Keep your eyes on the Consumer.

Whether you’re at an agency or an in-house marketing team, the consumer is at the center of everything you do.

It seems strange that just a few months ago I critiqued ad agencies as part of my sales pitch. I didn’t criticize just Hispanic ad agencies, but the entire ad industry. Since I worked for a consulting firm, pointing out the flaws of ad agencies came with the territory. We tried to explain to prospective clients that they needed to concentrate more time and money on strategy and less on TV spots, because they needed to understand their audience before they could reach it. As management consultant Robert Half said, “When the customer comes first, the customer will last.”

Great customer service is the starting point I’ve always been proud of my customer service skills and I attribute my first job promotion to my success in delivering exceptional service and attention to my clients. It wasn’t just my attention to detail or my anticipation of clients’ needs, but the internalization of my clients’ attitudes, motivations and needs took my customer service a step further.

My client bias clearly shows, but agencies have become monsters in many ways. They make it clear that only they know how to talk with the masses, only they know where to find the consumers. Do they really know how to engage the consumer, or are they just producing self-serving messaging without thinking of the consumer’s inner psyche? I’ve had the pleasure of working with some exceptional agencies, but that’s just it: they have been the exception. I realize that this claim may sound like a harsh indictment of a multi-billion dollar industry, and I could see how some would just dismiss the criticism as client frustration, Still, agencies need to get back to basics and rediscover the consumer’s needs.

My entry into the agency space

When I joined Hill Holliday’s Hispanic agency, abecé, I sent an e-mail update to a few friends and colleagues in the business to let them know where I landed. But, I had to preface my announcement with a message of contrition. I had lodged a few criticisms at the Hispanic ad agency industry, so I had to confront the reality that I had just crossed over to the dark side. Had I lost my mind? No. By the time I joined Hill Holliday, I had already seen the start of a transforming industry. The industry had no choice, since it had lost its compass and grown fat, unwieldy, and complacent. It was, however, beginning to make a turnaround.

Engaging the consumer should be the driving force

The shrinking world is beginning to impact well-established brands: IBM, AT&T, Ford and many others. Communicating to consumers is still the easy part, but effectively engaging them is now the prized possession of marketing and advertising. Mastering the art of selling brands has lost its flair, but mastering consumer insights has become the imperative. The Hispanic ad agency space has its unique set of challenges, so I never fooled myself into thinking that I was getting into a playpen. It was the very essence of the challenge, and the knowledge that the agency business was transforming itself (especially Hill Holliday), that intrigued me.

Marketers should not fear the field

My consumer bias also came through when I worked at Miller Brewing Co. One of the first things I did when I started my job as Brand Manager with Miller Brewing in Milwaukee was to get out to the field: visiting regional sales folks and the company’s distributors and retailers. I not only needed to get closer to the “end-user,” but I also needed to establish credibility with my new key constituencies. By creating this standing with both the consumer and constituencies within the company, I kept my consumer focus while in a new position.

Getting into the consumer’s head

Ad agencies always try to get closer to the consumer, but more often than not they defer this responsibility to the client. Chief stewardship of a brand should reside with the client, and ad agencies are supposed to bring the outsider perspective and alternative point-of-view. They are supposed to help the client shape a coherent communications strategy, which should result in a brilliant advertising campaign and sometimes a catchy tagline and jingle. Somewhere in the words and music of their campaigns, agencies lost sight of consumers and how to get closer to them.

After a couple of months with Hill Holliday and abecé, it’s my consumer orientation that has been the most valuable asset. I become the most relevant and invaluable asset to CVS/Pharmacy or Dunkin’ Donuts when I can effectively interpret the machinations of an increasingly elusive consumer. This is my first agency experience, but I still apply the same principles that make the customer both first and last.

By Manny Gonzales
Managing Director of Hill Holiday’s Hispanic division – abecé