Advertising agencies are caught between fee-cutting clients and profit-hungry owners.
About the book
Madison Avenue Manslaughter
– Second Edition
Today’s Mad Men celebrate new clients and creative awards, just like the Mad Men of yesteryear.
The resemblance and the fun stop there.
After the celebrations, returning to their daily routines, today’s agency people put on a brave face, and recommence the struggle with declining fees, ever-growing workloads and demanding clients who treat them like vendors.
How do agencies generate profit margins under these circumstances?
Through downsizing, salary freezes and ‘juniorizing.’
Agencies are disinvesting in capabilities to earn profits for their holding company owners — at a time when their clients’ marketing challenges have never been greater.
No wonder their clients are beefing up their internal capabilities and changing agencies at an accelerated pace!
The advertising business, which was once one of the most high-status, fulfilling and glamorous of industries has become a grim sweatshop for the people who do the work.
Michael Farmer, who has an MBA from Harvard Business School and was formerly a Director of Bain & Company, the strategy consulting firm, provides a gripping analysis of advertising agencies and their deteriorating situation.
He describes the key trends that have weakened agencies during recent years — the shift from commissions to fees, brand globalization, the rise of holding companies, client obsession with shareholder value, the digital and Internet revolutions — and outlines the steps that senior agency executives need to take to restore health to their organizations.
This book is a first of its kind — a detailed examination of ad agencies as businesses: their cultures, organizations, management philosophies and strategic choices — providing an unforgettable inside look at the Mad Men’s world.
Available in hardback from booksellers and Amazon.com.
In e-book format for all devices via Google Play Books or Apple’s iBooks
Testimonials
John Seifert, Chairman and CEO, Ogilvy & Mather
“Required reading for everyone in the business of buying and making market-ing communications. If both agencies and clients followed Michael’s advice – and his methods – the marketing world would not just be a better place. The work would be smarter, more cost effective, and more rewarding for everyone involved.”
Ken Auletta, New Yorker media critic, journalist and best-selling author
“A good, swift kick in the butt is medicine every legacy business needs, though rarely welcomes. Michael Farmer administers the kick deftly, backed by years of experience and data. This readable book is a wake-up call for marketers and advertisers.”
Deborah Wahl, Former CMO of McDonald’s USA
“A great and engrossing read. This book is as relevant for advertisers as it is for agencies. After years of CMO tenure declining faster than agency turnover, the work of the CMO has had to refocus on delivering brand growth and profitability. This book highlights how our most valuable partners can refocus, too, and develop a more productive partnership to master the challenges of the VUCA world in which we operate.”
Financial Times
“ In his damning critique of the modern advertising industry, Michael Farmer warns that a dismal combination of technological change and the short-term drive for profit is killing creativity… For any young creative inspired by the lifestyle of ad campaigns and cocktails depicted in the TV series Mad Men, the book is a sobering read.”