jumped over the fence and went client side. Big time.

I now look after Global Campaign Development at Sage, an organisation with a 14,000 head count, 800 of whom are in the marketing department alone. Until now, no company I’ve ever worked for has employed more than about 100 people, some a lot fewer. So boy, was I in for an eye opener!

I’ll be honest, over the years, I developed some pretty sweeping – sometimes naive – preconceptions about what client side is like. Some of them still stand up, but I’ve been taken aback by the number that have been completely swept away.

Here are some areas where I’ve learned some pretty big lessons.

The rollercoaster

I’d always thought that agency land was a rollercoaster of a ride, with its incessant highs and lows (late night – sometimes all night – pitch preparation, demanding clients, heated discussions, winning business, losing business, winning awards…). On the other hand, I always saw client side as the classic 9-5 steady ship on calm waters, overseeing, monitoring, following processes…

Oh how wrong was. At Sage, I’m yet to do a day that’s 9-5. You could say that it’s down to my ingrained agency training, but plenty of my colleagues are doing the same – all working very hard to get the job done. And the rollercoaster ride has just as many peaks and troughs as agency side. Things go great, things go less than great, personalities clash, triumphs are celebrated, just the same. It all contributes to the rich tapestry of a life in marketing!

The pressure

If you think as an agency, that going into a pitch is high pressure, you try being the guy that has to sign off the creative that a four billion quid business has to go to market with… I’ve never felt anything like it before in my life.

On Day 2 of the Sage job I was told: “This is the most important campaign we have in the business and we need to have it live by the end of the month”. At that point the brief had only just been signed off, and my deadline was two weeks away. To add even more pressure, I have about 300 people internally that my campaigns come into contact with. I’m the guy that has to please all of the people, all of the time. Thank goodness it’s not what I’m measured on! (For the record we got the campaign live. And we did it 66% faster than any other campaign that had gone through the business before).

Agency people are more fun

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong! Quite honestly I think most clients put up a guard when it comes to agencies (and I still think that’s true). More often than not, what agency people are misinterpreting here, is just that veneer of professionalism that so many clients adopt, and that personally, I wish we’d all get rid of. We’d be far better off for it. What I’ve learned is that all organisations, whatever their size and sector, have a rich tapestry of personalities within them.

.... and if you want to read the rest you'd better go here > https://www.brandjoe.com/agencies-v-clients/

#longread