Imagination at work

AOR is DOA

Or is it?

Katherine Patterson, GE Healthcare

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For the next 40 minutes

• A bit about me

• What’s the client thinking? (about our agencies)

• What’s next?

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Who is this lady?

• Global Director of Marketing Operations, Brand

GE Healthcare

• Agency consolidation

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• $18 billion: global business unit of GE

• 46,000: number of employees

worldwide

• $1 billion+ per year investment in R&D

• 35,800 patents filed by GE since 2000

• Core strengths in bio-sciences, medical

imaging & information technologies

• Headquartered in Pollards Wood, UK

– President: John Flannery

GE Healthcare Today

R&D Facilities2,800 scientists and technologists in 8 facilities

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A GE Case Study

The assignment: Cull the agency roster down to one agency per GE business

341

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1,500

40% 1200

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We had to admit – 341 agencies was a bit much.

The rationale:

Control & reduce rates

Better consistency on brand

Clearer understanding of who to contact

Stronger leverage for negotiations

Cost savings

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The audit

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Region SpecialtyAnnual Spend

Categories & Classifications

Agency type

• Full-service marketing agency

• Regional marketing agency

• Strategic branding agency

• Digital agency

• Media planning & buying

Specialty Agencies• Technical writing

• Consultant

• Research & testing

• Photography

• Video & graphic animation

• Graphic design

• Print & production

• Tradeshow production

• Event planning

• Guerilla marketing

• Talent agency14

Noteable Trends

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Agency tenure short

Movement toward

specialty groups vs. full-service

Preference for small boutique

firms

Marketer tendency to shop around

Painful learnings

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We are a pain (dangle the carrot)

DIY craze is apparent

What we say we want and what we actually want are two things

Digital ruined everything. (Culture of instant gratification.)

Ad spend is not apples to apples (exhibits, events, sponsorships)

Trends aren’t limited to us

• Avg. client agency tenure – 7.2 years

1984

• Avg. client / agency tenure – 5.3 years

1997• 3 years

Today

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Agency size

2/3 are less than 5 people

Billing NYC 2008 - $751

NYC 2011 - $637

How many?

13,200

Big fish WPP, Omnicom, Publicis, Interpublic Group of Cos

2x as much as next 50 largest agencies combined

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Today’s reality is a game of constant

auditions.

There is more forgiveness with

smaller agencies.

Honesty is lacking in today’s market

The client contact varied – and results

in inefficiencies

How to avoid being a commodity and be valuable

Things clients can’t get over

• Bad billing practices

• Recycling old work

• Pushing to speak to leadership vs. client contact

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“We are always waiting for the perfect brief from

the client. It almost never happens. Good briefs

don’t just come along. Successful solutions are

often made by people rebelling against bad briefs.”

~Paul Arden

Measurement ≠ Effectiveness

Logic

Outputs

Doing things right

Divides

Resists change

How well did it work?

Emotion

Outcomes

Doing the right thing

Unifies

Embraces learning

How can we do better next time?

Emotional

strategies are 2x

more profitable

than rational

strategies.

~Peter Field,

Marketing in the Era

of Accountability

“Push the branding envelope. Be edgy!”

“Let’s make our business stand out from the rest of

GE.”

“That’s old – let’s refresh it. Something new.”

“It needs to be 360 marketing.”

Agency as order takers vs. thinkers. “I am giving them an assignment – but really just want them to give me

only my idea “made pretty.”

“We need to include social media on everything.”

Client training:

• Resist the urge to tweak.

• Keep the layers of approval

down to two.

• Understand what’s driving the request

for changes – is it to aid understanding?

Or just the reviewer’s personal style?

The second one should be challenged.

“

Any fool can write a bad advertisement, but it takes

a genius to keep his hands off a good one.” ~David Ogilvy

Top ways to make sure your project is confusing and over budget:

Don’t consolidate comments from your team. Instead, send them as

they come in and have the agency update the document multiple

times.

Be vague with your reactions. “I don’t like it.”

They’re the agency. They’ll figure it out.

Encourage all the team members to reach out

directly to the agency.

Go ahead and pretend you’re the art director.

Draw out the layouts and provide specific details.

Give broad direction. “Maybe try something funky.”

Don’t tell them what funky is.

Make sure you get every data point in without focusing on the big story.

Simplification is for suckers.

Good

CheapFast

You can’t have it all. Pick two.

What’s next?

• Small can be good

• Know your strengths. And weaknesses.

• Chemistry is everything. So is honesty.

What are you going to do differently?

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