– The text discusses the issue of agencies and clients blaming each other when things go wrong, resulting in dissatisfaction and lack of results.
– It highlights the common scenario where both the brand and the agency have unclear expectations and lack clear communication.
– The author proposes a solution called Jon as a Service (JaaS), where they offer their expertise to help bridge the gap between agencies and brands and create win-win scenarios.Sign up for Jon as a Service (JaaS) to receive guidance and support in navigating the relationship between agencies and brands, and to bridge the gap in expectations and reality.”Jon, can you tell me if my agency is screwing me over? I get this question a lot. It’s a touchy subject, as sometimes agencies get super defensive around this topic. Then there’s the blame game. The agency blames the client, and the client blames the agency. They part ways, the agency gets paid, and the client doesn’t get results. The client feels like they were screwed.
Now, in reality, in most situations, the brand didn’t have clear expectations of what they wanted the agency to do, and the agency didn’t communicate clearly what they were capable of actually doing. This is the most common scenario.
There is another huge wrinkle to this: brands tend to hire agencies to fill educational gaps they have, which means they can’t actually properly vet an agency until things start to go south. At that point, the agency is over it because they are “trying to figure out” how to position whatever it is they are doing for the brand in the limited capacity they have on reduced margins as accounts get more complex and they have to dig in deeper. But their contract is 3 months, so either they pull resources off it and refund it or put minimal resources on it and collect the rest of the contract. It’s a shit show.
But in all honesty, it’s both sides messing this guy up pretty good because the brand refuses to seek help and pay a consultant to educate them on strategy, and an agency refuses to seek a consultant to help them better understand how to deliver business results through a real strategy. This is where I come in.
I’ve had to retrain and reteach agencies about the basics of advertising, and I can spot a bad practice a mile away. I’ve also had to work with brands to level set their expectations on what to prioritize and how. It’s bad out there for a lot of people, agencies, and brands. But it doesn’t have to be, and it shouldn’t be.
Last week, I teased out the idea of Jon as a Service (JaaS), allowing you to hire me on a monthly subscription basis to answer all the questions you have about your marketing strategy and the people you hired to deliver on it. I want this to change the way brands hire agencies. I want this to change the way that agencies approach new brands. We can create win-win scenarios where an agency can provide value no matter the relationship, and brands can provide guidance. I’m hoping to have things launched by the end of the month.If you’re interested in this model, I’m making it dead simple to sign up, provide a bit of information and I’ll reach out when enrollment is ready. I’m here to help both agencies and brands as not only a strategist, but a translator that can help bridge the gap in expectations and reality. Limited to 50 slots only. There’s more than 7,000 of you that follow me on this platform, I’ve got room for only 50. I have no idea how this is going to go, but I’m up for an adventure. Link in the comments. #JaaS #ecommerce #marketinghttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jivanco