Ad agencies: Partners or suppliers?

Agencies have always liked to think of themselves as partners but how realistic is this? For an industry supposedly at the fulcrum of capitalist enterprise, the advertising business displays few outward signs of commerciality.

Ad agencies: Partners or suppliers?

Derek Day

Agencies have always liked to think of themselves as partners but Derek Day questions just how realistic this is. Quoting marketers' criticisms of the agency world's unwillingness to understand the commercial logic of their clients' business, he offers advice as to how to improve the relationship.

For an industry supposedly at the fulcrum of capitalist enterprise, the advertising business displays few outward signs of commerciality. The layperson, on a first-time tour of a typical advertising agency, would be surprised to find themselves in a low-pressure environment somewhere between an art dealership and a...

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