Top 10 Ways Marketers Waste Money

Top ten most common waysadvertisers waste money… and how to avoid them Lessons from more than a decade of advisingAustralia’s largest and most successful advertisers Presented by TrinityP3 marketing management consultants

1. Changing agencies when changing Marketing DirectorsThe loss of brandand market knowledge within the incumbentagency is one of the great unaccounted assets. marketing management consultants

Remember… 1. Changing agencies can take up to 3 months and require more than 600 internal head hours to complete successfully. 2. The new agency will require 3 - 6 months of 20% more time to get “up to speed” on your business. 3. With marketers’ average tenure now less than 25 months the agency is often the most consistent source of brand knowledge. 4. Poorly managed reviews can lead to irreparable damage to the brand and corporate reputation. marketing management consultants

To avoid this… 1. Clearly identify the areas were the agency is underperforming by discussing expectations and delivery with the marketing team. 2. Meet with the agency management and communicate your concerns and agree objectives, timelines and metrics for improvement. 3. Schedule and provide regular feedback to the agency or consider using a relationship survey (such as Evalu8ing) to monitor the relationship. marketing management consultants

2. Incomplete or poor quality brieﬁng If you don t know what you want or need how is the agency going to know? marketing management consultants

Remember… 1. If the agency doesn’t “crack” the brief first time, it is more often the brief rather than the agency. 2. Every iteration of creative work creates a hidden cost in agency fees and tangible costs in production fees. 3. Time wasted on developing consecutive creative concepts eats into production time, driving up cost or compromising quality. marketing management consultants

To avoid this… 1. Develop the brief with stakeholder and agency input and before work commences make sure all parties agree on the direction in writing. 2. Always use the brief to judge and critique the work and when presenting work make sure it is presented in the context of the agreed brief. marketing management consultants

3. Lack of time and project management disciplineIf you don t allowenough time to get the job done right,be prepared to pay for it later. marketing management consultants

Remember… 1. Mistakes are made more often when people are in a hurry and cost more to fix later. 2. Quality requires either time or money to achieve and the less you have of one the more you will need of the other. 3. The cost of revisions rises in direct relation to the approach of the deadline, and if it doesn’t you have probably paid for it already. marketing management consultants

To avoid this… 1. Have within your contract agreed timelines for strategy, creative development and production. 2. Make the agency responsible for project management based on your planned activities. 3. Have agreed processes for fast track activities that arise outside of your planned activities. marketing management consultants

4. Spending the budget Many marketers and agencies are too focused on how to spend the budget rather than how to invest to maximise the results. marketing management consultants

Remember… 1. “What sticks” says that it is not 50% of advertising that is wasted, it is only 37.3% because marketeers do not learn from their mistakes. 2. You cannot learn if you do not bother to measure, record and analyse the results of your actions. 3. Vague objectives and general statements on improvement do not provide meaningful results. marketing management consultants

To avoid this… 1. Make sure all activities have a specific and measurable outcome. 2. Implement a detailed and rigorous measuring and reporting process for each activity / project / campaign. 3. Share this information with the agency and link their remuneration to the result to drive efficiency and effectiveness improvements. marketing management consultants

5. Being too prescriptive in your requests instead ofYou re paying slaves.professional rates,treat the agency so like professionals… marketing management consultants

Remember… 1. If you are telling your agency what to do and how to do it, where do they get to add value? 2. This behaviour leads to high agency staff turnover and lower quality people working on your account. 3. Agencies are there to provide specific strategic and creative value, not to be an outsourced personal assistant to the marketing department. marketing management consultants

To avoid this… 1. Always define the requirements and / or problem clearly and listen to the agency s suggestions. 2. If it the agency is consistently not delivering to your requirements, discuss the issue with them to determine why. 3. If yelling at the agency is the only way to get what you need, then eventually you will end up with a new agency. marketing management consultants

6. Lack of clarity and focus in providing feedback Garbage in leads to garbage out in IT and similarly in advertising - so careful and be concise in providing feedback to the agency. marketing management consultants

Remember… 1. Providing feedback on strategy, creative, concepts and aesthetics is difficult as it is often abstract or highly subjective. 2. Misinterpretation of feedback can lead the agency in the wrong direction and cause additional work and create costly delays. 3. No matter who is at fault for the misinterpretation, the advertiser ends up paying for it in energy, time, frustration and budget. marketing management consultants

To avoid this… 1. Do not allow yourself to be rushed into providing feedback, where possible use the overnight test 2. Use the brief as the basis for providing feedback at all stages of development, not just concept but right through production 3. Do not use subjective language like edgy or contemporary , but where words fail use pictures and examples instead marketing management consultants

