I Love My Agency: A Path to Better Brands

I Love My Agency

Copyright © 2018 by Tammy Ezer

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-0000-2 (Paperback)

978-0-2288-0001-9 (eBook)

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

OVERVIEW

PART ONE: TERMS, TRENDS & GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Terms & Trends

Players & Pricing

The Table

The Currency

Channels, Mediums, Media

Areas of Marketing

Digital Disruption

Guiding Principles

Branding & Business

Decisive & Divisive

Creative & Controlled

People & Process

PART TWO: THE IDEAL RELATIONSHIP

Strategic Trinity

Mark

Method

Mode

Thoughts & Actions

Think Big

Collaboration, Communication & Celebration

Attitudes & Attributes

Balanced Power

Trust & Respect

Empathy

Honesty & Integrity

Influence

PART THREE: MATCHMAKING

The Dating Game

Relationship Types

When to Look

Cost of Switching

The 5 Ps of Agency Selection

Prioritization

Previous Work

Price

People & Values

Process

Caveats & Considerations

Size & Location

Procurement

Spec Work & Jump Balls

Proposal

PART FOUR: KEEPING THE ROMANCE ALIVE

People

Fear & Doubt

Impatience

Self-Serving Behaviour

Process

Briefing & Access to Information

Feedback & Review

Estimation, Negotiation & Delivery

CONCLUSION

Acknowledgements

Interviewees

Endnotes

References

INTRODUCTION

In the broadest terms, marketing is about changing consumer behaviour in favour of an organization. It is fundamentally about people. As a result, marketing evolves with humanity. The invention of the printing press allowed the mass production of content. The first book ever printed, the Bible, is arguably marketing material for one of the world’s most prominent religions.

Fast forward to the invention of the television, and humanity’s ability to share live video instantaneously, and you find a revolutionary time in marketing. It was the era of the Acronym Agency¹ that used TV commercials to make rich companies even richer.

Then the Internet happened. Compared to the TV revolution’s effect on marketing, the Internet’s impact took longer and was significantly larger. Television added one new channel of advertising distribution. The Internet also added touch points. More importantly, it changed the balance of power between companies and customers—far more in favour of the latter than ever before. And it increased the pace at which marketing evolves.

Then came the Digital Era. It is distinguished from the Internet Era by the always on component. Early internet days still somehow separated technology from our lives. Once Wi-Fi became readily available and electronics allowed an ever-increasing series of activities, the digital world took over. Luddites and laggards are the minority. Consumers in developed countries include digital connectivity in every moment of life. Even while sleeping, technology is monitoring vital signs and REM patterns.

I began my career in the heart of the internet revolution and saw marketing transformed by the impact of the Internet and Digital Eras. Modern marketers face a broad range of options, a fast work pace, and continuous transformation. Nevertheless, the fundamental principles of marketing have not changed. What has changed are the consumers and the methods of communication. As a result, today’s marketers need a set of tools to identify agency needs, find the right partners, and get the highest quality outputs.

OVERVIEW

Agency/client work is an exercise in co-creation. The two teams cooperate throughout the process to produce the work. The relationship between the parties is an integral part of success. Every partnership has the potential for two extreme cases. The ideal situations are harmonious and produce incredible results. Other times, the relationship is frustrating or unsuccessful.

The goal of this book is to create and develop positive client/agency relationships and to identify the situations where impactful and profitable brands thrive.

Part One sets up a common language as marketing elements have interchangeable words. The definitions provided are meant to clarify the terms used throughout the text. It also explores my take on modern marketing and the Digital Era’s impact on the client/agency relationship.

Part Two examines the ideal relationship. It outlines best practices for strategic marketing and successful relationship building. The fundamentals of strategy are described along with the attitudes and behaviours that support positive connections.

Part Three is about selecting the right partners. It includes prioritizing agency needs and partner selection criteria. Some caveats and considerations, like speculative work, are also examined.

Part Four is an understanding of the common relationship challenges. Knowing what can cause problems and how to solve them paves the path to developing better brands.

The contents are an amalgamation of conversations, observations, and experience that combine to provide a complete set of perspectives. This book contains insights from over 50,000 hours of experience working with or for agencies to build brands. It also incorporates data collected from dozens of formal interviews. I held meetings with creative and business people at all levels of brands and agencies. I also interviewed marketing scholars and professionals in strategy, procurement, and venture capital. Unless otherwise indicated, all quotes come from these interviews.

Every marketing opportunity is unique. The best option is determined by corporate goals, life stage, and available funds. Rather than covering every nuance—which would make the book a hundred times longer—I use specific examples to illustrate points. Each of these is one of dozens, or hundreds, of similar situations. Our goal is to shape the path, which mandates a high-level perspective. It’s not the details that matter, it’s the principles they represent.

