Do you sometimes find yourself sitting in the office in the evening, staring at endless email threads with your agency, thinking: This is not what I envisioned? Let’s be honest – working with agencies can push marketing managers to the brink of frustration. And yet, we know: we need them, and they need us. It’s a complex relationship.
In the course of founding “Is it a match?”, I spoke with many agency decision-makers within companies. Without claiming to be representative, a clear pattern emerged – unsurprisingly. 70% of companies that work with agencies expected more from their collaboration after the pitch process. They are dissatisfied.
From Dream Wedding to Couple’s Therapy
Fortunately, it’s rarely that dramatic. I should also point out that some conflicts can actually drive outstanding performance. However, in day-to-day operations, productivity losses often occur. These are not insignificant, as the collaboration with the agency is widely known to have a significant impact on value creation in day-to-day business.
From our qualitative survey, we identified 80 relevant conflict situations. Below, I’ve compiled an anecdotal selection of these.
#1 The Budget Dilemma
It’s a situation we all know: the agency presents a brilliant idea. Truly brilliant. But then comes the cost estimate, and suddenly, the creative high-flying turns into a financial grounding. We expect top-tier performance at a mid-range price, while the agency dreams of premium budgets. A classic dilemma.
#2 The Time Question
And then there’s the issue of time. I’ll admit it: we’ve all asked for “just a small change” on a Friday afternoon. We know it’s wrong. We do it anyway. The agency sighs internally (sometimes audibly), and we pretend not to notice.
#3 When Excel Becomes a Test of Courage
You know the moment: Wednesday evening, 6:30 PM, and suddenly the board needs “just a rough” performance report for Monday’s meeting. So you call the agency, hoping for a quick assessment. But instead of a pragmatic directional guess, the agency requests a full week for analysis. You think: “I just need a ballpark figure – plus, minus, somewhere in between.” But the agency won’t budge, caught between analytical perfectionism and fear of making a wrong statement. A classic lose-lose scenario: the board gets no numbers, the agency gets no analysis time, and you’re stuck with an Excel sheet full of question marks.
#4 The Feedback Carousel
Sometimes we go in circles. “Make the logo bigger, no smaller, no… how was it at the beginning?” We all know this spiral. The agency secretly tallies revisions, while we search for perfection that we can’t even define ourselves.
#5 The Communication Gap
Communication is complicated. Sometimes we talk past each other, even when we think we’re being crystal clear. We say “innovative,” and the agency delivers something that looks like a Jules Verne sci-fi novel. No harm intended – on either side. It’s just… complicated.
#6 The Expectation Tightrope
We often expect the impossible from our agencies: they should understand our business better than we do, while remaining fresh and unbiased, delivering quickly but working deeply. It’s like asking someone to run a marathon while playing chess.
#7 The Goal Conflict
While we’re driven by quarterly numbers, the agency speaks of brand building and long-term value. Both are important, both are valid. And yet, it often feels like a conversation between a sprinter and a marathon runner debating the ideal race distance.
What Can We Do?
The good news: there are ways out of this dilemma. Modern analytics tools can already identify potential conflict areas before the collaboration even begins. It’s like couples therapy before the relationship starts.
We must understand: successful collaboration with agencies isn’t a matter of luck. It’s about choosing the right partner and fostering mutual understanding.
And yes, sometimes we will fail. Sometimes projects won’t go as planned. But if we choose the right and suitable (!) partners from the beginning, if we’re honest – with ourselves and our agencies – then we can achieve great things together.
It’s not an easy task. But hey, that’s why we’re in marketing. Because we love challenges and because we believe there’s always a better way.
With that in mind: let’s be brave. Let’s be honest. And let’s find the right partners.
