2009 Agency Image Survey

The results of the Agency Image Survey is a key component of the Agency Report Card and conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Media.

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With the economic environment of 2009 demanding closer scrutiny of agency performance and capabilities from marketers, it would be fair to expect a very different set of results from last year. And yet, the image survey scores have remained pretty much in line with previous years, with Ogilvy and Mindshare leading the creative and media agency rankings respectively, just as they have for the past several years.

However, what has changed over the past year is that the lead of the two agencies has been narrowed significantly, suggesting that the WPP network, while still a clear leader in the region, may not be as dominant as it once was.
In terms of creative agencies, 54 per cent of marketers ranked Ogilvy in their top three best overall. This compares to a figure of 60 per cent in last year’s survey. Leo Burnett, which sits in the runner-up spot for the second year running, has increased its score from 31 per cent to 34 per cent.

It was a similar story in the media agency category, with Mindshare’s lead slipping from 70 per cent in 2008 to 59 per cent for 2009. However, its main rivals in the region have failed to make any significant gains. Runner-up OMD was ranked in the top three by 38 per cent of marketers, compared to 41 per cent in the 2008 survey. Likewise, third place ZenithOptimedia saw its score drop from 36 per cent last year to 34 per cent.

One of the more interesting performances among media agencies, though, came from Carat, which climbed one place on 2008 to finish fifth in the ranking. This was thanks to a huge gain made in China, where the agency was rated overall best by 41 per cent of marketers, compared with just 25 per cent during the previous year.

At the lower end of the rankings, there were some key differences between creative and media agencies. In the creative category, the bottom three places were taken by DraftFCB, Cheil and Hakuhodo, with the Korean and Japanese agencies sharing the wooden spoon for overall worst agencies. In Cheil’s defence, it had a very low awareness in the three key markets of China, Hong Kong and Singapore; in fact, it was the single agency that marketers were least aware of. Hakuhodo ranked higher in terms of awareness, but still failed to make an impact with marketers.

The bottom three agencies from 2008 - Batey apart - fared a little better. Batey’s performance last year was so bad it was omitted from the report card altogether, and having since been taken over by Grey Group, it has essentially ceased to exist as an agency. The other two weak performers from 2008 - Lowe and Grey - have made improvements and managed to move out of the bottom three.

For media agencies, it was a case of more of the same, with Initiative, PHD and MPG occupying the bottom three spaces. The only difference is that Dentsu’s Media Palette, which was taken out of this year’s survey, is no longer propping up the table; that unwanted distinction has gone to MPG. PHD’s poor perception among marketers will be especially troubling, given the huge advances the agency has made in 2009, including being named Media Agency of the Year at the 2009 Agency of the Year Awards.

Contributing factors

In terms of the factors contributing most to marketers’ perceptions of an agency, the two most important criteria were the campaigns for other brands and presentations and pitches from the agencies, with the reputation of the people who work at the agencies a close third. This was almost the same as in 2008, except that the staff factor was then the second highest consideration, with pitches in third place.

The other consideration was conferences and award shows. However, this appears to have dropped in relevance. In 2008, 26 per cent of respondents cited award show wins and conferences were important in forming their opinion of agencies; for 2009, the figure had dropped to 22 per cent.

Channels of Agency Perception

Marketers were asked: how important are the following in forming your opinion of a media or advertising agency? Here is a breakdown of their answers:

77% The campaigns of other brands
70% Presentations and pitches from the agencies
61% The reputation of the people who work at the agencies
58% Other people in the industry
50% News and features articles in the press
22% Conferences and awards shows

Overall Best Advertising Agency

Percentage of respondents who ranked advertising agency in the top 3 overall across the region:

54% Ogilvy & Mather
35% Leo Burnett
27% Saatchi & Saatchi
24% JWT
22% McCann Erickson
19% BBDO
14% TBWA
13% DDB
9% Grey Global Group
8% Dentsu
8% M&C Saatchi

Percentage of respondents who ranked media agency in the top 3 overall across the region:

59% Mindshare
38% OMD
34% ZenithOptimedia
33% Universal McCann
27% Carat
23% MediaCom
22% Starcom
11% MEC
8% Initiative
5% PHD
3% MPG

This article was originally published in the 28 January 2010 issue of Media.