The Advertising/Marketing Marriage

<p>This article evaluates advertising-marketing relationships using marriage as an analog. Client-agency interactions are discussed within the context described by Nena and George O'Neill in their bestseller, Open Marriage. Two types of husband-wife alliances, closed marriage and open marriage, are used comparatively to trace developments in client-agency marriages through the last three decades; the "product era" of the 1950's, the "creative era" of the 1960's and the "position era" of the early 1970's. The article concludes with recommendations to clients and agencies for initiating and achieving open marriages.</p>