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Marketing Agency Exposed Podcast

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  2. Ep 101: The Customer is Always Right... Introducing Agency Myth Busting

Ep 101: The Customer is Always Right... Introducing Agency Myth Busting

Mar 10, 2022

Subtitle:

Welcome to the 100th Episode of Agency Exposed! The agency world is riddled with myths and assumptions, and today we’re going to begin a series of episodes where we test some of the most widely believed myths about marketing, advertising, and agencies in general. We debunk some of the top agency myths and more on this week’s exciting episode. 

 

Summary:

On today’s episode, we begin to explore some of the myths people believe to be true about agencies. We’ve gone out to our listeners as well as the Google machine to find some of the most common beliefs and assumptions about marketing agencies. We break down many myths in today’s episode. Thank you to our listeners for your support, we can’t believe this is our 100th episode! 

 

Top 3 Curtain Pulls in this episode: 

  • The best creative doesn’t always win. Though you may have poured your heart into a creative project for a client, they may hate it or it simply may not work in the real world. This is why it’s important to remove any emotional attachment to your work before shipping it off. And that isn’t easy. It’s also important to have data that backs up your decisions, creating valid reasons for your client to accept or pick your project. “I always thought that great creative would always win. Meaning if you were doing a campaign for a client, the best creative was always going to win.”
  • Agency life shouldn’t be chaotic and toxic. When you think about agencies or agency life, do you immediately think, late hours and toxic co-workers? While that may be the case in some older agencies, healthy agencies have a positive environment and want their employees to avoid burnout and stay healthy. It’s all about great leadership and leading the client vs the client leading you. “that agency life is chaotic, and you work long hours, and everybody's cutthroat.” 
  • Agencies can’t solve every problem. It’s important to remember that agencies aren’t a magic fix for every problem. Nothing is ever fully guaranteed. You can hire the best agency in the world, but if your product doesn’t work, there’s no need in the marketplace, or your business model is off it just won’t work. You don’t hire an employee based on a guarantee of how they’ll help you, you’re hiring them based on their character and experience. It’s the same situation when you hire an agency. “There's a perception that an agency is going to come in and they're going to solve my problem and they have the ability to do that. No matter what.”



For more tips, discussion, and behind the scenes:

 

About The Guys: 

Bob Hutchins: Founder of BuzzPlant, a digital agency that he ran from from 2000 -2017. He is also the author of 3 books. More on Bob: 

Brad Ayres: Founder of Anthem Republic, an award-winning ad agency. Brad’s knowledge has led some of the biggest brands in the world. Originally from Detroit, Brad is an OG in the ad agency world and has the wisdom and scars to prove it. Currently that knowledge is being applied to his boutique agency. More on Brad:

Ken Ott: Co-Founder and Chief Growth Rebel of Metacake, an Ecommerce Growth Team for some of the world’s most influential brands with a mission to Grow Brands That Matter. Ken is also an author, speaker, and was nominated for an Emmy for his acting on the Metacake Youtube Channel (not really). More on Ken: 

 

Show Notes:

[0:32] Bob opens up the 100th episode of Agency Exposed, with a brief chat about Tim Horton and ice hockey.

[2:47] Ken begins today’s discussion about mythbusting by brainstorming some myths about agencies and agency life. 

[4:15] Brad talks about his myth and explains why it’s a myth. “I always thought that great creative would always win. Meaning if you were doing a campaign for a client, the best creative was always going to win.”

[8:57] Ken discusses the importance of being able to detach yourself emotionally from your work and allowing things to roll off of you.

[12:55] Ken googles some common agency myths and breaks down two, “do marketing agencies pay well, and do marketing agencies make money?”

[14:12] Ken talks about the average profitability of agencies and why having a heavy human capital can be an issue. “How do marketing agencies make money?”

[16:18] Ken discusses some of the potential negative aspects of working for an agency and compares them to his ideal agency situation. “We want a consistent team that builds over time. We want a balanced team that is not overworked.”

[18:39] Bob talks about how working for an agency provides numerous opportunities for growth and education as well as other benefits. “I would argue there's no better place to get that type of business life experience.”

[20:37] Bob discusses his myth, “that agency life is chaotic, and you work long hours, and everybody's cutthroat.” 

[27:15] Ken breaks down another myth and talks about the importance of balance. 

[28:07] Brad talks about one of his key philosophies and applies it to Ken’s myth. “I'm here to win the war, not the battle. I'm there to be an asset, not somebody that's going to care more about the end result than my client as a person.”

[34:47] Ken discusses another myth and explains why he believes it is a myth. “The idea of control, I think, is a myth because there's a perception that an agency is going to come in and they're going to solve my problem and they have the ability to do that. No matter what.”

[41:32] Bob concludes the 100th episode of Agency Exposed by talking about the importance of aligning the client’s definition of success with yours and how that comes into play with Ken’s myth.