Of brand managers and the ad agencies they hire to make the ad!

Whoops... aren't they supposed to work for the same goal?

When an ad is made by hiring an ad agency - the team consists of members from both sides - the brand and the ad agency. The ad agency's proposition to their target group (other brands wanting to make ads) are the ads they make. The brand managers are interested in how their brand would look to their target (the audience) via means of this communication (the ad) and thus, in turn, sell!

When represented as a Venn Diagram, this is how it looks:

  

There are two factors to be considered:

1. How does the ad look to the other current and prospective clients of the agency - decided by appearance of the ad for the brand.

2. How does the brand look to the target of the brand - decided by appearance of brand in the ad.

The first interest is exactly that of the ad agency members in the team - how does the ad look. Other current and prospective clients would decide to hire the agency based on how creative the ad was, did it capture attention of the viewers, recall, awards etc. The second is of the brand managers in the team.

The ad agency and the brand managers get intertwined in a relationship where for their own individual ends, they require the outcome of this union (the ad for the brand) to be a success. To some extent, they require the successful meeting of ends of the other for their own success!

Now here are the possible perceptions on the outcome of the union (the ad for the brand).

1. Good for ad, good for brand.
2. Good for ad, bad for brand.
3. Bad for ad, good for brand.
4. Bad for ad, bad for brand.

NOTE: No perception case is considered the same as bad as not having any perception is the biggest failure... after spending so much, if no perception is made at all... that is a waste!

Here lies the catch... WHOSE PERCEPTIONS HERE??
The perceptions that matter for the ad agencies towards the ads are of the other brands and not of the public, and for brands are those of the audience! So the perceptions towards the ad in the above possibilities are of the other brands and the perceptions towards the brand are of the audience!

Obviously, the brand managers would want the ad for their brand to invoke perceptions that lie in points 1 and/or 3. Similarly, the ad agency would like points 1 and/or 2. And here lies the challenge!

If you are the brand manager - you have to ensure that the team (of the brand managers and ad agency) does not make an ad for the brand which may venture in the case 2... the agency would not be the one trying to avoid that from happening!  Not claiming that they would opt for it intentionally - just saying that it might be something they won't think about, and hence, the onus of ensuring avoidance of this selection lies on the brand manager members of the team!

If you are the ad agency - you have to ensure that the team (of the brand managers and the ad agency) does not make an ad for the brand which may venture in the case 3... the brand managers would not be the ones trying to avoid that from happening!  Not claiming that they would opt for it intentionally - just saying that it might be something they won't think about, and hence, the onus of ensuring avoidance of this selection lies on the ad agency members of the team!


If this sounds a tad theoretically correct but too obvious to be pointed out... wait for my next few posts (which I will post in a couple of days) where I will take up certain examples of ads where this was not kept in mind and what it caused!!

P.S. Assumption - neither is stupid enough to opt for case 4 as it hurts both!!!

P.P.S. Please note here that I have used the instance of an ad agency and brand managers but the learning can be translated to almost any company outsourcing any part of its business to an outsider specializing in that area.