Brand strategy doesn't deliver immediate returns. Frame it like SEO: a long-term investment that adds incremental value over time through consistent execution. This mindset helps justify the effort against short-term performance marketing wins and prevents premature abandonment of crucial brand-building work.

The short tenure of most CMOs leads to frequent agency changes. Yorkshire Tea's multi-year relationship with its creative shop shows that longevity allows creative teams to build on past successes, creating a compounding effect that deepens brand work.

CMOs often fire their agency to create an illusion of progress. However, unless the client's internal processes and risk tolerance change, the work won't get better. The best campaigns are built on long-term, trust-based partnerships, as constant change prevents the deep collaboration needed for breakthrough work.

To get breakthrough creative work, brands must be excellent partners. This means providing crystal-clear briefs with budget parameters, onboarding agencies as extensions of the team, and delivering consolidated, actionable feedback. The quality of the output directly reflects the quality of the client's input.

Starting with smaller, emerging agencies and scaling with them creates a powerful win-win dynamic where 'my win is your win'. This shared journey of growth fosters deep loyalty and an integrated partnership that is difficult to achieve with large, established vendors.

The goal of an agency partnership should extend beyond task execution. A key qualifying question to ask is, "What will you teach me along the way?" A great partner aims to leave the client more knowledgeable and capable, empowering them to make better marketing decisions independently in the future.

The most effective client-agency partnerships are not the easiest, but the most honest. They are characterized by clarity, mutual trust, and a willingness to have frank conversations. This directness, rather than constant agreement, is what leads to breakthrough creative work.

Data covering a 10-year period shows that brands with consistent agency relationships produce better creative and achieve a higher ROI year-over-year. Frequently changing agencies forces a reset to 'base camp', causing performance to flatline.

New brand managers often change successful strategies just to put their personal stamp on the brand. A long-tenured agency partner can act as a vital custodian of brand equity, leveraging their deep institutional knowledge to push back against short-sighted, unnecessary changes and maintain consistency.