The Thing About Big Agencies
The recent $15.5 million settlement between Leo Burnett and the U.S. Army in a case involving alleged overbilling for the “Army of One” campaign seems like another indictment of big advertising agencies. Having worked in both big and small agency environments—with more time on the small agency side, I might add—I feel compelled to offer my perspective. I should start by saying that my comments have nothing to do with business ethics, because I believe that good ethics has no relation to agency size, other than the fact that big agencies have big accounts and therefore their misconduct is of a different proportion.
For clients who are thinking about hiring a big agency (bigness being measured by the number of high-visibility, big-budget clients, the number of employees and offices, etc.), the first thing to consider is your rationale for hiring the agency. If your business demands the broad capabilities, industry stature and resources that a big agency can offer, that is a good reason to consider hiring one. If you have a good feeling about the team within the big agency that you are reviewing, that’s even better. If you believe that your business is big enough to put you at least within the mid-range of the agency’s current clients, that’s another sign that you may have a match. In other words, if your search criteria point you toward a big agency and you’ve found one that meets those criteria, then you can proceed, with all of the caution you might use in engaging any business consultant or partner.
All too often, clients hire big agencies for less than sound business reasons. Thinking that the aura of a big name agency will somehow elevate one’s status among colleagues is one. Hoping that the big name in itself will bring bigness to the brand is another. Believing that an agency is suitable for one business just because it is the agency of some of the leading brands in the industry is another mistake. In my experience, these are the most common reasons that mismatches are made, often at the initiation of the client. Another mistake is overestimating what the business needs and, simultaneously, not looking at the reality of the budget and likely promotional activity levels. I am talking about the small client who scoffs at the bandwidth of a smaller agency that might be a more appropriate fit.
Above all, agency selection is a business decision. The choice is about what is best for the business. Egos and self-aggrandizement should not have a part in this process.