Pitch consultants label Warburton comments as ‘childish name-calling’
Pitch consultants have responded to Seven’s James Warburton comments accusing them of being “bottom feeders”, as “childish name-calling” and counter productive for the industry.
In a guest post on Mumbrella today, TrinityP3 MD Darren Woolley, said while pitch consultants often challenge marketers and agencies to focus on value, the response is often “heavy discounting and price cutting”.
“Agencies are comfortable with a cost recovery model and often reject our efforts to explore value-based models. They want their cost and the icing too,” Woolley said.
“If agencies and the media were willing to link their remuneration to the value it creates for advertisers then remuneration models will change. Until then it will continue to be a cost accounting process. So Mr. Warburton, while your intentions are clearly to be helpful, childish name-calling and misdirected blame is not.”
The response follows comments made by Warburton, Seven Media Group’s chief sales and digital officer, at the Media Federation Awards call for entry event yesterday.
He accused both pitch consultants, procurement departments and media auditors as being “bottom feeders”, adding that remuneration models had gotten worse.
The Agency Register’s Peter McDonald argued however that pitch consultants and procurement “perform very different roles” and should not be grouped together.
“The best relationship is when agencies, procurement, marketing and search consultants all work together,” McDonald said.
“I don’t understand why he felt the need to say something like that. He’s been busy in the media world for a long time I wonder if he’s even had a conversation with anyone from our side recently. In his days in agencyland he must have been victimised by some way by a consultant.”
Warburton, a former Universal McCann managing director, told Mumbrella as the Grand Prix sponsor of the MFA awards his comments were made in the context of creativty and innovation.
“I stand by my comments. I’m not interested in debating it. My focus is on media agencies continuing to strengthen and to do so they need to get greater remuneration. Right now they’re underpaid and undervalued,” he said.
“Let there be debate, but a lot of people can’t speak in a fortright way about procurement because they know they will pay a price for saying it.”
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Nice spray James, didn’t realise you had also taken over that mantle from Leckie. I guess the “bottom feeders” won’t be invited to help out as judges for the MFA Awards this year – as was the case last year.
Shame really, I found the exercise illuminating…in many ways.
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Forget the “insults” and focus on the issue, which is what James reiterated in his follow-up comments.. that the media industry long ago shot itself in the foot by reducing its charge to clients, agreeing to ridiculously low margins and then staffing the teams with one chief and a load of monkeys.. because on those rates, that’s all they could afford. Of course the client service goes downhill, the client loses patience and moves to another agency.. demanding even greater vfm (margin) there and the cycle continues.
Clients need to wake up and pay to get good ideas and fresh thinking. Good luck getting McKinsey to advise on your management and business chalenges for the kind of money that agencies are having to survive on. Yet media agencies are in charge of sometimes huge budgets which can materially affect the success of the company. James is right about this. Clients and AFA take note.
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as we commented on the original article in the Mumbrella “opinion” section……;
Dear James…. dont lump Kinesis Media into the world of a template driven cost per thousand lowest common denominator wins pitch process
Dear Darren…..James is basically correct and your process creates the problem
….and now..Dear Peter…..surely you meet regularly with all sales directors as it is crucial part of the media review process to understand the media landscape and validity of claims and promises being made ie its up to you to meet with them
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phew! this is getting tasty.
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Making popcorn.
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Strange when a salesman who pays a media agency 10 percent of his revenue starts complaining on their behalf. You feel so strongly James, how about 12.5 percent kick back to the companies that feed you….
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@ Dazza
Are you saying that you believe the education, experience and brain power of McKinsey or BCG consultants is comparable to that of client-facing personnel working within media agencies?
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clever idea Easy fix, then the agency can offer the additional 2.5% back to clients to retain/entice new business and the margins for both suppliers and agencies are further reduced
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@version
I am saying that the potential business impact of insightful commuinications planning can be at least as instrumental in the success or otherwise of a product launch or brand engagement as can the strategic guidance given by management consultants.
Yes.
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The fact of the matter is that most agencies out there haven’t got the foggiest idea how effective their work is at driving sales. On that basis what right have they got to demand greater remuneration?
Outline what value you bring to a business in terms theCEO and CFO understand, not in woolly ad speak (no pun intended), and you will get remunerated accordingly.
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Hold on. Where’s Anonymous. I want to hear from Anonymous! or are you afraid to sully your good name in this heated debate.
btw I agree with Chris Walton. Spend more time working out what your value is instead of presenting what you think will win the business. It’s criminal to win a clients business based on bullshit and then waste millions of their dollars mismanaging their budgets. People get locked up for stealing a TV, but agencies get off scott free when they blow millions of someone elses money because they lied when they said they new what they were doing.
I think I’m done. Ta.
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Richard
With respect yourself and Kinesis haven’t got a clue.
TrinityP3 specifically does not do Cost per Thousand analysis, we never have.
We use methodolgy that recognises and rewards an approach even if it’s premium priced.
You don’t understand our methodology, you have no pool of your own and you have the temerity to criticise us.
Kinesis Media are the very worst kind of consultants.
Overly opinionated former Agency heads with limited methodology, a thin client base and snippets of industry information sourced from mates over a drink.
Pull your head in Richard and get your own ship in order.
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I really wish that you could attach cartoon style words like ‘BAM!” and “WHACK” like they used to in the old series of Batman & Robin. Because if you could I reckon Steve would definitely have put in a ‘”ZAPOW” at the end of his post.
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@Steve: Strangely your company criticised James Warburton’s comments as being “childish”…kindly reflect on yourself as you know what they say about people who live in glass houses?
We have solid backgrounds in having created successful media agencies, so we have sympathy for today’s agency heads when dealing with comodity merchants.
And we hope you have a nice weekend in your “pool”
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… need more popcorn
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How odd.
If the fees are low for media agencies then thats because the client doesnt value it.
It is not more complicated than that.
Media is not completely commoditised yet……but media buying is.
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Pitch doctors are businesses as much as anything else. If you don’t suck up to them, or pay their ‘fees’, you don’t even get on the list. We’d all be better of if more clients knew that.
Speaking of clients – they say they want the best but when asked to pay for it, they quickly commodatise it and claim they can’t pay more than 2.05 x a persons salary; or, claim “but we can get a finished art for $56 per hour”.
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Tom … want butter wth the popcorn while I pop out to get mine?
Ding … seconds out … next round.
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This is so sad
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Sorry I was late and yes, was considering if it was worth wading in but bugger it….just too much fun to be had.
Media agencies. I find it incredible that you spend years commoditising the industry with a “growth at all cost strategy” and then get upset when an industry appear to point this out to clients and show them how to turn this myopia back on you.
You all created the market that allows these people thrive . Live with it. Clients are getting value from their services. Focus on getting clients to pay for ideas, not % of a headcount.
Bottom Feeders….pull your heads in and stop being so arrogant. Some of you seem to think that this is your chance to get back at the industry that “did you wrong” (you know who you are). This attitude will eventually kill your business model. Where do you go then?
Did I miss anybody?
JW….this is rich coming from man who had a price approach to nearly every pitch but much better margins on the other side of the fence. Having said this…someone had to get it started and no media or creative agency was going to. Goodonya!
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Don’t know much but I know 99% of ads are horrible and they usually run fat too many times for far too long.
So agencies, clients, the people who create the union AND media companies all are doing a pretty shit job.
My Mother’s Day gift to you.
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Quite enjoyable at the bottom, mixing with some fabulous blue chip clients.
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