Account people, bag carriers? No. We’re creative entrepreneurs
In this guest post, Chris Kay suggests that this week’s opinion piece on the death of the account handler underestimated the value of a great suit.
Watching Campbell in the latest season of Mad Men, it’s pretty clear that although comical and at times charming and annoying in equal measure, that this archaic view of the ‘suit’ underplays the growth in importance of the role. Being a bill-payer, a coffee-pourer, a timekeeper, or a bag carrier, is a lazy perspective on the immense value of a great ‘suit’.
Seeing this role, as our HBO cousins do, as an administrational one whose only potential value is to pour the gin and to organise – and I use this term in its loosest fashion ‘the entertainment’ – on a night out, really underplays the role a great account person has in driving the ideas and ultimately the business of an agency forward.
The ability to spot an opportunity where no-one else can, to build the nub of a thought into a fully grown idea, the drive to lead a team from good to great, and the nous to make the most of all revenue opportunities, are the characteristics of a hard working ‘creative entrepreneur’. This seems like a better summation of what is needed from the modern account man.
Mad Men is an AMC show, not HBO.
I think what the problem is, is that what you describe as a good suit, is what strategic planners have evolved into, in addition to their basic craft. As a planner myself, particularly in London, I found that clients would circumvent suits, and come straight to me. I didn’t always find it helpful, but I learnt alot about finance and project management, which helped me become central to a clients business, which I believe is at the heart of planning’s value.
Hmmm – not sure I like rolling up my sleeves – much prefer throwing tantrums and refusing to play
I take your point. And I agree. Good suits are worth their weight in gold. (Just far, far too few of you…)
But mentioning “Mad Men” (or throwing Mad Men-themed nights or dress ups) by anyone – anyone – in advertising needs to be banned. #PleaseMakeItStop
I’d also like to ban people talking about Apple in front of clients… but that is proving impossible.
A good suit is worth their weight in gold, as Kay points out. The only shame is there are so few of them around.
Traditional agency cultures don’t value intelligent suits and so most leave for industries a lot more empathetic to their talents. Good agencies like BMF have never made that mistake and that’s why they’re at the top today.
It’s not just their work that makes them successful, it’s their culture and respect for people.
Agreed, suits are certainly important. All departments are or they wouldn’t exist. But, suits aren’t presented nubs of ideas and rarely do they develop immensely ippon current thoughts.
more like you though please Chris!
Thanks Chris. Another great view on what a great account guy should be all about.
I was a planner who got hoodwinked into being a suit some years ago by a canny swiss client and I’ve never looked back. Turns out clients have always valued strategic input to their business, brand and marketing and as long as you are doing that, it really doesn’t matter what you are called or what department you sit in. I also found that there are many other important things that suits have to be strategic about than just the work itself.
So I would just add that strategy word to your title of creative entrepreneur and have a great Friday, safe in the knowledge that account management is not broken. Not at all
I agree with Chris on the basics of creative entrepreneurs. In my years of experience the good account guys were measured by one thing – they could change roles and sit themselves behind the client’s desk. Know, like the product manager, they had to increase product sales, increase market share, manage the market mix.
The trick was that knowledgeable agency account guys, as service providers, could supply the original creativitity, the strategy and, most importantly, the objectivity, the client didn’t have.
The account guys that trained me back in the 70’s in agencies here and in the UK were doing that. It doesn’t change.
Not sure Tevez is the best example you could have picked, Chris. Or, maybe he is.
The best suit I ever worked with had his own book of all the great work he was involved in. In fact most creatives would of had a serious case of envy if they saw it. It made me think he actually did care about the work and what he was putting his name to.
How many suits in your agency have their own book?
You wanted a Carlos Tevez?
mmmmmmmm
@Chris 10:16am. Amen! I also think Planners should have books of work they’ve been involved with AND ideas of their bloody own. (Not ads necessarily, but business-building ideas and innovations. Nothing worse than planner or suit who is just a box ticker.)
I find it highly amusing and somewhat pathetic that people in the advertising industry MUST have the word ‘creative’ in their title.
“We’re creative entrepreneurs”
Tell me, what entrepreneur isn’t somewhat creative?
You work in a creative industry, everyone is somewhat creative.
Don’t be so insecure that you need to tell people how creative you are via your title.
and surprisingly, there are many creative people not working in creative industries, but taking a creative approach to uncreative work
perhaps these are the greatest creatives of all.
Yes Chris. I agreed with everything you said until you referenced that small club with a small club mentality. Manchester United is the best. The only one.
The best suit I ever worked with was a semi-retired guy here in Sydney who was once a real Manhattan Madmen. Andre Van Stom take a bow. He stood out because, above all things, he got the importance of emotion in advertising, while all the other suits were constantly pushing rational arguments for the product. He also loved clients so much, he wasn’t afraid of them. Once when The CD and I were fuming over a difficult client he insisted we get in a taxi and go hug the client. By the way, when you hear the real stories about Madison Avenue in the 60s you realise what boring crap Madmen is.
I find it interesting that when an agency calls this function account service it reflects a basic philosophical of the role compared to those agencies that call the function account management.
Personally I believe account service has been redundant for years. But great account management people manage the resources of the agency (creative, production, strategy, finance and management) and the expectations of the client to achieve the desired objectives as effectively, and where possible, efficiently as possible.
http://www.trinityp3.com/2010/.....ad-agency/
The recognition of the importance of this function beyond simply “servicing” and being key to the effective management of increasingly complex client / agency relationships is key. Perhaps we need awards for outstanding account management – after all we have them for creative, planning, media, production etc.
Calling it account service implies the person in the role is there to serve. In the UK they refer to the role as account handling. Much better me thinks.
No, I think the term “account SERVICE” pretty much reflects the mentality of most marketers these days, and indeed, many suits do their best to also add to that mentality.
also ‘management’ implies you are actually managing the account – most account managers aren’t and really find it hard to have any influence on the client.
hence, account service.
account service = care (try my best but can’t promise anything)
account management = accountability (results)
no one really takes accountability anymore so care becomes the default next best.
In my years in advertising (coming up to 14 now) I can count the good suits that I’ve worked with on one hand. The others fell into a few categories – lazy but self important, lazy and incompetent (with a dash of self important), hardworking, clueless and afraid, and then there were the rare downright malicious.
There seemed to be a distinct lack of career path at many agencies I’ve worked at for the suits. Many suits were confused between a colon and a semi colon, couldn’t spell ‘comma’ and didn’t care how it was spelled, didn’t know how to ask for portrait or landscape formatting, didn’t consider the legal ramifications of including false information information in advertising, and also didn’t care when this was pointed out. Not knowing how to use the software required, not knowing any technical information about the media they were dealing with. Another common attitude was servicing the client at the cost of the agency = Good Account Management. I could go on but I won’t.
But I’m not actually blaming the suits. In my experience, suits have risen up the ranks to become managers (sometimes just because they’re the last person standing), knowing very little about being a good suit, nor anything else about the other departments, and that’s where the poor knowledge, poor work ethic and sense of entitlement come from. It’s an upper management and industry fail.
Vicki, will you marry me?
Sorry Harvey, already paired up, but thanks 🙂