Stephan Argent – Listenmore

Let’s face it, whether you’re wrangling marketing campaigns or herding creative cats at an agency, the siren song of an agency review probably ranks somewhere between ‘filing your taxes’ and ‘attending a mandatory trust fall exercise’ on your list of thrilling activities.

So, let’s ask the question: Could the drama… gasp… be emanating from your side of the digital divide?

Indeed, while agency reviews often gallop onto the scene because the relationship has been left to its own devices – un-reviewed, un-discussed, un-maintained, and generally feeling a bit neglected – they also pop up because both parties have skipped a few fundamental self-reflection sessions. You know, those moments where you bravely ask yourself, ‘Are we actually nailing this?’ and then, with bated breath, solicit some honest-to-goodness feedback.

Therefore, the million-dollar question, the one that could save you from the review rodeo, is this: How do you artfully convince yourself, and more importantly, your entire organizational ecosystem, to take a long, hard, and perhaps slightly humorous look in the mirror and honestly assess if you’re truly bringing your A-game?

Here are a few ideas…

Start by listening

First thing to do is listen. Yes, listen.

Start by listening to what your team has to say about what’s working and what’s not, and how they think the agency / client relationship is or isn’t working. For best results ask individuals -not groups – because if there are personality clashes, you’re more likely to uncover problems individually rather than in larger groups. In all cases, ask for their suggestions on what should be done to improve. Above all, listen and don’t challenge.

Take a proper temperature check

Second thing is to do your own temperature check by talking to your client / agency directly and asking for their honest view of how the relationship is / isn’t working. Ask for specific examples wherever possible and solicit suggestions for how your team might improve.

But what if your team has said it’s ‘them‘ and not ‘us‘?

If your team is pointing to the client / agency as the problem, ask for the client / agency perspective on your team’s feedback. While some might suggest that’s a risky move, I’d suggest there’s no better opportunity to open the door to a constructive conversation by saying ‘hey, I’m hearing from my team that x may be an issue in our relationship… do you have any thoughts on that…?‘ The goal here is not to solve the problem on the spot, but open a dialogue that will lead to a collaborative solution.

Do a proper relationship evaluation

For a more formal look in the mirror, regular third-party evaluations can save both sides time, effort and a lot of angst. Most important, a good third-party evaluation will help answer that gnawing question – is it them or is it us? Or perhaps both. An evaluation conducted once or twice a year will help proactively address issues before they become relationship killers, and keep the dialogue focused on creating a valuable relationship for both sides.

Dust off your contract

Sometimes it may not be them or you. It may be your contract. If your agency contract hasn’t been looked in the last two years, re-articulating needs, requirements, expectations, remuneration structure – even staffing requirements – can help improve the health of your relationship.

In some cases issues come up for discussion during the contract review that the other party wasn’t aware of. Dealing with them in contract form can give both parties the opportunity to articulate and negotiate potential solutions – way more expedient than triggering an agency review.

Take a look at the money

The number one issue we hear that’s creating an issue is money. If costs are creating pressure in your own client / agency relationship, a cost benchmarking exercise can help diffuse tensions by bringing clarity to your agency cost structures. A good benchmarking exercise proactively takes the mystery out of costs and enables both marketer and agency to have a meaningful dialogue around cost expectations – without fracturing the rest of the relationship.

The key to preventing an agency review – whether you’re a marketer or an agency – is always to ensure dialogue around issues (even potential issues), is grounded in factual data rather than emotional supposition.

What tools do you use to manage your agency / client relationships? Or do you need help to find out if you’re the problem instead of them?

If you’ve ever bought a house, chances are that before you made the commitment to purchase, you envisioned actually living there. In doing so, you could see the potential the house had to meet your lifestyle for the next five or ten years – perhaps longer.

It’s unlikely you interviewed previous owners on their experience with the house, because their requirements and lifestyle were likely irrelevant to your purchasing decision.

You likely narrowed your criteria by making sure the house was the right size and in the right location and had various attributes that differentiated it from others. But once those criteria were met, you envisioned the potential the house had for your own needs.

So when searching for a new agency, it’s strange that most marketers (and corresponding search processes) tend to focus on agencies’ past performance, rather than their future vision.

In other words, are previous strategies or creative ideas for other businesses (likely unrelated to yours), really the best measure of an agency’s future performance on your business?

