October 12, 2024

Eurocean 2004

Life is an adventure

The Update: Importance of Marketing Partners

0:01

MARLA: What agencies have been able to do

0:05

is leverage thinking across a number of different clients

0:08

and the great thing about agencies I would say this is like

0:09

they just figure it out.

0:11

So whether it was production

0:14

or any sort of solution that needed to be done,

0:16

they just came together.

0:20

TARA: In this episode of The Update

0:22

I speak with Marla Kaplowitz

0:24

about why marketing partners

0:26

are more important than ever

0:28

and what agencies are doing to deliver

0:30

even more value to their clients.

0:34

I’m curious; you’ve talked before about the pandemic basically being a hyper catalyst

0:38

for helping agencies to focus on what they do best

0:41

which is really solving clients’ business problems.

0:43

So curious what you’re seeing there…

0:43

how that’s coming to life?

0:46

MARLA: So I see it coming to life in a few ways.

0:50

The first is it’s really improved the client agency relationship.

0:52

You don’t have to focus on the minutiae.

0:55

You’re focusing on the most important problems

0:58

of the day and what are the strategic business challenges

1:01

in ways that agencies can be provocative

1:05

and really help marketers embrace the risk-taking

1:08

to really kind of get through these crises.

1:10

The next area is new business.

1:14

People had to suddenly do virtual pitching but it’s also streamlined the number of meetings.

1:18

There’ve been far too much dragging out of new business pitches

1:22

and let’s focus on what’s most important in understanding

1:23

the dynamic of the partnership

1:26

that could come to life as well as the work that can be delivered.

1:29

And then the last is in the area of work

1:31

in terms of working remotely

1:34

streamlining the way that it gets done.

1:37

We now also have the access to greater talent

1:40

so you don’t have to focus on geography and that opens up

1:44

the possibilities with diversity, equity and inclusion

1:46

not just in terms of your work environment,

1:47

but also your work product.

1:52

TARA: One of the biggest challenges is as you mentioned the incredible volatility

1:56

in advertiser and agency situation, which is a little bit unlike

1:59

some of the past when people rose and fell together.

2:01

What are you hearing from agencies?

2:02

What’s the spectrum?

2:04

What do they want your help with?

2:06

MARLA: Yeah. I mean they have wanted our help.

2:08

So if you go back to the beginning with COVID,

2:10

they immediately wanted our help with

2:13

What is the kind of message that we should be putting out?

2:16

So we did some research early on

2:18

almost every week we were doing research

2:19

to kind of gauge consumers

2:22

and where the sentiment was around

2:25

as they were working with marketers.

2:27

We also had agencies trying to figure out

2:29

what is this remote working look like?

2:31

What kind of policies need to be put in place?

2:35

So we were helping them understand not only what the 4A’s was doing,

2:37

but also connecting our community

2:40

and making sure that we had people sharing.

2:45

This has been a moment where people have focused on collaboration over competition.

2:47

No one is trying to go it alone.

2:49

Everyone is trying to support one another.

2:53

I think that’s so critical especially when we talk about DE&I.

2:56

TARA: One of the things that we hear people talking about

3:00

is the doubling down on marketing as a profit driver

3:01

versus a cost center

3:05

and the need to ensure greater confidence

3:08

in the economic return on their spend.

3:10

What are you seeing in this regard?

3:12

Are you seeing any adjustment

3:16

in terms of how people plan and buy during this crisis

3:18

in order to address that issue?

3:21

MARLA: So I’ve never looked at marketing as a cost.

3:22

I’ve always looked at it as an investment.

3:25

I think the challenge has been for

3:28

companies and typically people who are not in the marketing

3:30

function viewing it that way.

3:34

So there’s always been this need to demonstrate results.

3:40

The problem over I would say the last call it 10 years and especially the last

3:42

several years is that the focus

3:45

continues to get shorter and shorter

3:47

and no one is focused on the long-term.

3:51

So if you’re a public company, you’ve got quarterly results you have to deliver on.

3:54

If you are a retail business you are looking at daily receipts.

3:57

So this hyper focus on the short term

4:00

has taken away what marketing really does

4:02

and that is about building over time.

4:06

I do see that this crisis, these crises,

4:09

have allowed the C-Suite into

4:12

most companies to focus in on the CMO and the role of the CMO

4:15

because marketing is front and center right now

4:17

and I do hope that that shifts the perception

4:20

for the non-marketing functions in organizations.

4:23

TARA: What do you think are the biggest areas

4:27

that agencies need to prioritize accelerating in

4:29

to really support their clients

4:32

and make the most of this particular moment?

4:34

MARLA: There’s new habits that have been created.

4:37

There’s new skills that are needed and so we need to lean in

4:41

the advantage there is

4:43

how do they make sure that they’re helping the client

4:45

lead the thinking? How can they work with them

4:47

to partner with them on their goals

4:50

to get there but to make that happen quickly.

4:55

So the work has many or have been behind

4:57

so they need that external perspective

4:59

and there are many studies that have been done that

5:02

it will take you much longer

5:04

than if you bring in external partners

5:05

and that is the advantage

5:08

and agencies do have proven ways of delivering that work

5:12

and will continue to support marketers in that journey

5:15

and the digitization of that customer experience.

5:17

So the companies that had been prepared

5:20

and had been doing the digital transformation work

5:22

and really making sure that they had digitized

5:23

their entire customer journey,

5:29

There are many that are catching up right now.

5:32

And that’s also an area where agencies can help support that.

5:34

New business really pivoted

5:38

and you could see how that’s been streamlined

5:39

and I hope that that’s here to stay.

5:45

TARA: DEI has been a priority for Google for quite some time

5:48

and the good news is I think we are making progress

5:50

but the challenge is that it hasn’t been anywhere near the pace

5:54

and so this is a moment of great acceleration.

5:57

So you’ve highlighted the call to the industry

6:00

to use this moment to improve diversity and inclusion

6:04

and specifically I think racial injustice and we share your passion for that.

6:06

Is this an opportunity?

6:10

What is the 4A’s doing to move this forward?

6:12

MARLA: I think it’s been a challenge for a while

6:14

and now it’s a real opportunity

6:20

and that has to be focused on accountability.

6:24

So the 4A’s has always been supporting members

6:27

in trying to drive those whether it’s the work of our foundation

6:30

and MAIP, our Multicultural Advertising Intern Program,

6:32

that’s been around for 47 years.

6:34

The 4As announced a partnership

6:39

with 600 and Rising which are 600 over 600 Black professionals

6:45

within agencies that have asked for what we view as 12 very basic actions

6:49

that focus on accountability and transparency.

6:52

And we’ve always tried to support our members

6:53

in making sure that they can

6:58

provide guidance and move forward when it comes to diversity,

6:59

equity and inclusion.

7:03

it is more important than ever that we get this right.

7:07

TARA: Well, I feel inspired by the insights

7:09

and motivation that you’re sharing

7:11

and hopefully our audience does too.

7:14

Do you have any final thoughts for the group?

7:17

MARLA: Yeah. I think we’ve talked so much about we’re in this

7:19

significant moment of change.

7:21

2020 will be remembered

7:23

for a lot of things and we’re only halfway through.

7:28

I just would really urge everyone to use this moment

7:30

as who you are as an individual

7:33

as a leader on how you can support the change

7:36

that you want to see not only in your community

7:37

but in your organization.

7:42

tremendous time of transformation and that can be really exciting

7:44

as long as you view it in a positive way.