This document summarizes Katherine Patterson's presentation to marketers about GE Healthcare's experience consolidating their agency roster. Some key points: - GE Healthcare originally had 341 agencies but consolidated to one agency per business to reduce costs and improve consistency. - Their audit of agencies found a trend toward shorter client-agency relationships, specialty agencies over full-service, and preference for small boutique firms. - Common client frustrations included bad billing, reusing old work, and agencies acting as order-takers rather than strategic thinkers. - Patterson emphasized the importance of clear communication from clients, limiting approval layers, understanding the drivers behind change requests, and challenging personal review styles not aimed at improving understanding.

1. Imagination at work
AOR is DOA
Or is it?
Katherine Patterson, GE Healthcare

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3. For the next 40 minutes
• A bit about me
• What’s the client thinking? (about our agencies)
• What’s next?
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4. Who is this lady?
• Global Director of Marketing Operations, Brand
GE Healthcare
• Agency consolidation
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• $18 billion: global business unit of GE
• 46,000: number of employees
worldwide
• $1 billion+ per year investment in R&D
• 35,800 patents filed by GE since 2000
• Core strengths in bio-sciences, medical
imaging & information technologies
• Headquartered in Pollards Wood, UK
– President: John Flannery
GE Healthcare Today

8. R&D Facilities
2,800 scientists and technologists in 8
facilities
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9. A GE Case Study

10. The assignment: Cull the agency roster down
to one agency per GE business
341
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1,500
40% 120
0

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12. We had to admit – 341 agencies was a bit much.
The rationale:
 Control & reduce rates
 Better consistency on brand
 Clearer understanding of who to contact
 Stronger leverage for negotiations
 Cost savings
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13. The audit
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Region Specialty
Annual
Spend

14. Categories & Classifications
Agency type
• Full-service marketing agency
• Regional marketing agency
• Strategic branding agency
• Digital agency
• Media planning & buying
Specialty Agencies
• Technical writing
• Consultant
• Research & testing
• Photography
• Video & graphic animation
• Graphic design
• Print & production
• Tradeshow production
• Event planning
• Guerilla marketing
• Talent agency
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15. Noteable Trends
Title or Job Number | XX
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Agency
tenure
short
Movement
toward
specialty
groups vs.
full-service
Preference
for small
boutique
firms
Marketer
tendency
to shop
around

16. Painful learnings
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We are a pain (dangle the carrot)
DIY craze is apparent
What we say we want and what we actually
want are two things
Digital ruined everything. (Culture of instant
gratification.)
Ad spend is not apples to apples (exhibits,
events, sponsorships)

17. Trends aren’t limited to us
• Avg. client
agency
tenure – 7.2
years
1984
• Avg. client /
agency
tenure – 5.3
years
1997 • 3 years
Today
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18. 18
Agency
size
2/3 are less than 5
people
Billing NYC 2008 - $751
NYC 2011 - $637
How
many?
13,200
Big fish WPP, Omnicom,
Publicis, Interpublic
Group of Cos
2x as much as next
50 largest agencies
combined

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Today’s reality is a
game of constant
auditions.
There is more
forgiveness with
smaller agencies.
Honesty is lacking
in today’s market
The client contact
varied – and results
in inefficiencies

20. How to avoid being a
commodity and be
valuable

21. Things clients can’t get over
• Bad billing practices
• Recycling old work
• Pushing to speak to leadership vs. client contact
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22. “We are always waiting for the perfect brief from
the client. It almost never happens. Good briefs
don’t just come along. Successful solutions are
often made by people rebelling against bad briefs.”
~Paul Arden

23. Measurement ≠ Effectiveness
Logic
Outputs
Doing things right
Divides
Resists change
How well did it work?
Emotion
Outcomes
Doing the right thing
Unifies
Embraces learning
How can we do better
next time?
Emotional
strategies are 2x
more profitable
than rational
strategies.
~Peter Field,
Marketing in the Era
of Accountability

24. “Push the branding
envelope. Be edgy!”
“Let’s make our business
stand out from the rest of
GE.”
“That’s old – let’s refresh it.
Something new.”
“It needs to be 360
marketing.”
Agency as order takers vs.
thinkers. “I am giving them
an assignment – but really
just want them to give me
only my idea “made pretty.”
“We need to include social
media on everything.”

25. Client training:
• Resist the urge to tweak.
• Keep the layers of approval
down to two.
• Understand what’s driving the request
for changes – is it to aid understanding?
Or just the reviewer’s personal style?
The second one should be challenged.
“
Any fool can write a bad advertisement, but it takes
a genius to keep his hands off a good one.” ~David Ogilvy

26. Top ways to make sure your project is
confusing and over budget:
 Don’t consolidate comments from your team. Instead, send them as
they come in and have the agency update the document multiple
times.
 Be vague with your reactions. “I don’t like it.”
They’re the agency. They’ll figure it out.
 Encourage all the team members to reach out
directly to the agency.
 Go ahead and pretend you’re the art director.
Draw out the layouts and provide specific details.
 Give broad direction. “Maybe try something funky.”
Don’t tell them what funky is.
 Make sure you get every data point in without focusing on the big story.
Simplification is for suckers.

27. Good
CheapFast
You can’t have it all. Pick two.

28. What’s next?
• Small can be good
• Know your strengths. And weaknesses.
• Chemistry is everything. So is honesty.
What are you going to do differently?
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