The True Value of Account Management

A must read for Account Management people I thought
An article by,
Anisha Motwani, Vice-president, EURO RSCG, New Delhi

Kick Me
Account Management is the pivot around which the agency business revolves.
Many will laugh at this statement. Even client servicing who have spent some time in the industry.

This laughter isn’t because the statement is untrue, but rather because it is fundamentally true.

The broad role of account management is of a coordinator and manager. He/she is a person who ensures that all departments along with the client work in unison towards a common goal.

All of this looks great on paper but is this the ground reality?

You tend to be at the receiving end of all, clients, creative and bosses.
Creatives brand you as the well-dressed ‘courier guy’ or ‘postman’.
And sometimes you could even win the honorary title of ‘Bisleri’ (play safe).

Of course, the jibes and criticism don’t just stop at names. Your thinking abilities are compared to the amount of water found in the Sahara desert.
You even get blamed for having the ‘gift of the gab’.

So many young client servicing people often wonder if they’re walking around with a sign on their back saying ‘KICK ME’. That too in Futura Extra Bold Condensed in 72 point size.

How does account management earn such animosity? Despite having the most challenging and versatile role in the agency, why such criticism? Are the account service guys not playing their role?

Change is the only constant
As Dylan once famously said, Times are a changin’. This statement can be no truer than it is for account management today. It needs to wear a new hat to earn respectability and put an end to all cynicism.

The true value of account servicing is in being a “Client’s Marketing Problem Solver”. The most successful account management people in the industry are the ones who have played the role of a business partner to a client.

When you approach creativity keeping client’s business problems in mind, you come up with Creative Business Ideas, “CBI”, as against just ideas.
A Creative Business Idea:
-- Is Transformational
-- Changes Business Strategy
-- Drives Profitable Growth.

This is obviously not as simple as it sounds. It requires a complete re-orientation and ingraining it as a work culture in the agency. But what it does is bind the agency and client to a common agenda.

If the creative department is the backbone of an advertising agency, the new role will ensure that account management is the chair that keeps it straight.

Source: Exchange for media