DM agencies losing clients because of lack of new ideas

by Sarah Woods, Brand Republic 20-Nov-06, 07:00

LONDON - Marketers most often review their below-the-line agency because they want new ideas, the desire for which appears to come before existing agency relationships, according to a survey.

The survey conducted by Reardon Smith Whittaker looked at the views of 154 senior marketers across the broad spectrum of business, all with marketing budgets in excess of £1m.

As well as the 62% of clients who "wanted lots of new ideas" from their direct marketing agency, 43% said it was because they were "not happy with strategy" or felt there was a "lack of proactivity".

Clients were also asked to list the factors that influenced their choice of new agency. The factor mentioned by two thirds of respondents was "timely approach by another agency".

In addition, 40% of agency relationships were found to last less than 18 months - a shorter period than that of agencies in other marketing communications sectors.

Adam Whittaker, CEO at RSW, said: "This year's annual survey shows agencies cannot afford to be in any way complacent when it comes to their existing relationships. With length of tenure shortening, perhaps too much belief is placed in the strength of the relationship, and too little belief in the ability of another to steal the business away."

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the Forum.