NYT: Survey Shows Gains in Agency-Marketer Relations

An annual survey on agency-client relationships showed marketers giving ad agencies another C- this year, rating them a 7.2 out of 10. The survey did show consistent improvement in most measures from last year's very low figures. The most notable trend proved to be the different perceptions of agencies and their clients in terms of how business was doing. Many more marketers spoke of greatly improved business than did their agency counterparts. It seems that after forcing agencies to cut back staff greatly, agencies haven't yet shared in the improved business conditions. Marketers did show an increased perception of agency value, the average advertiser reporting that great work from the agency could help company sales by 23.7 percent, about three points better than last year.