PART ONE

TERMS, TRENDS & GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Terms & Trends

Agency/client relationships are very similar to romantic relationships. Much like a romance, an agency/client connection extends beyond a platonic one. The two parties commingle anatomy as they strengthen the relationship. Their private parts are the tools for their creative success. For clients, this is proprietary information about the company, its product or service that could compromise results if it landed in a competitor’s hands. For agencies, it is expert knowledge or processes used in producing specialized marketing services.

This book focuses on positive skills, attitudes, and behaviours. However, a comprehensive review of relationships must examine potential difficulties. At the end of Part Three, a series of Proposals begins. These are advice about challenging components of client/agency relationships. The term Proposals fits nicely with the relationship analogy and the advice is like that of an agency partner. It’s for consideration to incorporate, change, or reject as the client (reader) sees fit.

Players & Pricing

The two main categories are buyers and sellers, and the client is always the former. A few types of companies fall into the seller category: agencies, consultants, and vendors. JF Escobar developed the following matrix to outline the categorization of sellers.²

Depending on business impact and relative spend, sellers fall into four main categories. For our purposes, categories one and two are agencies, while three and four are vendors. The main difference becomes the business impact. Our focus is on building partnerships to improve results. Hence, the relationship we’ll concentrate on is client/agency.

An agency is often hired to support a certain component of a marketing plan, while a consultant may help you develop the plan itself. The key distinction between an agency and a consultant is the scope of work. When developing solutions, the latter investigates a larger set of variables. Many agencies offer marketing plan development, but as we’ll see in the Strategic Trinity section, their skills are usually better suited for brand planning than the overall marketing strategy.

Sometimes, an agency acts as a buyer on behalf of the client. The root of the term agency is companies acting as agents in the name of clients. An agency will often outsource to vendors on behalf of a client as they coordinate the details of an overarching plan. But the term agency goes well beyond these umbrella-type relationships. The fragmentation of marketing services has led to more single-area relationships than before. This will be explored further in Digital Disruption.

Even though our focus is on agency/client relationships, the information applies to marketing consultant and vendor services. Even relationships or arrangements with companies beyond the scope of marketing share similarities. Many of the principles and practices outlined in this book apply to book publishing, remodelling, and other outsourced services—personal and professional.

One common division among marketers is the perceived value of agency services. Some clients understand and embrace the value of partnering with agencies, while others see it merely as a necessary evil. While this book is primarily for the former to help them improve the work, I also hope to convince the latter of the benefit to partnering with agencies.

The Table

When discussing client/agency relationships, it’s common to talk about the sides of the table. The boardroom table is the focal point of meetings and interactions. Creative work and proposed plans are put on the table for client review. The client then takes the ideas it doesn’t like off the table.

The language we use impacts our perceptions and actions at a subconscious level. The table terminology sets us up for an adversarial relationship. We’re already taking sides before we’ve begun our conversations. Our focus is on breaking down barriers rather than reinforcing them. Changing our language impacts our perception of the relationship.

For our purposes, the table is circular. It has only one side, and everyone is equidistant from the centre. A round table creates a sense of camaraderie and fairness. Earning a seat at the table implies the representative is trustworthy. One senior client makes final decisions, influenced by everyone at the table. At a circular table, everyone’s advice is shared with equal weighting.

One of my interviewees commented on my consulting business model stating that You have to pick between agencies and clients. You cannot work with both at the same time. This is a perfect example of outdated, oppositional thinking that creates friction. I work with both clients and agencies on different projects—just not in the same relationship, as that would be a conflict of interest. Both groups know that I serve the other and they believe this makes me a stronger asset to be leveraged.

A goal of this book is to break down the adversarial client versus agency outlook. Both groups should focus on developing strong relationships to deliver superior work. Over time, motivated by the success of strong client/agency partnerships, the discontented will follow suit. Those first to evolve will reap rewards sooner and go further faster.

The Currency

The text refers the the marketing dollar rather than referencing specific dollar amounts. As a general rule, the figure represents $100,000 and corresponding fractions. In this case, fifty cents represents $50,000. This approach enables a focus on guidelines and decision-making factors, rather than specific dollar amounts. It’s the relative percentage that the examples will highlight. Actual prices are interchangeable.

I have consulted on, directly managed, or account serviced annual marketing budgets ranging from $10,000 to $50,000,000. The principles of budget management are the same, regardless of the sum. You get more output and results with a greater spend. But, you can effectively and efficiently spend any amount to achieve realistic objectives. Qualifying goals as realistic ensures we are set up for success. A dollar of marketing can double sales to ten dollars, but it can’t increase them twenty-fold.

Channels, Mediums, Media

To understand evolving client/agency relationships, it’s important to first review the options available to modern marketers. The distinctions outlined herein are guidelines to enhance our understanding. This creates a common language for the reader throughout this book. They are not intended to be definitive interpretations of marketing.

Channels

Three main channels are available: online, mobile, and offline. Online refers to any message that takes place on a computer. The messages can use several mediums. For example, a website, search engine, web extension push notification, or email. Mobile refers