Client Relations

The info you need to maintain good relations with your clients, including tips on improving account longevity, trends in agency-client relationships, and more.

A relationship management program helps build essential trust at every step of the agency-client relationship.  The 4A’s Relationship Management Best Practices Guidance explains how it’s done.

The ANA/4A’s Business Case for Relationship Management reveals how clients and agencies both feel about the benefits of such a program.

4A’s Relationship Management Best Practices Guidance

2020 ANA 4A’s Business Case for Relationship Management

Find additional information on maintaining good relations with your clients, including tips on improving account longevity, trends in agency-client relationships, and more, below.

Maximizing Client-Agency Relationships

Rethinking “AI” in a Partnership World: Advice for Advertisers and Agencies

Agency Mania Solutions rethinks the “AI” abbreviation and outlines six ways artificial intelligence can play a part in establishing successful client-agency relationships.

Breaking Silos: The Key to Effective Cross-Agency Teamwork

Bruno Gralpois of Agency Mania Solutions shares how brands working with multiple agencies can foster and enhance collaboration and communication to drive collective success. 

Discovering Pearls: How To Find The Perfect Agency Partner

Bruno Gralpois of Agency Mania Solutions provides tips for brands looking for a new agency partner.

Unlocking Efficiencies: 4 Steps to Powerful Agency Management and How to Handle Roadblocks

Bruno Gralpois of Agency Mania Solutions shares recommended actions to build more efficient client-agency relationships.

CMO Tenure Study: An Expanded View of CMO Tenure and Backgrounds

Spencer Stuart’s annual CMO Tenure Study finds that the average tenure for chief marketing officers holds steady.

Peter Field’s Seven Lessons for Advertising During a Recession |

Peter Field looks back at the lessons learned during the 2008 recession and adapts them to help ad agencies and brands emerge from the current coronavirus pandemic much stronger.

A CMO’s Wake-up Call

CMOs desperately need to shift their mindset from focusing on who the right partner is to how to operate and make any partnership successful.

The CMO Survey

Duke’s semi-annual survey collects the opinions of top marketers to predict the future of markets, track marketing spending, and improve the value of marketing in firms and society.

New Year Outlook | 2024 Survey Report |

RSW/US highlights marketing trends, challenges, and predictions based on a survey of both marketers and agencies.

Sample Job Descriptions

Relationship management is how you keep winning after you’ve won. 4A’s Relationship Management Best Practices Guidance is your new playbook.

Hidden Costs of Changing Partners

Bruno Gralpois highlights key findings of the ANA/4A’s The Cost of the Pitch and shares his expertise in the agency review process.

Cost of the Pitch: surprising insights that may make you rethink the process

As a follow-up to the ANA/4A’s Agency Search Simplification Report, both organizations felt it would be beneficial for clients and agencies to understand the actual costs involved in the agency review/pitch process. Agencies historically devote significant resources into the pursuit of new business and to the defense of an existing account when it is put […]

Creating Agency KPIs

Bruno Gralpois of Agency Mania Solutions proposes we evaluate the 3-letter acronym KPI to foster better client-agency relationships.

The Strength of Agency Holding Companies

Learn how the exceptional financial and operational progress of agency holding companies will impact brand advertisers in the future.

The Future of AI in Client/Agency Relationships

Read about AI tools, ethical and legal issues, and their impact on the client-agency relationship in this article from Agency Mania Solutions.

Strategies to Make Your Agency Data-Driven

Venkata Bhonagiri of Mindshare provides best practices to transform your agency into a data-driven organization.

When Chaos Calls, Will Your Partnership Thrive or Dive?

Bruno Gralpois of Agency Mania Solutions outlines five steps marketers can do to build a lasting, rewarding partnership during this chaotic time.

Should Advertisers Still Care About Agency Awards?

Bruno Gralpois of Agency Mania Solutions outlines how clients and agencies benefit from awards.

The Best Way for a Client to Brief an Agency

This guide from the IPA aims to help marketers write better briefs for ad agencies and create a shared understanding of what constitutes a good brief.

Are You Ready for a Record Year of Breakups and Honeymoons in 2022?

Agency Mania Solutions’ Bruno Gralpois outlines his top agency wins and breakups of 2021 and identifies eight trends that he sees as a result of such agency-client changes. 

A Glimpse at the Future of Advertiser/Agency Relationships

Bruno Gralpois of Agency Mania Solutions examines current industry trends and developments that will impact how we partner with agencies in the year ahead.

The Chicken and the Egg Dilemma

Read about the most common agency behaviors and performance issues encountered by top brand advertisers and what role the brand many have played.

Together, Committed to a Better World

Bruno Gralpois of Agency Mania Solutions discusses the importance of higher standard business practices in the agency selection process.

The Organized Feedback Framework

Bruno Gralpois of Agency Mania Solutions walks us through a multi-dimensional approach to leveraging all feedback opportunities to drive improvement of client-agency partnerships.