On being the favourite client.

A wise and inspiring friend of mine, a Marketing Director at a global brand*, once told me something that really stuck. He said his ambition was to be his marketing agency’s favourite client. Not just an effective one, or even a respected one, but the favourite.

The one everyone wanted to work with.

His thinking was simple.

By making the agency feel like a genuine part of the team, by building trust and not constantly picking over every penny, he’d unlock better outcomes. He’d attract the best talent in the agency, have people fully immersed in the brand, and get 110% effort from everyone involved. That, he said, would always deliver more value than shaving off a bit here and there or letting the relationship sour through tension.

It’s a perspective I find incredibly inspiring, because I know it works.

Agencies are full of passionate, creative people.

For many, this is more than a job.

They care deeply about doing great work and about making their clients happy. Success isn’t just measured in results, but in the pride they feel when a campaign lands and when they see the difference they’ve helped to make.

But they’re human too.

Mistakes can happen.

And when they do, it's rarely out of carelessness.

Often it’s the result of a fuzzy brief, a lack of clarity, or a dynamic where the agency still feels like an outsider rather than a true collaborator.

While I stand by the value of what we do, I can also say with confidence that the best outcomes always come from the best partnerships.

Agencies can have all the process and all the experience in the world, but if the relationship with the client isn’t working, the work probably won’t either.

That goes both ways.

In our 27+ years at We Are Acuity, we’ve experienced all kinds of client relationships. But thankfully, the majority have been the good kind. The kind that leads to long-standing partnerships, proper collaboration, and work we’re all proud of.

So before you conclude that an agency isn’t delivering, ask yourself this: have you done everything you can to bring them in?

To make them feel trusted, respected, and part of the team?

Behind every campaign is a team of people probably working their socks off to make you the hero.

The strongest relationships are always rooted in trust, mutual respect, and a bit of empathy. At We Are Acuity, one of our mottos is to ‘put yourself in their shoes’. It’s good advice, and it works both ways.

Right now, we’re lucky to have some fantastic client relationships.

But we’re always open to more.

We’re looking to grow our list of favourite clients.