How have client agency relationships changed?
Clients have started demanding more accountability. There is a paradigm shift from the old order where ad agencies used to do things just because it was nice to do them. At present, the emphasis is on anticipating the needs of the clients in advance and counselling them much before the client teams start thinking on the issue. The key is to be one step ahead of the client. Clients are under pressure due to cut-throat competition and the pressures of short term gains (sales, results). Clients, therefore, expect partners to be more proactive and act like true partners rather than merely brand custodians. Ad agencies are no longer delivery channels for media or creative services. Clients have appreciated those client servicing teams that have kept in touch with the consumer – whether it is conducting regular visits to the market or getting new consumer insights or leveraging insights from one field and applying it to another one. More and more clients have seen value in the specially crea
