Ultimately a mutual understanding and also a margin of difference to be maintained.
Clients and agencies are very similar in that they have a lot of ideas they want to put forth, but the reality is if neither side is actually listening to what the other has to say, you are ultimately destined to fail.
Thus, communication, education and understanding is what is needed. This is very basic, but in my experiences it is always the most basic issues that get overlooked in an agency's rush to fullfill billable hours.
On the agency side, they're faced with clients who aren't in control of their own markets or budgets, but want and need professional consulting. We could be subsidiaries of much larger conglomerates or owned by foreign concerns, all with their own rules, programs, campaigns and guidelines that they expect the agency to interpret and conform to. Leading to rigid standards, lack of creativity and often boring and ineffective communications. We want creative, effective and professionally developed materials, but we want them to look like this, say this and use these images. Many agencies know this upfront and still take on the business and then get frustrated because they don't have creative freedom.
Great creative work is essential. Falling down on the rest, just makes life difficult for everyone.
Because of this, many would-be revolutionary campaigns are relegated to the trash bin in exchange for bland, mediocre messages that are 'safe', and (more times than not) totally ineffectual.
The old addage is indeed true: When faced with choosing between 'great' and 'just good enough', a client will tend to gravitate toward 'just good enough'.
Just good enough to get by. Just good enough to keep up with Company B. And just good enough to avoid making a mistake.
Also just good enough to get the agency fired for supposed sub-par creative.
Consultants don’t take enough time to anticipate our needs.
We are limited by the client’s lack of understanding of the target. So rather than engage us for our independent, objective yet informed services, they bully us into accepting their own bias.
For the agency: Creativity is not a haphazard entity where one sits waiting indefinately for the muse to show up. It is most successful when channelled through refined processes, relevant research, market knowledge and, yes, an unfair share of talent.
For both: Expectations and promises go hand in hand. They do not contest one another.
Too many clients fail to realize that often, they are not part of the target audience. So, what appeals or does not appeal to them is irrelevant.
Further, too many agencies care nothing for whether or not the ads are effective, but only for whether or not they please the client. In B2B advertising, especially, this is almost the norm.
The "how" of evaluating the effectiveness of ads must be worked out between client and agency BEFORE the ads are run.
Many agencies I have seen don't want to know if the ads worked or not, because it might trample on some of their cherished notions, especially about design and typography.
Many clients don't really care whether the ads worked or not, because they are concerned only with pleasing their superiors.
Does a client always brief everything to the agency - areas of application print processes within there budget etc etc? To do costs effectively you need to know the parameters of the job exactly.
It also seems that everyone is so competitive and back stabbing, how can there be a trust between the client and the consultancy if the client will rush off at the drop of a hat to the nearest conpetitor, particularly when they can never know how much creative freedom and budget the said competition has had.
Lets face it we all try our hardest for the client, it is in our interest. The grass is always greener!
Both sides are correct in their positions. Pressure for results on boyh sides , time , and shortage of resources are some elements to consider.
The personal relationship between the agency `s representative and the company `s representative its critical.
One of the strogest point is the manage the relationship , in a way that fits and satisfies both parts. Conflict of interests is always in the road. Efficient comunications , and empathy of the parts will help the result of this relationship. Clear comunications prepositions program on the parts is relevant.
At the end of the day it is less about figures and sales results than chemistry between the teams involved. If there are personality clashes during the course of a project, there is little chance to see the work come to a positive conclusion.
It is essential for the client to carefully select his targetted agencies before inviting them to pitch, based on previous experiences they had with them. If there is no such past experience it is fairly easy to find someone who has. Just ask them.
Another approach we found useful when we initiated the BP logo project ( client side) was to invite a small number of carefully selected agencies to not only present their credentials to the client's team that was responsible for the project , but also to ask them to present some early creative work about how they would approach the task at hand. In the case of a new identity project it is possible to ask the agency to present a series of preliminary designs, if anything to ensure the agencies fully understood the brief. What does this mean for the client? The obligation to provide as much information about the scope, objectives and ideal outcomes of a project. This amounts to have both parties put their "guts" on the table. If this effort is rewarded by a financial compensation to cover costs to pitch, it is a better way to assess the best team for the job. As long as the winning team remains the same throughout the course of the development stages things should run smoothly....
Too often, clients bring on an agency as a "turnkey" solution to a strategic problem....but strategy is not turnkey! Clients must possess a fundamental knowledge of brand strategy and how to integrate it into their work and culture. Because many business leaders do not fundamentally understand the nature of the work, they have a difficult time judging it and applying. The client must be able to own the strategy to make it a success.
On the other hand, agencies struggle to rise to the business and strategic challenges at hand. All too often, solutions are recommend without any business justification and only a vague sense that "it will be good for the brand". If agencies pursue "creative" for its own sake and never use the power of branding to solve the fundamental business problems, they can never expect to succeed. I always hear designers say, "the client didn't get it". But what they don't realize is that it is the agency's JOB is to make the client get it and build a case for their work that makes the value undeniable.
If their is clarity in the beginning stages as to what the expectations are ,and if they are adhered to with perfect control mechanisms ,and if both parties are professional enough,then the levels of heartburns can be minimised to a considerable extent.
A crucial element in any client-agency relationship is the level of understanding of each other's expectations. Most agencies start off very well with their clients, after winning the job but the energy and enthusiasm fizzles out after a while. The same applies to the client. When either party experiences something better with another client or another agency, the feeling that they are not getting the best creeps in and they feel dissatisfied with each other. Getting the best out of each other requires both parties to comprehend each other's expectations and be ready to give and take. 
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