You’ve likely selected the agencies you’re looking at based on their size, capabilities location and lack of conflicting business. But instead of looking deep into the past to see if the agency is right for you, why not look into their future as a better measure of their ability grow your business in the future?

Here are ten future focused questions worth considering:

What’s the agency’s future vision for your business?

Even if the agency doesn’t have all the pieces to be able to answer this in entirety, it’ll help understand both how the agency thinks and get a sense of how they view your business in the future and how they can meet those needs.

What’s the agency’s view of their business?

The view of their business is an equally important measure of the future. By understanding where they see the advertising, digital and / or media businesses are heading, you can start to build up an understanding of they’ll be thinking about adding real value to your business

Who and how are they hiring?

Understanding what positions the agency is planning to hire for also provides a good window into which areas the agency is planning to grow. Digging deeper and looking at what qualities they really value, will also help define the kind of agency it will be – versus the kind of agency it’s been in the past.

How does the agency experiment?

Responsible experimentation is an important ingredient in any company’s ability to grow. Hands-on learning, experimenting with solutions, approaches or technologies, are good measures of their ability to evolve as the business continues to evolve.

What’s the staffing model?

Flexible staffing models are a leading indicator of a baked-in readiness for inevitable change. Flexible staffing models also signal an ability to adapt to market conditions and your requirements as they evolve.

What’s the agency working on?

Instead of asking what the agency has worked on in the past – try asking what they’re working on now. This isn’t about asking for trade secrets – it’s about asking other client’s real-time enthusiasm or confidence in the agency’s ability to solve problems for tomorrow and how the agency is planning to evolve for the future.

How will they solve your problems?

Again, this isn’t looking at past problems for other clients, it’s about you and your business. Defining how they propose to solve your problems will give you an idea of how they’ll go about tackling and solving future issues.

Who are the real agency thought leaders?

Aside from case studies and news releases, an agency’s social footprint is a good measure of where the real thought leadership is coming from. Look at blog or Twitter feeds and ask where current thought leadership is coming from and how that fits with the future of the agency and your business.

Who’s at the table?

Who’s doing the talking or, if it’s a written credentials assessment, what’s the focus? Is the big picture traditional media or is it an evolving multi-channel, multi-screen experience? These answers will give you a view of what the agency views as most important and how they propose to focus on your business.

What’s the vibe?

Perhaps the most important evaluation metric is your take on the agency’s chemistry or vibe. How are groups set up and positioned for idea exchange and collaboration? These are the teams a that’ll work on your business if you choose them.

So, what’s a better approach in searching for a new agency? Looking in the rear view mirror at what an agency has done in the past? Or taking a peek into the future to unlock future problems and deliver future results?

The news that Hudson’s Bay, a retail institution with roots stretching back over 350 years, is facing closure is undeniably sad. For many Canadians, including myself, the Bay has been a fixture of our shopping experiences for decades.

I fondly recall the quirky “Great names at the Bay” commercials featuring CEO Bob Peter – one with Cher – a truly unique moment in Canadian advertising back in the ’90s.

And who could forget the excitement of the “Scratch ‘n Save” weekends, where discounts were a game of roulette at checkout?

Most of my kitchen once came from the Bay – fridge, dishwasher, kettle, toaster and all sorts. I can still remember the friendly salesman – Murray – who helped me snag the best deal and sometimes encouraged me (ever so quietly) to wait a week so for a better price.

The potential closure has far-reaching consequences with nearly 10,000 jobs at stake and the Bay’s up-market cousins, Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off 5th also in the liquidation boat.

And for long-time Hudson’s Bay shoppers whose reward program is now paused? Well, that’s just the cherry on top of this retail sundae of sadness.

So what went wrong?

Looking back, it’s perhaps easy to pinpoint some of the challenges the Bay faced.

Covid had a devastating impact and retail traffic – particularly in malls – has been struggling ever since.

In my view, the Bay’s online presence was lagging behind the times: Browsing was less window shopping and more what I can only describe as ‘labyrinth navigation’. Search filters were either limited or required a PhD in Advanced Boolean Logic of Retail Frustration. And if you actually did manage to buy something, fulfillment moved at the speed of a sloth.

