LEADER: Can shops resolve issue of conflict?

<p>It's par for the course these days for account wins and </p><p>realignments to be accompanied by news of an existing account being </p><p>dropped because of client conflict issues. Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong is </p><p>the most recent example. It will be parting ways with a company that's </p><p>been a client for longer than the agency can remember because of </p><p>competitive issues. That's simply the done thing as far as agency-client </p><p>relationships go. But does it make sense today when the whole gamut of </p><p>marketing services partners - PR, direct, interactive and ad agencies - </p><p>are siblings in large networks? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>As far as media agencies are concerned, the answer has to be "no". By </p><p>asking for the best prices, talent, huge amounts of insights and </p><p>knowledge and the technology to help them make faster and smarter </p><p>decisions, clients are in effect demanding that markets should have a </p><p>smaller number of media specialists in operation? Otherwise, how else </p><p>will a media agency acquire the clout to leverage the best rates in an </p><p>overly-fragmented market? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But the situation is not as clear cut for creative agencies. Creative </p><p>notions of conflict are quite different from media notions of </p><p>conflict. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Uppermost on clients' minds is that the competitive edge companies now </p><p>enjoy in being first to market has been truncated to a couple of months, </p><p>at most, these days. Which makes the idea of competitors sharing </p><p>advertising agencies simply too abhorrent for many. Admittedly these </p><p>concerns are very real, but are agencies missing a trick in convincing </p><p>clients that they can handle conflicting accounts? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>O&M has taken some far-sighted steps, including employing a security </p><p>consultancy and conducting security audits, to assure clients about the </p><p>safety measures it employs to keep conflicting accounts quite </p><p>separate. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Its actions are to be applauded and may well be the first step in the </p><p>long road towards convincing clients that conflicting accounts can be </p><p>handled professionally by separate teams under one agency. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>