I need the opinion of my Hispanic advertising colleagues.
What would you think of a TV Network going directly to a client of yours - without letting you, the agency, know - to present to them a program that you had already presented to your client? And presenting it as a less expensive option because the client can get it net from the network? Of course trying to mess up the client-agency relationship comes as a derivative of this action.
I know, words like “getting screwed” (the agency), “bottom feeder” (the network) come to mind.
It also would blow my mind thinking why don’t they go and ‘wake up’ companies not investing in Hispanic - instead of going after a company that is already investing in Hispanic and that has an agency of record the media should be dealing with.
But tell me if you have had this experience or what you think of it if it were to happen to you/your agency.
Should Hispanic agencies be upset if this happened? Should AHAA have a word about it towards that network?
Gracias…
By: Enrique R. Turegano
April 10th, 2010 at 7:53 am
Willingly or unwillingly it happens very often. To a point there are no new basic ideas, everybody has the same basic ideas to reach the audience (Family, Music, Soccer). And when it come to special programs sometimes information leaks.
As they say “the client has the right to ruin their own reputation” because no matter how you cut it if the client want’s to go cheap they will. That said, the reality is that a TV Networks just can’t deliver quality [hence offering cheap] nor they are familiarized deeply with the brand, their values, etc…
So it’s going to happen, is going to look cheap, but if they client is happy… What can we do, and if not… well hopefully they learned a lesson. No reason to take it personal either way,
saludos,
April 10th, 2010 at 10:10 am
Let me give you some perspective from the sales side. An advertiser is as much our client as it is yours. So agency restrictions on media meeting with advertisers are inane and work against full and open communication and cooperation.
It seems that you require media to let you know when they are calling on one of your clients, which is absolutely fair. The situation you have experienced suggests one of two things, the network sales person is acting in a poor and non-corroborative manner. They should not be pitching ideas to clients that you haven’t seen first, that is unless, point #2, your agency has thrown up a brick wall. In that case, the network has every right to approach the client and make the pitch.
As someone who has worked the agency, advertiser and media sides I know all too well that the communication objectives don’t always dovetail nicely. The advertiser has the bigger picture and can see value in a media program that the agency will be blind too. If your agency has honestly and assiduously reviewed all media options and proposals, and if you have complete faith in your people and their work you should have no reason to fear a Hispanic medium speaking with the client.
In Chicago, I had one major Hispanic media shop that actually encouraged me to meet with the client and to discuss with them afterward. That is the spirit of collaboration and cooperation for the benefit of the client. Another, far smaller Hispanic shop in Chicago demanded that media have no contact with their clients. I saw that as a paranoid attempt to keep clients in the dark about media options and to honestly mask the less than stellar media planning and strategic thinking on their part; a good reason why they can’t hold on to clients.
So don’t discourage media from meeting with your clients. Make sure your work and evaluation is complete, which I am sure it is, and you will only look stronger in your clients’ eyes.
But be prepared for more of this. I foretell a near future where Spanish media, hungry for revenue, will start do more direct pitches to advertisers and start pitching general market agencies ideas they would normally reserve for Hispanic agencies. It won’t be important where the buy comes from as long as they get it.
April 11th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
This should NEVER happen behind the agency’s back. That is just bad business practice. My guess is that this was one of the smaller networks who need to use guerilla (dirty?) tactics to get at client’s budgets when their media ratings or innovations won’t do.
April 12th, 2010 at 10:24 am
It happens more than you will like to see. Just do a google search and you will see the network working directly with clients, side stepping the agency all together. We should not worry about General Market agencies when the wolf is in the hen house.
May 24th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
I’m posting to this very late , sorry Enrique, but I beleive my perspective needs to be stated.
When a rep goes over your head to the client, It’s frustrating to everyone involved, the agency, client and, believe it or not, the vendor as well. But any media rep worth his salt simply cant be expected to stop at the agency if his requests to present his product or service are ignored. Remember, he/she too has a job to do. Let me guess, you probably never took a meeting, or perhaps you took one but you didn’t offer a constructive conversation to target the media or idea to your client’s goals. In my experience as a rep, going straight to a client is a last resort, although a necessary one if the agency won’t engage. And If it didn’t work so well, so often, it wouldn’t ever happen. But as an agency you can prevent it, preserving your client relationship with a constructive and engaging approach to media vendors. At Hispanidad, we consider it part of what we’re hired to do: be the middleman, hear the pitches, know what is available, work with the media vendors to target the idea most effectively to my clients marketing strategy and plan.
Fer, Lucas and Manual are all right, it shouldn’t have to happen. But rest assured it will if you don’t work with your media reps…