Comments on: Five questions every CMO should ask a prospective ad agency

By: John Moore

John Moore — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:17:43 +0000

Edward — great piece as always. Love question #1 What is the future of advertising? This should be a must interview question also. I want someone to talk to me about companies like Amazon, Google, Apple and Microsoft and how they are reinventing communication.I want to hear them talk about the transformation of commerce. It is amazing and disappointing as very few senior people can really articulate this and means that they are not curious enough.

By: Chrisile from Ad Agency

Chrisile from Ad Agency — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:39:50 +0000

With primary or shared responsibility for areas such as sales management, product development, distribution channel management, public relations, marketing communications (including advertising and promotions), pricing, market research, and customer service, CMOs are faced with a diverse range of specialized disciplines in which they are required to be knowledgeable.

By: Mark Boles

Mark Boles — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:58:44 +0000

The agency diversity issue is far more complicated than most people realize because it not only has to do with unintentional yet inherent issues with race but even greater is the issue of economics. I wrote a blog about the issue here.

http://loafofbreadcontainerofmilk.blogspot.com/2009/10/fundamental-reason-why-ad-agencies-lack.html

By: edward boches

edward boches — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:40:58 +0000

Al:
You are absolutely correct in that diversity should be added to the list. And unfortunately you are correct that it is an industry wide issue that some of us are trying to change, though clearly not with enough success yet. In fact, next Monday I make a keynote address in Minneapolis and realized that almost all the examples and people in my presentation (references to industry leaders or creators) are virtually all white men. I am white. My family is not. I am aware (to the degree possible for a white person, limited I admit) of the underlying prejudice that exists everywhere along with the lip service to do something about it that is rarely backed up with action. Thanks for this comment, whether it’s really you or not; it has been a vivid reminder of our obligation and responsiblity.

By: Al sharpton

Al sharpton — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:27:03 +0000

You left off diversity. But who cares most advertising agencies aren’t diverse.

By: neil christie

neil christie — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:55:31 +0000

Mario – good suggestion. I’ve had a go here:
http://bit.ly/98ZhAf

By: Mike Scheiner

Mike Scheiner — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:02:55 +0000

Thanks for your Reply Edward. It’s definitely a challenge for agencies and unless they’re prepared to restructure and reprogram their staff, they will have great difficulty addressing.

By: Mario Faria

Mario Faria — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:58:14 +0000

Great questions !

It gave an idea to write an article on 5 questions an agency should ask a CMO, to test if the agency should engage in an RFP or just give that customer up.

Mario

By: Subbu

Subbu — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 04:31:35 +0000

Great to hear that you do ask such questions. The intention of these questions (to the client) is not to put them in a spot but to create a conversation around the fundamental issues of the agency-client relationship. This way there is no (over)expectations leading to disillusionment. Looking forward to your post on this matter.
Subbu´s last blog ..The Tao of Fail

By: edward boches

edward boches — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 23:50:01 +0000

A question that any client should ask. So far I’ve had one who did. And actually went so far as to declare that no agency had it figured out. I think I got him to believe that we had it 50 percent figured out. One of the things we’ve worked on is redefining the creative team so it includes social, tech, UX, and connection planning in order that people actually avoid defaulting to the expected ad solution and instead think in terms of a platform, program, community or experience that makes more sense. Hard but doable.