Relationships between agencies and advertisers continue to be rated at or near historic lows according to the Salz Survey of Advertiser-Agency Relations, writes the New York Times, quoting Nancy L. Salz, president of Salz Consulting: "This has not been a great year." The industry is in flux, she says, with continuous changes in consumer behavior, media choices and a vast range of products and service categories.

When asked to evaluate the level of teamwork, 59 percent of advertiser respondents said there was more teamwork with agencies, but only 25 percent of the agency respondents said so. That 34-percentage-point gap is the largest since 1993.

When advertisers were asked about the amount of "hassles" in the relationships with agencies, 35 percent said there were more - the highest that number has been since the survey began asking that question in 1998. And 43 percent of agencies said there were more hassles with advertisers - the second-highest level.

Asked to estimate the percentage of major clients for which they were able to do their best work, agencies' response was an average 53.9 percent - the second lowest.