Advertising Agency Search: Three choices to consider
Advertising Agency Search: Three choices to consider
Selecting an advertising agency is not a game for amateurs. After 25 years of sitting on the agency side of the table, I can honestly say most prospective clients ask the wrong questions.
In fact, I'd say nine out of ten times they ask the same questions in some form or another. It goes like this: How long has the agency been around? What are your billings? How many people do you have?
This maybe a good conversation starter, but it is irrelevant to what you really need to know.
So, what are the best questions to ask?
It's not that easy, there are NO standard questions. Each advertising agency will be different. Therefore, the questions will vary substantially.
Six mistakes clients make:
They hire the agency because the presentation was funny and entertaining.
The new business guy is a pro at wining and dining, especially at the courtship stage.
Brother in-law to your company's VP, just started an agency, and he wants to help him.
You never ask about cost, you assume they will be "fair and reasonable"
Nobody calls their old clients, or their current clients to ask tough questions.
The new business lady at the agency looks like Angelina Jolie's twin sister and you'll leave your wife for her. The guy is better looking than Don Drapper on TV "Mad Men" -just is a little shorter. (Take a real good look, because after they win your business you will not see them again.) They are agency new business people, not your account executive.
Not a profitable situation
There are many more mistakes you could make in your search. In my opinion, most clients hire the wrong agency. It is an industry statistic, that over the last ten years the average client-agency relationship in NYC is less than two years. Clearly, that's a losing proposition, especially being it takes six months to a year to really learn your business. If your advertising program was wrong and you were losing market share that's not a profitable situation. It's a big loser. Repeat this process several times and your business will become a true not-for-profit
Three ways to go.
The almost perfect agency. Ask media reps, printers, and former bosses. Get the names of agencies. Select no less than three agencies and no more than five. Invite them into your office introduce them to the owner or CEO and a few other people you respect. That's the easy part. Now it gets a bit tougher. Do your homework ask questions, then more questions, and even more? Listen well, I mean really well to the answers. It's amazing what you hear when you focus on answers. Most people are so excited to be engaged in the conversation, they can't wait to talk. Consequently they only hear part of the conversation. Go visit their offices. Bring a few people, compare notes later. Don't rush this process, it's too important. If you are not satisfied, go back to the original list and pick a few more agencies. Remember no short cuts, follow the same process. Once you think you have a few winners, I suggest you engage them in either the same project, or different projects. It doesn't matter what projects they are. You want to see how you work together. One critically important point, pay them for what they do. Don't ask for freebees, (spec work) you may run into a great agency that says "no way, we have plenty of business from paying clients".
Keep this in mind a larger agency has more people sitting around waiting for work. A smaller well run agency does not always have extra staff. That's how they stay profitable.
1) Making an In-house agency. Many larger companies have an in house agency and some still employ outside agencies for the larger projects. Some do it all inside. Either way this has the potential to save companies a lot of money. Imagine for a moment that a company has a ten million dollar ad budget for media alone. Now, they place their own media and save a 15% commission. That's 1.5 million dollars. That can set-up a very nice in-house agency, with several people and new technology. Done right, you will have a $150,000-$200,000 left over. You could throw one heck of a Christmas party and still have money.
This is not a slam dunk either. But with great technology it is much easier than it once was.
You need the right mix of people. Chemistry among the players is very important. You need a well defined process for scheduling alone. I have witness the following scenario the VP comes in and says "I need this for Wed 8:00 sharp". However you have been working on the National Sales Meeting in Vegas, for the last two weeks and everything needs to be shipped out Tuesday night. Unless the Sales Manager is the son of the owner the VP wins! OK, who wants to call Vince? He is not going to be happy.
2) Get help for the job.Hire a consultant to assist you and get a very objective point of view. Big clients have been doing this for years. Is it an expensive process? No, especially when you consider what's at stake, but what is a few hundred thousand or more when your ad budget is two, three or four hundred million. This is hard to write but I think it's a bargain in the long run. Remember that's what you want is a long term engagement. Not a short term romance of two years or less and a quickie divorce. Is the trend to use consultants increasing? Yes about 12% per year. Do people do this in tough economic times? Yes, probably more so, lets face it advertising is very expensive and you can't afford to gamble on some ones guess or hunch. Can someone afford this with a small to medium sized company and a small to medium ad budget? Yes, a consultants fee's are based on time and the amount of people needed to do the job. It is clearly worth considering as an option and part of your ad agency search process. To find the best fit for your business.
Take a long term view.
Selecting the right advertising agency format is not an easy task. It does take some hard work on your part. However, if you follow some personal guidelines, your chances for success (defined by a longer term relationship) will almost be guaranteed. The longer the relationship, the more profitable it will be.
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