AGENCY MANIA NAMED BEST BUSINESS BOOK OF 2019: MARKETING
With each passing year, the universe of marketing and sales continues to expand. Fueled by technology, constant connectivity, and rapidly evolving consumer behavior, the scope of activities and competencies that fall under this category grows. This year’s three best business books on marketing come from three radically different parts of the ecosystem — and each reimagines a core function while expanding the boundaries of the discipline. Whether they are suggesting new ways to consider the customer experience, providing a realistic look at the immense potential of artificial intelligence, or delving into the still-powerful role of agencies, this year’s books bring focus to an industry that increasingly defies easy definition.
At the beginning of one chapter in Agency Mania, author Bruno Gralpois urges the reader to “go ahead and grab a cup of coffee” before plunging into a 40-page treatise on client/agency contracts. And it shouldn’t be a shot of espresso. Agency Mania is not a book that most readers will finish in one gulp; its best use is as a comprehensive manual detailing virtually every aspect of the client/agency relationship, to be kept on the office bookshelf (or iPad) and pulled out (or tapped on) as needed. About to look for a new agency? Read chapter 5, “Assortative Mating and the Sweaty T-Shirt Theory: Conducting a Successful Agency Search.” Trying to figure out an equitable compensation model? Turn to chapter 7, “Just Six Numbers: Determining the Right Agency Compensation.” Quotes interspersed throughout from major advertisers and agencies — Procter & Gamble, Anomaly, Ford — enhance the book’s credibility. Charts and best practices listed at the end of each chapter help break the thick book into digestible chunks.
Many marketing books I’ve read over the years have been inspiring. Many of the treatises and cris de coeur of ad gurus are full of soaring rhetoric and stabs at deeper meaning. Agency Mania is not one of these books. It’s a distinctly unromantic look into the plumbing of marketing. That said, you’re unlikely to find a more essential book if, as is the case for many marketers, your relationship with your agency is the most important one in your work life. Gralpois, a consultant who has championed agency management as a discipline top advertisers need to invest in, leaves no aspect of the client/agency relationship undiscussed. He devotes dense chapters to scoping work and briefing agencies, building effective performance evaluations, and understanding the nuances of that strange place still sometimes referred to as Madison Avenue.
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