How to Survive an Agency Review

Done correctly, the process can benefit both sides. Choosing an agency is one of the most important decisions a brand marketer makes.

The ever-changing marketplace and intensifying competitive pressures have given marketers new bottom-line accountability. Marketers are now concerned with volume and profit as well as awareness and branding. This new responsibility is coupled with an increasing sophistication of existing marketing disciplines including advertising, sales promotion, and public relations. Direct marketing used to be just direct mail, and promotions used to be sweepstakes and trinkets. Now, both are complex, information-based, and growing rapidly. Marketers who don’t consider all options in the marketing mix are doomed to fall short of their bottom-line goals.

So what’s a marketer to do? The first step is to choose an agency that can truly help the company meet its marketing objectives. And the best way to select the right agency is to carefully structure and manage a review process that will benefit both client and agency.

Who to Review Don’t limit prospective agencies to one core discipline. Look at the entire playing field, and present your particular marketing problem to the most diverse group of agencies possible. By limiting the review to only advertising agencies, for example, reviewers may deprive themselves of innovative non-advertising solutions that may be more effective. Invite several agencies of different disciplines, or full-service, integrated agencies, to participate in the review.

These so-called alternative agencies sometimes fall into the “wild card” category when asked to compete with agencies that have expertise in one specific field or are well-known and “safe.” They can bring new perspectives to the playing field, and an outsider’s view of your business can yield a fresh outlook. Even if the agency isn’t selected, the different approaches it offers in the review may help down the road, because you have allowed some of your premises to be challenged and your range of solutions to be stretched.

How to Review In order to manage the review process efficiently, you should mimic your company’s environment and process. If your company likes to move quickly and the project is going to be fast-paced, give participating agencies a taste of that. Agencies that can’t get a plan turned around in the given time-frame probably won’t be able to execute your work quickly enough either. Conversely, if your company is methodical and thorough in its work, reviewers should look for an agency that approaches the review in that fashion.

Limit the scope of the presentation as well. Closely manage the amount of spec work you ask for, and make sure you’re using that wisely. Strategic spec work, rather than creative, is a better measure of how an agency thinks and, probably, how an agency will perform on your business. Creative work comes out of extensive strategic thinking, and it should come at the end of a complete learning process – not in the review stage.

Provide thorough information when presenting the marketing situation to the agencies. Give them a good idea of the marketing challenges and opportunities. A clear picture of where the client is and where it wants to go is essential to a successful review. Agencies need to know what their role will be; does your company want them to have a leadership role, or should the agency execute your company’s vision?

Keep an open mind about all agencies in the review and be available for feedback. Answer questions and give information as needed, because wrong or incomplete information at the beginning can set the whole review awry. Accurate, complete background information sets the stage for strategic and creative thinking.

Most importantly, establish a dialogue with the agencies. In one of the least productive reviews in which Frankel ever participated, the potential client gave us an incomplete synopsis of the situation and scant background information, and was not available for questions or feedback. Then, the client didn’t provide us enough time to present our ideas: Each agency was given just one hour to present, leaving no room for dialogue. That eliminated the most important part of the process: the give-and-take between agency and client.

Most agencies can give a decent presentation. It’s how they think about your business and how they respond and relate to the client’s thinking that’s essential.

How to Choose When making the final selection, reviewers should remember that the point of a review is to change the existing marketing solution. Reviewers should want to see new possibilities for their business. While some ideas may seem unusual, they may be the most effective marketing solution.

Agencies that don’t have experience in your particular business shouldn’t be discounted. Sometimes, dynamic experience and applied learning can be just as valuable as specific expertise. We had a new business experience recently in which we were told that specific category experience was the most important factor. However, we quickly realized that the biggest challenge this marketer faced was how to revitalize a mature, stagnant brand. We built our pitch around re-energizing the brand, showed how we had done that for other clients in several product categories and, in the end, were able to apply that knowledge to create several successful promotions. The emphasis in this case was originally on category experience when it should have been on the overall marketing challenge.

In the end, agencies have to be able to meet some fundamental criteria to be selected. Reviewers should remember the following tips when choosing an agency:

Make sure it thinks strategically: Does the agency demonstrate the right strategic thinking to meet the company’s objectives? Will its plan help the bottom line?

Make sure it fits: Will this be a successful relationship? Can the client and agency work together? How does the agency respond to feedback and questions? The “Fit Factor” comes from extensive dialogue between the prospective agency and client, and applies to both reviewer and agency. The relationship has to fit from both sides to be successful.

Make sure it will challenge: Does the agency’s marketing solution challenge current premises about the business? How does the new approach differ from what the company currently does? Agencies are hired for their thinking, so the winning agency should think of things the reviewer hasn’t, and come up with ways to execute the strategy through untapped avenues. An outside view should bring outside ideas.

Make sure it can handle the business: Is it too big or too small? Does it have the infrastructure and expertise to staff the account and execute ideas? Does its dynamic experience complement your business?

Make sure it understands: Most importantly, a good agency should demonstrate an understanding of the reviewing company’s brand. Brand building is everything in today’s marketplace, and an agency that does not completely understand and communicate a client’s brand will be counterproductive.

Reviews are beneficial for both agencies and clients. They facilitate an exchange of information, and can be a valuable learning experience. By remembering these principles, reviewers can maximize the productivity of the review process and make it a worthwhile experience for all involved.

The right agency can make all the difference in meeting a company’s objectives and building the brand – and in the success of the marketer making the decision.

New York City p.r. firm Hill & Knowlton launched H&K Promotions, a business group that will offer strategic planning and research, program design, cross-promotional partnership development, and event marketing. The Los Angeles-based unit will be headed by managing director Rich Kerlin, who was hired away from Initiative Media, Los Angeles. The venture “is a response to our clients’ increasing demands for Hill & Knowlton to integrate promotion into the overall marketing mix,” says ceo Tom Hoog.

Upshot, Chicago, was named by Redmond, WA-based Microsoft Corp.’s WebTV to manage an integrated marketing program targeting adults 55 and older. The effort will include advertising, promotion, direct marketing, retail activity, and experiential components. A division of Niles, IL-based Ha-Lo Industries, Upshot is also competing for the Burger King account.

Boston-based Target Marketing & Promotions launched On Premise Solutions, a sister company specializing in on-site activity for packaged goods brands. Target ceo Tom Schneider will head up the venture, whose first client is Guinness Bass Import Co., Stamford, CT.

Strategic Sports Group, Atlanta, was retained by uniform maker Russell Athletic, Atlanta, to handle market-specific campaigns connected to the company’s sponsorship of 15 Major League Baseball teams.

DraftWorldwide, Chicago, kept the global acquisition drive going with the purchase of Clouseau S.L., an integrated marketing agency in Barcelona, Spain. The 16-employee shop has a client list that includes Yamaha motor vehicles and Pirelli tires.

Roska Direct, Montgomeryville, PA, named by Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals to handle relationship marketing for colitis drug Asacol and its living-better.com Web site.

The Promotional Edge, Beverly Hills, CA, named by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. as exclusive ticket promotional agency for the GRAMMY Awards.