Why Are Most Advertising Agency Websites So Dreadful?

There, I said it.  

In September, 2011, I wrote about agency websites, but at that time I was being tactful.  Many months have passed and I cannot hold back any longer.

I assume that the first place any potential account, search consultant or potential employee looks for information about a company is its website.  The website should make people want to work there, hire the company or at least think positively about it.

Instead, the essential information people are looking for is almost never there.  Once upon a time, the only source of agency information was the Redbook.  This essential reference is still published and contains most of the information that anyone would want to know at a preliminary glance.

When I look on an ad agency website, I want to know the following:  Who are the principals?  What are their accounts?  How big is the shop?  If it is a big firm with multiple offices,where are their offices, what accounts and what people are in which office?  What is their address?

Sadly, most web sites are missing some of this information.  I came across one well known agency where there is none of it.

Ad agency websites should be easy to navigate. Yet when one logs on to the sites of most ad agencies, at 99% of them, their essential information is either buried or, if it is there at all, it is almost impossible to find, often hidden behind some obscure reference.

                                                           

Typical of the issues:  One agency lists its principals, but one cannot determine which offices they are in. Another, lists its accounts under "key players", but doesn't tell who the principals  (I presume they are the "key" players).  Sometimes, I have found agencies that don’t even bother to list their address; they merely give an email address to get more information so that you have to contact them to get simple facts. Why don’t most agencies list their senior executives?  Are they worried about headhunters like me recruiting them? (Don’t worry, I am professional and experienced enough to find anyone and I don’t need the website to point me to them.)

I went on one website of a creative New York agency today and found mostly gibberish.  It contained quotes with irrelevant personal rantings by their unidentified executives.  But I could not find the name of the CEO.  I finally found what I think are their accounts, listed as partners. Nice to call clients partners, but they aren't and might even cringe at the thought of being called partners.

I have been trying to find out why there is a disconnect between the website and the Redbook listing and I think I have figured it out.  The Redbook information is delegated to either the financial or the HR department.  Those people simply answer the questions provided by the publisher and fill out the appropriate Redbook supplied forms.  On the other hand, the website design is generally given to the head of digital or, worse, an outside design company.  These people have no idea what the site is really used for or how it is used so they become “creative”. The result is that site design overwhelms content.

Websites, if I may say so, should be exciting, loaded with usable information and be a reflection of the philosophy and strengths of the company posted.  Instead, I truly believe they are mostly The Emperor's New Clothes.  If I were a client or potential client, I would think twice about hiring a communications company which cannot project itself in a cogent and easily navigated format.  After all, if they can’t sell themselves, how can they sell a client's product or service?