Kum-bah-yah! We are all in this together!

There is no denying that the ad industry is in a state of transition. We talk about reinventing the way we reach out to and engage and persuade consumers. Experts in the industry write about the need to have agency and client teams collaborate in an environment of mutual respect. But what does that really mean in terms of day to day, down in the trenches struggle to complete projects on time and within diminishing marketing budgets?
True, the landscape is changing but a mountain is still a mountain and one must climb over it to reach to the other side. The tools are changing, there is more traffic on the road, the map is being updated as we travel the road, the weather changes too fast and too drastically, the tires on the car are not made for this new terrain and we all want to get to the other side in one piece and prosper. Marketing and Agency teams are entrusted with the role of looking at the road ahead.
We all talk about the paradigm shift in our thinking in terms of brand equity and its direct implication on the business results. This direct relationship also brings agency-client relationships into a more intense focus. Marketing professionals and their agency counterparts, we are all on the same team and we have to act more like a team than ever before. Our team mates on the client side need their agency to demonstrate marketing thinking in everything we do. Marketing thinking requires that first of we are all aware of challenges facing each side of the table. This awareness directly results in mutual respect. The bottom line is that the working relationship is so much more productive, insightful, compelling and efficient when client and agency teams are on the same page in terms of priorities, challenges and objectives. Agency professionals yearn to create value for their clients. Clients are under intense pressure to generate results with diminishing marketing budgets and less time. Agencies truly get that. We also get that marketers are looking for agencies that demonstrate progressive marketing thinking not just execution.
Advertising is still a fun industry to work and challenges and pressures are part of the reason why we enter into it. We are not afraid of challenges; in fact it fires up our engines. Creativity and consumer insight is still the greatest value we can bring into the table. Consumers love, hate, talk about, act on and engage with advertising messages just like before. True, the landscape is changing but we are pioneers. Advertising professionals and our client counter parts make up an excellent team. OK, let’s sing.....Kum-bah-yah my Lord Kum-bah-yah!