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Evaluating Agencies
Recession! Crisis! Scandal! Steady Your Brand with PR and Grab a Little Market Share While You’re At It
May 29, 2009 2:34 PMBy Denise Goodwin Pace, CCO/Co-Founder, The Halo Group
What do you get when you add a 24-hour news cycle to voraciously expanding social media to a pressured and shrinking cadre of experienced journalists to a worldwide recession to chilling headlines about multi-billion dollar swindles, tainted food sources, and corporate wrongdoings?
A crying need for good old-fashioned public relations.
Tell Me the Truth
Smart marketers keep PR as a central steadying component of their brand work. It’s part of the way they tell their story to the various people, customers, and “publics” that should know it. Right now, in the tumult of these crazy times, consumers are begging to believe. They want to find someone, ANYONE, to trust.
It’s basic – the brand must be true, inside and out, and the brand’s voice should be steady, trustworthy, clear. That message constancy, the happy hum, has always been created best through proactive public relations efforts. It’s not news to anyone in our business that positive media coverage is seen by consumers to be more credible than advertising. And fee-based PR, more “affordable” than traditional advertising buys, is a great way to reach them. It should always be part of the mix and its efforts can be targeted anywhere, from traditional consumer and trade print and broadcast, to the Internet and the exciting new world of social media.
How do you know when a brand is doing it? Simply ask yourself, “What company do I admire?” Even in the face of unexpected crises, that company generates good will. That company is true to itself, behaves responsibly, and then lets the world know. That company tells the good news. Hershey’s Chocolate, with its long-standing corporate social-responsibility commitments, national baking events, and cookbooks, is a great example of smart and proactive PR at work.
And While You’re At It, Inspire Me
Please PLEASE tell us something good. With so much wrong in the world, we want to know what’s right. Add the power of social media to the mix and who knows what can happen. Ask Susan Boyle.
Of course, she is not a company (though she IS developing as a brand), but within two weeks her talent-show performance, uploaded on YouTube (well over 100,000,000 views) and buzzing through the social media world, spilled over into traditional media with major TV, newspaper, radio, and magazine placements, turning the unknown Scottish woman into a worldwide phenomenon … with a brand new lucrative recording contract.
On the corporate side, think about Patagonia and Tom’s Shoes too – more good examples of good companies telling good stories and seeing growing numbers of customers because of it. All because we consumers are human first – we adore being inspired.
These are turbulent days. The brands that speak consistently, in a clear, powerful, coherent, and positive voice, like that delivered through a PR program, will be the ones heard. The ones remembered.
Looking for an Agency? It’s Not the Same as Searching for a Washing Machine
April 9, 2009 4:14 PMan Interview with Tim Brenton by Denise Goodwin Pace, CCO/Co-Founder, The Halo Group
The success of any marketing communications agency search is predicated on creating an honest and open dialogue between the client and the agency. Only that openness can ignite chemistry. We talked to Tim Brenton, CEO of The Brenton Group, who trains businesspeople to facilitate business relationships built on trust and confidence. He’s very clear on what’s required.
“During a search for a new agency, clients play their cards close to the vest from fear of being taken advantage of,” says Brenton. “But sharing during the process is exactly what is needed to assess compatibility – the heart of the potential relationship.”
Brenton has seen client behavior during the search process that is often antithetical to the formation of a strong client-agency relationship. He claims that a good agency must be a diagnostician about the hopes, dreams, goals and aspirations of the potential client. Yet clients are often loath to share that during the search process.
What the client should bring to the table
According to Brenton, there are specific steps a client must be accountable for at the beginning of the search for the right agency:
- An understanding of the real problem that led to this new agency search. Brenton believes that the client, in collaboration with the new agency, should delineate the “lessons learned from the past” – specifically, what worked and what did not work in the previous client-agency relationship.
- An inventory of the actions taken to solve the problem. The client must be open and honest so that history does not repeat itself.
- A realistic and true budget. “No agency can offer recommendations on a zero-based budget and it’s an exercise in futility for a client to project an inflated budget. It’s not fair to the agency and it dishonors and devalues both the client and the agency,” says Brenton.
- Your expectations on ROI. Ask the agency to demonstrate projected ROI. Brenton says, “If an agency truly believes in ROI, that agency should almost become an aggravation to the potential client, continually asking about the budget and the expectations on return.”
- The decision makers. Who is involved? The agency that is given the task of solutions has an obligation to look at possibilities through different filters. The client should be upfront about who is involved and give the agency access to those people.
