'Client of choice' rating can increase agency commitment up to 28%

Landmark study reveals the value of a good client-agency relationship

Advertisers who are considered "client of choice" status by their agencies stand to gain an increase in the agencies' commitment to their account by up to 28%, according to a recent study. An extensive datamining exercise of several million data inputs conducted by London-based APRAIS and the Advertising and Marketing Communications Roundtable, a division of Corporate Executive Board, shows that the most important factor influencing agency commitment to an account is whether that client is considered to be "Client of Choice" by the agency.

The analyis conducted by the Roundtable was based on anonymised data from more than 1,400 agency-client relationships and several million individual questions answered through the APRAIS client-agency evaluation system.

The study, conducted earlier this year, investigated the different factors that drive agency commitment to the client account, an important measure that impacts how an agency allocates talent to the client, how deeply agency management is involved with the client, their level of initiative, and their willingness to work as a business partner beyond advertising (all things most advertisers say they want from their partners). Among various drivers tested, the two companies found that the most important driver was whether the agency considered the client a "Client of Choice" (defined as enjoyable to work with, providing challenging projects, making sure briefs are agreed internally and approval processes clear). In fact, clients with high client-of-choice ratings can realize increased agency commitment of up to 28%.

Speaking of the findings Tony Geary, Managing Director of APRAIS Ltd. said; "There is the age old cliché that clients get the agencies they deserve, so everyone has always known that they way in which clients behave has a significant impact on their agencies' behaviours. What we have now been able to do is quantify this, and demonstrate that there is real commercial and added value to be gained if the marketing teams are professional, open and fair in their management of the agencies. Smart marketing companies receive discretionary service from their agency, and get access to the best teams and talent without having to scream or spend to get it".

Interestingly, many clients believe that the most important factors driving client-of-choice are beyond their control. Andy Armstrong, Practice Manager for the Advertising and Marketing Communications Roundtable, said "Contrary to conventional wisdom, the client actually has more control over its status as a client-of-choice than it thinks. Many clients believe client-of-choice is solely driven by the client brand or the value of their account, which, for the most part, is out of the MarComm executive's control; however, many clients under-appreciate client-of-choice drivers that are within their control, eg, offering timely feedback and recognition, being open to fresh creative ideas and new media opportunities, and being a smart consumer of agency resources."

Charts (PDF)