C-Suite Blues

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September 2025

August 2025

Madison Avenue's Struggle to Reconcile "Creativity" and the lack of Client Brand Growth today
Procurement is achieving its objectives by promoting low-cost marketing. Brands, though, are struggling to grow. Is agency "creativity" working or not…
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Michael Farmer
2
Agencies: Stop Cranking out Manual Adaptations. Upgrade to Become A Strategic Brand Advisor for your Clients
For agencies to survive, they must "upgrade" their strategic capabilities and become consulting-like analysts and advisors to drive brand growth. AI can…
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Michael Farmer
YouTube Overstates its Viewing Numbers. Why? How Prevalent Is This In Today's Fragmented Media Marketplace?
Today's article is authored by Brian Jacobs (brian@bjanda.com), one of the UK's best-known media executives / analysts, co-founder of the Who Cares…
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Michael Farmer
1

July 2025

Creative Agencies are Emotionally Attached to the Concept of 'Creativity.' It's Understandable. It Also Needs to Change
The Attachment To 'Creativity' Stands in the Way of Taking the Steps to Solve Advertising's Big Business Problem: Advertising's Ineffectiveness in…
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Michael Farmer
5
David Ogilvy was a Huge Fan of Man-Hour Billing. He'd be Shocked by the State of the Industry Today
Agencies were receiving $435,000 in fees (in 2024 $s) for their work on a typical ad in 1992. This has dropped by more than 77%, and creatives now crank…
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Michael Farmer
5
The Destructive Effect of AI on Agency Fees if Man-Hour Billing Continues: A Case for Changing Agency Remuneration
A creative agency office has its Scope of Work modeled conservatively. AI takes 24% out of agency fees.
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Michael Farmer
1

June 2025

Madison Avenue Can Transform Itself -- if Marketers and Agencies Agree to Solve the Real Problem Plaguing their Relationships
The industry has pursued "low cost" digital / social solutions," when the real problem is the lack of brand growth for the past 15 years.
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Michael Farmer
The Astonishing Growth of Dividends at WPP, IPG and Omnicom highlights their Business Model Problem
Not only do holding companies have to liquidate talent through annual downsizings -- they must pay growing levels of dividends to shore up share prices…
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Michael Farmer
The Urgent Case for Changing Creative Agency Remuneration before AI Destroys Man-Hour Billing
Creative agency services are valued today by "man-hours" of agency time. What happens when AI reduces man-hours by a factor of 10 or 100 or more…
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Michael Farmer
2
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