According to Brenton, if the client consciously avoids being its own worst enemy, the successful client-agency relationship is born and both sides are open and honest from the outset. That willingness to share information leads to the partnerships that make marketing history.
As EVP at Arnold Advertising, Tim Brenton led his company in providing world-class advertising and marketing programs to his clients. Tim founded the Brenton Group to help CEOs and senior sales management make quantum leaps in the performance of managers and sales representatives. Tim delivers custom sales programs to corporate clients, as well as frequent sales and management workshops. He brings over 25 years of advertising, marketing, sales management and recruiting expertise to his clients.
Beyond the “Dog and Pony Show”: What Clients Should Pay Attention To in the First Agency Meeting
April 9, 2009 4:12 PMan Interview with Tim Brenton by Denise Goodwin Pace, CCO/Co-Founder, The Halo Group
Choosing a new marketing communications agency partner is one of the most important decisions a CMO can make. It can be a career-maker, if the agency delivers the goods. It can be a career-breaker, if the fit is wrong or if the agency ultimately does not perform. Tim Brenton, CEO of The Brenton Group, says that even in the first presentation, there are key indicators by which to gauge if the agency in the room with you has earned the next meeting.
What the agency should demonstrate
Agency presentations are usually fun and often dramatic. But during that process, Brenton says the decision makers should look past the agency “show” to make certain the potential agency partner demonstrates:
- Case histories that dignify and value the client contribution. A good agency presents its success as a result of collaboration with its valued client. A bad agency presents the work as the agency’s alone.
- Their process. The agency process must promote the client contribution to the work – collaboration between the agency and client is key.
- Hard metrics on ROI. Brenton advises clients to look at hard metrics, such as profit generated from increased sales, rather than soft metrics alone, such as increased awareness.
- Positive interaction between the agency team members. The agency people must treat one another respectfully in the presentation. Brenton says that too many times, presentations reveal an agency of individuals, not a team, all fighting for the microphone. A good agency’s people obviously value each other, actively listen to one another, and refrain from interrupting one another.
- Its own unique differentiation. A client that wants unique positioning to separate itself from the competition in a meaningful way should see the same thing at work in an agency presentation. Brenton claims that, all too often, agencies say the same thing, with the only differentiator being the production values of its leave-behind. “An agency should be able to clearly articulate its core competency. A simple but telling question the client should ask the agency is, ‘If there is one thing I should take away from this meeting with you, tell me what it is in one sentence.’”
As EVP at Arnold Advertising, Tim Brenton led his company in providing world-class advertising and marketing programs to his clients. Tim founded the Brenton Group to help CEOs and senior sales management make quantum leaps in the performance of managers and sales representatives. Tim delivers custom sales programs to corporate clients, as well as frequent sales and management workshops. He brings over 25 years of advertising, marketing, sales management and recruiting expertise to his clients.
The Client-Agency Pre-Nup Agreement, Or, Writing Service Protocols That Lead to a Wonderful Future
April 9, 2009 4:10 PMan Interview with Tim Brenton by Denise Goodwin Pace, CCO/Co-Founder, The Halo Group
Finding the right marketing communications agency partner could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship, according to Tim Brenton, CEO of The Brenton Group. But Brenton, who trains businesspeople to facilitate business relationships built on trust and confidence, believes there is an additional step both parties should take – crafting a specific contract that includes agreement on those things that can make or break a relationship. He calls them specific servicing protocols.
Keep the relationship healthy
It’s a good idea to build relationship guidelines upfront with specific servicing protocols that can ward off potential problems. Brenton supplies an interesting example:
At an unnamed agency known for its big ideas and great creative, the servicing protocol, agreed to by both client and agency at the outset of the relationship, mandates that an agency Big Idea gets a Big Listen.
“Big Ideas can be scary,” says Brenton. “And it’s human nature for middle management at the agency AND the client to want to get their fingerprints on the output of the collaboration. That’s how Big Ideas get watered down.”
So, this top agency put a fail-safe process in place that practically guarantees that Big Ideas see the light of day. Brenton explains, “When the agency Lead decides that the idea about to be presented by the agency qualifies as Big, he calls his counterpoint, the client’s Lead, and requests him or her to be at the first creative presentation. The agency built that into the service protocol and it’s one example of best practices on how you build a successful relationship.”
Linda Passante, CEO of The Halo Group, adds to that:
“We request that, overall, the decision-making team at our client be limited to one or two people,” says Passante. “Once the client team says ‘yes,’ both client and agency work to get any internal buy-in that the client needs on. Decision by committee often leads to what we call ‘Frankensteining’ – powerful work dissected and reassembled in a way that negates the heart of the idea. But, client leaders who are empowered to make decisions on the agency offering see greater brand clarity and speedier results when that kind of damaging process is avoided.”
