The client-agency relationship

Chris Powell

Advertising agencies found out how to do better work in the 1970s, overdid things (clients were sold some pups) in the 1980s, and got clobbered in the recession of the early 1990s.

Client-agency relationships

After a bumpy recent past, both sides must re-discover how to trust each other more

Christopher Powell

Agencies found out how to do better work in the 1970s, overdid things (clients were sold some pups) in the 1980s, and got clobbered in the recessionary early 1990s. The relationship has become adversarial, and at a bad time. To mend the marriage, as both parties wish, the need is for a closer concordat on objectives, and the adoption of some important principles. These include a shared understanding about goals and how the advertising is supposed to work; and more emphasis...

WARC subscribers can sign in to keep reading

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands