I am BEYOND done with my account team. Every project is a hot one, everything is a priority, everything needs to be done EOD. Then, clients expect that speed every time. It’s unrealistic. And unfair.

I blame the older CD's and ECD's that are too comfortable in their current position and would rather just give the account folk what they want instead of protecting their creatives. You'll notice there's really nobody sticking up for creatives these days.

It’s a hard job- and great account people are rare, so my advice (take this carefully bc you don’t wanna look bad in the process) is if you have an account person not respecting your time or opinions- LET THEM FAIL. Make it super clear in writing that you cannot do something and if they continue to push - drop.the.ball. If they give you hours that are crazy, call that out before kickoff. If they don’t have any willingness to change those hours - bill accurately! The only one stuck figuring out where to shift the money and how to explain to the client will be them, and then they’ll never do it again. And lastly, don’t kick off anything ever without hours, job #, specs, and all other necessary things. Make them adjust their timelines if they can’t get those things to you. My overall point is, despite the hurdle with an ECD, you have some more power over this than you think.

I hate to brake it to you but 99% of the time it isn’t the account team, it’s the client. The clients are the ones with unrealistic expectations and they know that if your agency doesn’t deliver, there’s another one out there that will undercut your shop in cost and timeline. Your account team is usually put into a corner where they can’t say no to the client and they get crap from creatives. ...and if you think your CD’s and ECD’s “allow it” .... you have a rude awakening if you ever plan on being in a creative leadership role because we can’t tell the client to f**k off. Doesn’t work that way and pushing back, even at our level as often as some of us do, doesn’t guarantee shit. So in short, hate the client, support your team, because we’re all in this Titanic of a cruise line together.

*flips table, which is actually not a table but a small dainty lap tray usually reserved for breakfast in bed but has now been commandeered as office furniture while lying in bed with the worst posture technique the world has ever seen*

I just don't think they realise that the creative process isn't a quick one.

When I explained to one suit that we often have to write 100+ headlines to get to one good one, they were genuinely surprised.

They think we just go with the first thing that comes to mind, or that the exact stock photo the client is after is just a click away, when often it doesn't even exist.

The greatest piece of advice I can give anybody, is talk to your clients directly every single time you have a question.
Clients do not need account people. Account people position themselves as buffers between clients and these crazy wacky creatives. They encourage creatives to not talk to clients or they could get fired. All of this is nonsense. Form a direct relationship with the client at your level. Email them directly if you need more time, if you’re not sure why they don’t like an idea, stop using your account people like Google translate. Because like Google translate, they get things wrong all the time on both ends. As this industry contracts, we are going to see less account people. But in the meantime, every single creative I know who has succeeded has had one thing in common: strong direct relationships with clients. When you reach out to a client you can learn a lot that clears up issues. You may find out that your account team is sitting on a brief and it’s not the clients fault at all. You may find out the client didn’t understand something in your presentation. You will always succeed by talking to somebody directly rather than playing a game of telephone. Agencies are structured around this game of telephone and it’s time for it to stop.

CD here. I'm not always able to help push out the timelines, but I can insist that our account colleagues be online and work the same late nights and same weekends as we creatives do. If you're struggling with this issue, work with your account team (or your manager, who can apply pressure to his/her counterpart in account) to insist on equal partnership. It may not be much, but this happens much more often when account kicks back and let's creatives work the weekend and they just review on Monday. I also see a lot of "text me when it comes my way." No -- you'll be online and check your email and respond to our questions like the rest of us. The more it becomes a shared burden, the less often this happens.

They are in client MANAGEMENT. Managing client expectations and timelines. If they blame their clients they are saying they can’t do their job.

I've been doing this for 17+ years I still don't know what value account ppl bring. The best account I worked on in my career there was 1 account person on a team of 120 ppl they were basically growth/ new biz. In my view their jobs were important before digital communications tech (email) when you had to actually be on the phone the whole day to get anything done. They tend to get in the way of clear communication, they hoard information and misinterpret objectives. Just slide that responsibility into project management/ production. They're too disconnected from making things.

CD Art here. I’ve been doing this for 25 years. My experience is that there are too many Account Managers and too few Project Managers. There’s a big difference between the two. PMs are the ones who respond to the day to day emails, schedule conference calls, manage timelines, line up resources, and gather up the creative assets that we all need to succeed in our jobs. Because they are in the weeds alongside us, PMs actually understand what is and is not possible within a given timeframe. Typically, Account Managers don’t have that ability. Also typically, Account Managers deny Creatives direct access to clients, ultimately shielding them from info and insights we need to deliver great work.

At my last full-time job I was one of the design leads on a global pharma account. The client got so frustrated that they explicitly asked for the account team to be removed from the business. For two years, our Design Team successfully ran the business without any support or input from the Account Team.

Blame your ECD for allowing it

Do we work together? Cause my team is like that too 😪

Calling all ACDs, I just made a bowl where we can talk about the uniquely confusing life of an Associate Creative Director.

Join code: ues12

just say no

Personally, when possible, I prefer to develop a relationship with the client directly. When they earn your trust, and know that you have their best interests in mind, you can generally negotiate for the time you need. And you’ll be more empathetic when an actual urgent need arises. I don’t fault account folks for not getting it. They just don’t know what it takes to go through a creative process to make something great. I try to teach that it’s not the time it takes us to type. It’s all the time creatives need to research, think, write, rewrite, sell-in to CDs, comp, rewrite, rethink, re-comp and repeat before they ever see anything. Next time, OP, maybe hand your account person a blank page and ask them to help by making a rough draft. Hopefully they’ll realize the time it takes to get to that first step. And if they put out crap, they’ll also learn that anyone can make crap.

One of the best parts about working client-side is not having account folks that advocate for the client more than you. Obviously there are people doing similar jobs and enforcing deadlines but, yeah. I fully understand we couldn’t do what we do without account folks but I agree with you.

They're not doing their job properly. Find a way to get more face time with client

This madness usually occurs when there’s no project manager and no approved schedule at the offset. The CD should always try to set realistic expectations about timelines and the project manager should enforce it. The problem is too many account people think they are project managers. Wrong.

I get it, I know clients are the ones who seem to get the wrap for setting these urgent deadlines, and maybe they are. The thing is, your account team needs to remember who they work for. Your agency, creative team and you. If you don’t have the necessary time to do the work, it won’t be done to its highest quality. Communication between you and the account director and team members is paramount. They need to be appraised of your work schedule so they can properly align timelines. If there isn’t a representative from the acct. team in your production meeting there should be. Invite someone or schedule daily check-ins with a go to person to discuss creative traffic schedules. Hang in there.