Other examples of servicing protocols include scheduled semiannual meetings between C-level players at both the agency and client to make sure the relationship stays on track; the right for the agency CEO to call the client CEO when “scope creep” enters the relationship; and the client CEO to call the agency CEO if the agency is not performing as expected.
Specific servicing protocols are common sense parameters that serve both sides of the client-agency relationship. Developing a list of expectations right up front helps keep the client and agency bonded when the inevitable demands of business test the relationship in the future. Smart marketers require them to keep the road to brand ROI smooth and successful.
As EVP at Arnold Advertising, Tim Brenton led his company in providing world-class advertising and marketing programs to his clients. Tim founded the Brenton Group to help CEOs and senior sales management make quantum leaps in the performance of managers and sales representatives. Tim delivers custom sales programs to corporate clients, as well as frequent sales and management workshops. He brings over 25 years of advertising, marketing, sales management and recruiting expertise to his clients.
Reduce the Pain of Agency Change
March 21, 2008 12:00 AMBy Jonathan Bender
We talked to June Blocklin of Gilbert and Company, advertising agency consultants, about the difficulties to overcome when searching for a new brand agency and how CEOs can sometimes, mistakenly, value chemistry over an idea that could transform the earning power of their brand.
Where are the places that most companies stumble when searching for an agency to partner on a brand?The right short list is a critical starting point - and the place where companies often miss. There are thousands of alternatives available and always more than one agency that can fit the bill.
The key in getting to the right short list is knowing how well the different agencies fit the criteria you determine are important. You want to find, say, five agencies that not only deliver the services and have the relevant experience that you want, but are hungry, for whatever reason. That's an indication that they will step up and do a good job.
Importantly, that list should not always be about who's "the hottest." A fabulous campaign done for somebody else doesn't necessarily mean they'll do the same for you. You want to make sure you are talking to companies who want you as much as you want them.
CMOs are under immense pressure to deliver results immediately. Does an accelerated timeline ever negatively influence agency selection, whether through instability or an ill-informed decision?
Shortcutting the agency decision-making process would be a big mistake. Casting is such a key ingredient to marketing success - and that includes agency partners!
On the flip side, you don't want to make the selection process so complicated that your ideal agency opts out of consideration.
We find that when companies are taking the trouble to hire a search consultant, they tend to give the process the proper weight.
Do new CMOs uniformly change agencies?
Although CMOs want to put their own stamp on an organization, they should be cautious about changing their agency. It's disruptive to change your partner - nobody wants to turn the machine off in the middle of a big push.
Of course, the arrival of a new CMO is often a signal that something has to change. But sometimes, the solution can be as simple as an adjustment within the agency leadership team. And that might be enough of a wake-up call so that you don't have to turn your entire business on its head.
In looking for an agency what do clients typically overvalue and what do they undervalue?
We are often surprised by the importance placed on team chemistry in a working relationship. What's interesting is not that it is overvalued by the client, but that it is undervalued by the agencies. Without exception, in every agency review we see an agency that has great ideas that gets knocked out of the consideration because the client doesn't think they can work together. Likeability is such an important factor.
Unfortunately, this can cause clients to pass on original, creative thinking on behalf of their brands, leaving losing agencies baffled. Clients are simply unwilling to trade a difficult working relationship for a big idea. Of course, agencies can help solve this problem by investing more energy in making sure the chemistry is good.
What are the potential chemistry killers that you should pay attention to as you evaluate agencies?
Nothing signals potentially bad chemistry faster than an agency team that doesn't work together. Does the creative guy contradict the strategy guy? Do they appear to like each other or were they just thrown together? Does one person dominate? Do they finish each other's sentences? Are they having fun?
Generally speaking, you can infer that a team that works really well together will work well with the client.
Another killer is when agencies appear not to listen. When an agency fights for an idea, their approach might strike you as inflexible. You must be careful not to confuse courage of conviction with unwillingness to collaborate.
How can a company effectively assess a potential partner's capabilities in the new media landscape?
Many agencies bring digital capabilities to the table, but that doesn't mean that they are digitally centered. The big question is whether they can convincingly blend those capabilities in an effective way.
Clients should look for evidence that a digital transformation has occurred. If it has, the agency will do more than simply make sure that the digital channel is represented in the room. It will approach the marketing challenge from a digital perspective, and it will demonstrate an understanding of how online and offline worlds interact.
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