There’s really no way to accurately measure cluelessness in the agency business, but that hasn’t stopped Brad Nierenberg and Charlie Jones from trying.
The agency universe is suffering a rapidly declining population of managers who get it. In fact, on average, we submit that only 15% of all agency people actually get it.
Yes, we know: We sound like snobs. But our hearts are in the right place. Honest. We’re not calling out specific agencies, here, and we’re not trying to rustle up some business. We simply want to increase the get-it population, perhaps build a colony somewhere. Why? Because get-it people get things done. They make great teachers and future leaders. They solve problems. They make people money.
For more of their common sense wisdom, see the Brandweek article in its entirety.
I think this article is really disingenuous, because it fails to point out that a similar percentage of clients get it/don’t get it. Most clients are completely comfortable with the mediocre-to-bad 85%, and would never consider listening to or even hiring agencies in the 15% category. It takes two to tango.