C-Suite Blues

Madison Avenue Needs to Upgrade and Integrate Three Capabilities: Business Strategy, Media Strategy and Creative Strategy

Helping clients grow during this period of low brand growth requires agencies to provide three strategic capabilities. All three are underdeveloped…

Apr 14 • Michael Farmer

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Transforming Creative Agency Efforts and Fees in the AI Era -- It Can Be Done Now

AI can simplify and lower the cost of creative execution across fragmented SOWs. This will simplify fees and free up agency resources to develop…

Apr 6 • Michael Farmer

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March 2026

Why Have Most Advertisers Suffered From Slow Brand Growth Rates Since 2009? Ten Major Reasons

Brand growth rates were robust up to 2008. Since then, brand growth has not recovered. There are many reasons for this. Advertisers, holding companies…

Mar 30 • Michael Farmer

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Madison Avenue Management (or Mismanagement): 7 Perplexing Questions

There are so many illogical aspects about the way that Marketing Departments, Holding Companies and Media / Creative Agencies manage themselves that…

Mar 23 • Michael Farmer

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Madison Avenue Revisited. The Verdict of the Advertising Industry: Murder, not Manslaughter

Holding companies WPP, Omnicom (and IPG) milked their agencies rather than help them become more effective for clients. The price: stagnant client…

Mar 16 • Michael Farmer

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Holding Companies Need High Level Strategic Plans, Not Just Announcements of New Structures and Cost Reduction Targets. Independent Agencies…

We should be hearing "Our new mission is to help advertisers grow again. We will work to make our clients successful. Success will enhance our fees and…

Mar 9 • Michael Farmer

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February 2026

Price premiums are the ultimate measure of successful professional relationships. Holding Companies have failed to achieve them

Clients pay extremely well for improved growth and performance. Fees paid to consultants prove this theory. Madison Avenue's pricing is commodity-like…

Feb 26 • Michael Farmer

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Is Reorganizing Really a Strategy? What's the Significance of WPP Creative and Omnicom Advertising Group (if there's any significance at…

The reorganizations added a management layer between agencies and CEO. What will this layer do, apart from kill brands, cut costs and pitch new…

Feb 17 • Michael Farmer

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Orwellian "Doublethink" and Programmatic Advertising

Doublethink: the ability to hold two contradictory ideas at the same time and accept both as true.

Feb 9 • Michael Farmer

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January 2026

Agency Remuneration in the Age of AI: Tim Williams Describes the Pressing Need for Change

Tim Williams has long been an expert advocate for agency pricing changes. The introduction of AI accelerates Tim's concern about outdated hourly billing…

Jan 29 • Michael Farmer

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How Serious is WPP About Transforming? The Size of Any Future 'Big Bath' Restructuring & Transformation Charge Will Tell the Story

History tells us that successful Big Baths must be big -- equal to 20% of sales and up -- to signal serious CEO commitment. WPP needs a £3 billion ($4…

Jan 15 • Michael Farmer

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Ad Tech, which Creates 'Audience Balkanization,' is Ineffective for Many Advertisers and Unhealthy for Democracy

Ad tech is low cost, but it is not effective in driving brand growth for many advertisers. In politics, it fosters unhealthy polarizations. Madison…

Jan 13 • Michael Farmer

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