What marketers want
from an agency

It’s no surprise that marketers want a creative challenge from their agency. But that desire goes deeper than you might expect.

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Q1.

What value, if any, do you see in bringing in external creative agencies?

Enterprise / SME comparison
UK / US comparison

Q2.

How far do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “Our creative agencies challenge us creatively”

Enterprise / SME comparison
UK / US comparison

Q3.

What, if anything, annoys you most about your relationship with your creative agencies?

Enterprise / SME comparison
UK / US comparison

Expert view

“Ultimately, no amount of tech can make up for a piece of creative or a story that falls flat.”

Jenny Green
Marketing Director, IRIS Software Group

Why is creative so important?

You’ve got to have both tech and creativity for effective marketing, but I think the creative side is much harder to execute; it’s much more subjective. Different things appeal to different people, whereas the digital approach is very data-driven, and data doesn’t lie. Ultimately, no amount of tech can make up for a piece of creative or a story that falls flat.

Pick another chapter

Did COVID make tech marketing braver?

Changing attitudes to creativity and risk

Does martech limit creativity?

How the pandemic changed engagement

Tech marketers have switched priorities

New channels for a new normal

Which channels are working now?

What marketers want from an agency

Key lessons and takeaways

Conducted in February 2021 by Opinium, Perspective 2021 is a survey of over 200 senior marketers in medium to large tech companies in US and UK.

Analysis

What marketers want from an agency

Who limits creativity: the marketer, or the agency?

Throughout this survey, respondents have shown how much they value creativity. So it’s no surprise that they want to be challenged by their agency. But the extent of that need is a shock – 94% want to be challenged more.

The popular stereotype – of creative agencies pushing the envelope, and conservative tech marketers holding them back – is overturned in every location and business type we surveyed. And the bigger a company is, the more likely it is to choose an agency partner that provides that creative challenge.

But specifically, what do agencies bring? Overall, marketers look most often for ideas (44%) and channel expertise (41%). But the role changes with geography: in the US, the emphasis is on lead generation and channel-specific knowledge; UK marketers view agencies more as a source of external inspiration.

And when agency relationships go wrong, it’s usually because that creativity is missing. The most common frustrations include complacency, lack of ideas, and lack of challenge.

One word of warning: the agency still needs to listen. Creativity must serve the brand’s goals – it can’t be showing off for its own sake. Marketers also complained that too many agencies push their own agenda at the client’s expense.

Back to results

72%

of marketers say their agency challenges them creatively.

94%

say they would like to be challenged more!

39%

of marketers say their agency has become complacent in the relationship.