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If you say “client with a $xx budget” or “$xx spend” you are referencing the total dollars that client is putting into their marketing ... so inclusive of agency fee+ third party production $ + third party paid media
If your agency manages/services all three of those things that would be the same number as your agency’s “total Billings $” to that client.
Some agencies talk in terms of total Billings.
Some talk in terms of Agency Fee only (at least internally) so that language can vary agency to agency.
If your agency doesn’t manage media, for example, your client’s total spend would not be entirely with your agency, so your Billings would be less than their total spend.
Of your agency’s Billings, remember only a portion of that is Fee to your agency. A big chunk is pass through, typically with no mark-up (meaning your company doesn’t make money on the pass through).
Thank you, all good info. I became curious bc I heard the other day that a smaller client we have actually nets more profit than ours—they spend a lot but the also cost a lot. Feels like an odd spot to be in but I do love production time
So, consistent with what you’re allowed to say (agencies vary on their NDA policies) you’re actually on the right track with all those descriptions—if the client is reported to be an $XX million advertiser, that’s the basic yardstick (the bit about capitalized billings is really a way to talk about agency earnings, not client spending). Now if you’re wondering what that means in dollars to your agency or in the outside world, that’s a different story. For the former, you’d have to be privy to the agreement with the client including what the retainer covers and what happens when they land a new scope on you guys. For the other, that’s generally gauged in comparative terms—Geico, at a reported spend of $1.52B is clearly the leader, with Progressive at a relatively modest $800M, the respectable but distant runner up. But again, in order to know how much either company’s agencies actually make off all that, you’d need a window on the contract. Having said all that, I’d say you def get street cred for having a leadership role on productions at that scale. Add that to being trusted on the agency’s biggest, and you have a good story to tell.
Thank you that is very helpful!
...it’s a retainer client who adds on projects and productions throughout the year as well. I know our biggest productions are around 1-2M. Do I speak in terms of Billings? Budgets? Campaigns?
Lots of ways to slice and dice — but what’s the context you’d want to speak to? As in: client is an $XX annual advertiser; they spend $XX in measured media; I’ve worked on productions with budgets up to $YY; or something else? Are you mostly trying to tell people about the relationship, is it more about your involvement in large productions (as a way to support your own credibility), are your trying to gauge the relative value of the client to your agency, or just looking for the right questions to ask?
Well, it’s the agency’s largest client, how would I quantify that? I always hear “it’s a x-million dollar account” type language but not sure what that number refers to typically, and then also, would a general average of production costs be a relevant thing to mention in the context of explaining my experience with productions? The client is a very large but regional brand, and I’m thinking about how to describe my experience to places outside the state who might not know the company