7. Convoluted approval processes within the organisationEveryone can have anopinion, but inthe end the onlyone that counts …ultimateis the… decision maker. marketing management consultants

Remember… 1. The more people involved in the approval process the greater number of changes required to get an approved execution. 2. Each iteration of change incurs a cost and creates opportunities for waste with unnecessary changes. 3. There is no incentive, other than the timely delivery of the job, for the agency to keep the number of changes to a minimum as these changes increase revenue and profit marketing management consultants

To avoid this… 1. Identify who can say YES and minimise all of the approval stages that can only say NO 2. Have everyone responsible present at the one time for approvals 3. If you can’t, get everyone’s feedback before de-briefing the agency marketing management consultants

8. Poor understanding of the advertising process This can lead to making decisions at the worst possible time in the process. Know the process and you ll get better results. marketing management consultants

Remember… 1. The creative process commences with the strategy and continues through the concept and execution 2. At every stage decisions, feedback and directives have an impact on the cost, quality and time required to deliver the final outcome 3. The agency will always focus on the delivery of the advertisers stated requirements over the cost effective delivery of the concept 4. “In six months time no one will thank me for delivering it on time or on budget” - Creative Director marketing management consultants

To avoid this… 1. Never dictate specific executional outcomes unless you understand all the cost, time and quality implications. 2. When discussing projects with the agency, always ask for a written assessment of the cost implications before proceeding. 3. If changes are required to deliver strategic imperatives, ask the agency to recommend multiple solutions and costs to achieve these. marketing management consultants

9. Having a remuneration model that rewards inefﬁciency resources Focusing on & head hours instead of outcomes & results encourages poor practices & efficiency. marketing management consultants

Remember… 1. Paying for head hours can encourage agencies to work slowly and inefficiently to increase revenue and profit. 2. Commissions and service fees reward the agency for spending your budget and are not related to the cost or effort involved. 3. Head hours are a notoriously inaccurate record and measure of the resources and efforts required to deliver a specific outcome. marketing management consultants

To avoid this… 1. Define your requirements from the agency in the form of capabilities and volume (scope of work). 2. Negotiate remuneration based on the delivery of those services and outcomes not simply the resources required. 3. Monitor the scope of work and the agency performance and resources to identify opportunities for improved efficiency. marketing management consultants

10. Falling in love with the (new) agency While the best advertiser/agency relationships are based on mutual respect & trust, it is still a business relationship that requires management. marketing management consultants

Remember… 1.  The honeymoon period does not last forever but a great working relationship can. 2.  Many contracts fall into three year cycles, the first year is great, the second year is ordinary and the third year is not much better. 3.  Great relationships deliver great outcomes and increased ROI, but they take time and effort to manage. marketing management consultants

To avoid this… 1. In establishing the relationship, ensure that agreement / contract includes measurable expectations (SLA, KPI etc). 2. Plan an allocate the time and resources to manage the relationship on a regular basis (ideally quarterly). 3. At each review stage, discuss outcomes, performance, process, resources and remuneration with specific recommendations for improvement. marketing management consultants

Summary Tired of wasting money? marketing management consultants

then avoid… 1. Changing agencies before it is really necessary 2. Poor briefing practices and implement ways to improve quality 3. Being too prescriptive with the agency, it stops them being their best 4. The last minute minute rush, it increases the chance of costly mistakes 5. Simply spending the budget, instead of looking for ways to invest 6. Costly mistakes and misinterpretations in your feedback 7. Convoluted approval processes, instead look for ways to streamline 8. Making changes without understanding the real cost and impact 9. Remunerating your agency for time instead of outcomes 10. Forgetting to manage the relationship which needs investment to grow and if all else fails… marketing management consultants

Contact TrinityP3 to ﬁnd out how to reduce waste and increase value in your advertising. TrinityP3 Pty Ltd Sydney +612 8399 0922 Melbourne +613 9682 6800 Hong Kong +852 3478 3982 Singapore +65 6631 2861 people@trinityp3.com www.trinityp3.com marketing management consultants

http://kevincferry.blogspot.com	121
http://kevincferry.blogspot.com.au	45
http://paper.li	30
http://us-w1.rockmelt.com	16
http://www.linkedin.com	10
http://a0.twimg.com	5
http://kevincferry.blogspot.fr	3
http://kevincferry.blogspot.ca	1
http://kevincferry.blogspot.de	1

Top 10 Ways Marketers Waste Money

by TrinityP3 on Dec 06, 2011

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

9 Embeds 232

Statistics

Top 10 Ways Marketers Waste Money — Presentation Transcript