Opinion: On the Campaign Couch ... with JB.

Q: Dear Jeremy, as a chief executive of a blue-chip company I have been involved in the recent pitches for our advertising account. A couple of the pitching agencies fielded teams that included their parent company chief. Should I be impressed that my business has attracted the attentions of people who run global communications empires? I must admit to being rather flattered.

A: As the chief executive of a blue-chip company, you should be impervious to flattery. Haven't you noticed that a great many more people flatter you now than ever did before you became chief executive? And hasn't it occurred to you that there might be some tenuous causal relationship between your becoming chief executive and the number of people finding you an important human being? And haven't you already braced yourself for an abrupt decline in the number of people finding you an important human as soon as you cease to be chief executive?

You certainly should.

However, you're not alone. Human beings find it impossible to be impervious to flattery - which is why they resent its absence.

The two parent company chiefs took part in their respective pitches not because of their creative abilities or even their inspirational leadership skills. They took part because you'd have been deeply miffed if they hadn't.

'I see,' you'd have said to yourself. 'So they're now so gross and self-important that they won't even get out of bed for 25 million quid!'

You should nonetheless be grateful for their presence. Forget the flattery: make ruthless use of the leverage. If you appoint one of their agencies, make it a condition of your contract to have quarterly Satisfaction Audit meetings with the parent chief. You'll not be loved - but you'll be spared the fate so movingly chronicled by my correspondent below.