So much is made about the subject of consumer engagement that we forget most advertising is created simply to address the "buyers" question at Wal-Mart, which is, "how are you going to help me sell it?" This common question means that no more attention need be paid to business or advertising creativity than adherence to "the five category attributes that account for all consumer perceptions in oral care." If I was the Advertising VP I might care a little about "how" you say "it" but I am going to make certain that you talk either about 1)whitening, 2)breath freshening, 3)gum care, 4)tartar control, or 5)cavity prevention.
This commoditized knowledge depresses advertising and business creativity. Category competitors will ultimately all converge on the same position as their rivals, all doing and saying the same things about themselves differently.

Having worked on both sides of the fence, I have been horrified by the lack of authentic, relevant ideas from agencies. More plaguerism than I care to remember, mercenary style on-selling of ideas , bullying tactics of senior agency personnel, not creativity training. Agencies have become good at simply dressing up yesterday's bad ideas instead of binning them and starting afresh. Why?
The answer's simple, agencies have become the mirror image of the clients they represent.
Resorting to the last common denominator - cost, they have commoditised their wares. It's a big hole to get out of, especially for the multi-nationals. This requires a massive change, in culture, in leadership behaviour, systems and protocols, rewards and recognition. All of which requires a complete realisation of their situation and a recognition of the issues holding them back.

Behold the new age agency, where clients are involved, where ideas are the currency, and the fastest execution wins the day.

"No line item for R&D in advertising agencies" is exactly correct. During my long tenure at Leo Burnett servicing their key accounts I found that the agency did not want to pay to conduct any "homework" on their client's behalf, and neither did the client. In fact during my time executives were more want to spend six months arguing with clients that they needed to pay for at least half of the Nielsen tracking data. What a waste of time. More often than not agencies and clients just shoot from the hip - as a consequence agencies such as Crispin Porter + Bogusky reach dead ends with clients such as ConAgra. They don't have the money to pay, and the client won't. The biggest mistake a marketer makes is not to remember that BLIND FAITH WAS A BAND - NOT SOMETHING YOU PUT IN AN ADVERTISING AGENCY. If you are not going to help them find better answers, it's not entirely their fault.