Moving in-store – or at least outside – I vividly remember the Bay’s doors at Yonge and Bloor in Toronto were always a challenge: Half a dozen glass doors – some would open, some wouldn’t. And the odd one that did was extraordinarily heavy to move.

The pins that littered fitting room floors. The confusing mishmash of music that created a chaotic shopping atmosphere. Or perhaps it was the escalators staging a permanent sit-down protest – turning a simple shopping trip into an unexpected workout? And let’s not forget those rebel store hours that played hide-and-seek with mall hours.

Is this farewell…?

I took a nostalgic walk through the Bay’s Queen Street location last week which was equally challenging: More locked doors, coupled with extensive street construction that make this last remaining bastion of retail familiarity a fragile choice for survival. Familiar out of service escalators, empty shelves and very few staff only reinforced the feeling that this once vibrant retail landmark is also on borrowed time.

It’s like that friend who keeps saying “I’m fine!” while their life is clearly on fire in the dumpster. Except this time, the dumpster fire is a national retail institution. And sadly, the Hudson’s Bay’s 17th-century fur trade origins don’t seem to be able to protect it from 21st-century retail realities.

So, perhaps this is farewell, Hudson’s Bay. While the future remains uncertain, the memories of browsing through slightly dusty shelves and the thrill of finding a hidden gem with my Scratch ‘n Save card will linger. And we’ll always remember the Bay, even if we had to climb a few flights of stairs to find a deal.

Let’s face it, this constant back-and-forth with tariffs between Canada and the US is starting to feel a bit like a bad reality show. One day, it’s lumber and steel. Then it’s oil. It’s a dizzying dance of economic jabs and counter-punches which is all a bit pointless.

Remember the great toilet paper panic of 2020…? Everyone was scrambling, stockpiling, and creating a temporary shortage. The shelves were bare, anxiety was high, and for what? Nobody knew where to put all that toilet paper (while it was neatly rolled-up that is), eventually the supply chain caught up and things returned to normal.

Well that’s exactly what these tit-for-tat tariffs feel like. A frantic, short-sighted scramble that ultimately solves nothing. Politics aside, we’re exhausting ourselves with worry and ‘what-if’ scenarios, creating unnecessary friction, and for what? A fleeting sense of ‘winning’?

And while we’re on the subject of seemingly pointless nationalistic displays, can we talk about the booing during national anthems at sporting events? It’s a baffling performative act of dissent that feels more like mindless sheep-like behavior than a genuine expression of political opinion. It’s like booing your best friend because it’s raining.

We’re all focusing on the wrong things. Getting caught up in the noise, the drama, the manufactured political conflict, and losing sight of what truly matters.

Which brings me to advertising.

Are marketers and their agencies now becoming overly concerned with the nationality of their brand partners? – ‘Are they American-owned?’ ‘Are they Canadian-based?’ This focus on geographic affiliation is, in many ways, just as distracting as the tariff debates and anthem booing.

Here’s the truth: The best advertising isn’t born from a flag on a building. It’s born from the talent, creativity, and dedication of the people within. It’s about the ideas that spark, the strategies that resonate, and the results that drive the business.

Instead of fretting about corporate headquarters, marketers should focus on their products and services. And agencies should focus on the work and the impact it creates.

Because until the political circus hires a new set of clowns, we’re stuck with it. But that doesn’t mean we have to start booing our best friends or wringing our hands and working all night because your favourite chocolate bar may or may not have started its life somewhere else.

Let’s leave the tariff tantrums and anthem antics to the politicians. And let’s redirect our energy towards what truly matters: building strong relationships, fostering creative excellence, and driving meaningful results.

In the advertising world, and in the broader context of the US-Canada relationship, that’s where the real victory lies.

Photo by Freepik.

Surprising as it may seem, clients can sometimes get as tongue-tied asking questions in a pitch as agencies can when answering. Nerves, large groups of people, discussions or presentations that run over time can all contribute to important questions being left unasked.

And worst of all, is that stoney, deafening silence when someone asks: ‘any questions…?‘

We’re often asked by clients to talk through some ‘big-picture’ questions before heading into a pitch and here are a few that may provoke some revealing answers about who you’re meeting with, their philosophy towards client relationships and yes, whether they’re right for you:

Thought leadership

Who here on the call actively participates social media for business purposes?

Ask for an online show of hands as to who’s generating content for blogs, Instagram, or tweeting about what’s going on in the industry.