WeGrow has unveiled its latest study, the 'Publisher Pulse Survey', which provides insights into the relationships between major Australian media companies and their agency partners.

The survey, which ran through August and September, revealed that only three per cent of publishers believe that agencies fully maximise the value and partnership potential from sell-side partners.

The survey follows WeGrow's 'Agency Pulse' survey from the previous November, where agencies provided feedback on publishers. This latest survey collected over 3,500 comments detailing publishers' experiences with agencies. Communication emerged as a critical success factor, with 52% of respondents identifying the ability to provide feedback as one of the top three characteristics of effective agencies.

Specific agencies were mentioned more than 400 times throughout the survey for their strengths in providing feedback, being transparent, and briefing well. The survey suggests that agencies focusing on collaboration, feedback, briefing, responsiveness, and transparency gain a competitive advantage.

Wendy Gower, Founder of WeGrow, commented on the findings, stating, "Our Agency Pulse survey found that so many agencies are now time poor, they require media salespeople to show up prepared, curious, and with responses tailored and on point."

She noted, "The findings also suggest a significant competitive advantage for agencies that focus time and effort in tackling the most pressing complaints and building an informed roadmap for collective success."

Comments collected in the survey from publishers included: if the client is still deciding, tell the media owner instead of silence. If the client has gone a different route or with a different provider, tell the media owners instead of silence. If the media owners challenge the decision, provide constructive feedback on 'why' they didn't win the business over the other provider instead of silence.

Mark Fairhurst, Chief Revenue Officer at oOh!media, highlighted the value of partnerships. He said, "Partnerships are built through positive shared experience, and great partnerships deliver great work. In any partnership, taking time to pause, reflect and share feedback on what's really working and what isn't makes good business sense. The WeGrow Publisher Pulse has provided a platform for media owners to do just that."

Nikki Rooke, National Sales Director at Total Television, Nine, described the survey as "an invaluable temperature check on how media owners are feeling about their interactions with agencies and the areas that could be improved to drive greater collaboration."

Participating publishers included prominent names such as Seven Network, Nine Network, Network Ten, SBS, ARN, SCA, Nova, News Corp, oOh!media, JCDecaux, QMS, Val Morgan, and MiQ.