If the agency-hiring process were managed as thoroughly as ski area development, there would be a lot more happy client-agency relationships as well as better results. In the past 25 years I’ve seen some outstanding hiring practices, just as many poor ones and a flock in between. Based on that experience, I’d like to share some suggestions.
Suggestion #1: Be well organized from the outset. Do everything you can to manage the selection process professionally and seriously. Be disciplined. Look hard and work hard to insure an organized approach.
I remember a formal briefing by two client principals who, midway in the procedure, faltered and floundered over the matter of exactly what level of creative preparation they expected from the agencies for the preliminary screening. After an embarrassing 10-minute time-out while the principles re-grouped, the meeting reconvened and marching orders were finally given.
Suggestion #2: Show respect. I have the impression that some advertisers view agency selection as a one-way project. Their thinking appears to go like this: I am the advertiser; I have the account to let; I am the buyer; You are a supplier, a servant; Now, tell me, why are you good enough to win my approval?
That kind of adversarial attitude may characterize only a few; I hope so, but it’s far from unheard of.
An attitude of mutual respect for each other’s roles and competence leads to a healthier, happier, more productive discussion. From the outset, it will pay you, the advertiser, to foster this spirit. Agency people, like other business people, respond better and more enthusiastically when treated with fitting consideration.
Once a firm pact is made between client and advertiser, mutual respect is absolutely essential for a first-class, enduring relationship.
Suggestion #3: Choose an agency for the long haul. Hal Riney, the eminently successful agency creative man, said to a meeting of the Association of National Advertisers: “Choose an agency for life. I suspect one of the reasons some clients spend so little time choosing an agency is that they know, if things don’t work out perfectly, it’s pretty easy to get rid of their agency and get another one. Client-agency relationships would be a lot stronger — and last a lot longer — if each party had the confidence that the relationship wouldn’t break down just because of a few rough spots.”
The cost of changing agencies goes beyond just the cost of your time. The heavy costs are the time it takes the new agency people to learn your business, plus the loss of momentum.
Suggestion #4: Determine what you need. Assuming you are convinced you should switch agencies, your first responsibility is to think through and write down, exactly what you expect from an agency.
Is it primarily copy and media? Is marketing counsel a must? How about direct response, public relations, promotion? Do you have those services in-house or available from outside specialists? Do you really need an agency that, in the true sense, offers full service? Or, are you looking for brilliant creative material? Once you establish your needs, you’ll be in a better position to start the search and you’ll save time when you are precise in spelling out your needs.
Suggestion #5: Do the agency search yourself. Here’s what David Ogilvy, the prominent advertising man, has to say on this subject in his book, “Ogilvy on Advertising”:
“Don’t delegate the selection to a committee of pettifoggers. They usually get it wrong. Do it yourself.
“Start by leafing through some magazines. Tear out the advertisements you envy and find out which agencies did them.
“Watch television for three evenings. Make a list of the commercials you envy and find out which agencies did them. You now have a list of agencies. Find out which are working for your competitors, and thus unavailable to you.
“By this time you have a short list. Meet the head of each agency and his creative director. Make sure the chemistry between you and them is good. Happy marriages fructify, unhappy ones don’t.”
Note that Ogilvy emphasizes the creative product. That’s as it should be. That’s the heart of the service you’re buying. At the same time, no advertising agency has a monopoly on creative brilliance. You don’t have to hire a big-name agency to get creative excellence.
If you are not comfortable with this exercise, it might pay to retain a consultant who specializes in agency relations and selection. It’s not necessarily a heavy cost and it may pay for itself many times over in the long run.
After some serious searching, you may have a short list of the agencies that interest you. If not, you could ask agencies to respond to some basic, significant questions that will tell you enough to continue or stop. Keep your questions few, brief and simple; not a detailed questionnaire.
Suggestion #6: Brief the prospective agencies thoroughly. This can be done most efficiently in a group meeting. Here are some guidelines:
a) Give the agencies all the factual market information that’s relevant: industry facts, the competitive picture, your share trends.
b) Share your research.
c) Explain your sales history, problems, successes; your advertising and promotion history.
d) Know your near-term, long-term marketing plans.
e) Outline what services you expect from the agency. (Strategy recommendation, creative, media, promotion, public relations, direct response, collateral, exhibits, trade show participation?)
f) Tell them your budget for media and all other services.
g) Tell the agency principals you want to know the people who will work on your account and how much time they will devote to your work.
This last point is crucial. Mike Turner, chairman of the Southeast Earle Palmer Brown agency, says, “What I would want to know is, are they talented? Will that talent translate to my kind of business/product? Is the right talent available to do a good job for me? Is all of the above certifiable by their existing clients?”
h) Give the prospective agencies projects requiring strategic and creative thinking. This does not mean — indeed it should be specified not to mean — that they should prepare finished layouts, storyboards or other products. Ask for conceptual recommendations, in person or via correspondence. Based on this review, you can cull the agency list to the few (not more than four or five) that you invite for final presentations.
Suggestion #7: Manage the presentation process professionally. The purpose of the presentation is multi-fold. You want to hear first-hand the agency’s response to the assigned project. You want to assess their thinking, get a feel for what kind of people they are. Are they bright? Do they listen? Are they savvy? Curious? Do they have a sense of humor? Do they reflect integrity? Are they committed? Is the chemistry between us good?
The presentations call for responsibility on your part, too. Have you organized a tight, orderly schedule? Have you told the agency about the presentation room, the audio-visual equipment, the number of client people who will attend, the order of presentations? Have you scheduled the presentations so that your review committee will not be exhausted when the last one or two agencies come on? Have you asked for a “leave piece” that summarizes everything you want considered about the agency?
It is up to you to create, from the very first moment, a climate that encourages mutual respect, openness, candor. The climate you create will stimulate the presenters, inspire them to excel, to go all out in responding to your needs.
Suggestion #8: Allow time at the presentation for questions and answers. Specify a time limit. Strive for provocative, significant questions. Avoid nit-picking. Forty-five minutes to an hour should be adequate.
Suggestion #9: Don’t be dazzled by slickness. Some agencies are better showmen than others. Some agency new-business presenters are glib and smooth. Beware. You’re looking for creativity, to be sure, but let us not confuse the superficial with substance. What you want is a bright, hard-working credible team.
Suggestion #10: Look for something extra. For example, did the agency do something unique, more than you asked for, to research your problem? Did it dramatically show the material? Did they use a technique that involved your participation at some point? In short, something of a surprise, something extra? Most of us appreciate a business partner who does a little more than is asked for.
Once you and your colleagues have agreed on the agency, there’s the necessary step of agreeing on contractual terms before the papers are sealed. Questions to ask are: how will the account be costed? What specific services will be provided? How will the agency be compensated (by commissions, by hourly charges, by overall fee, by a combination)? What terms apply relative to the termination of the contract? Err on the side of detail and comprehensiveness. At this stage, it’s advisable to have legal assistance.
From here on, the objective is to get the best work from the agency. This involves continued evaluation. It’s terribly costly to have to switch agencies and in many instances problems can be resolved by switching within the agency, not from it. The best evaluations are those that are two-way and look for problems that may exist with the advertiser as well as the agency.
25 More Tips
- Are you convinced that the agency you will select has the same basic attitudes toward business as yours?
- Have you overlooked any useful material in the briefing?
- Have you made it crystal clear to the prospective agencies, during the early stages, that you are ready and willing to try to field any questions and requests for information?
- Are you asking for too many agencies to compete in the final presentations? (Four or five are usually enough.)
- In all of your contacts with the agencies, are you treating them as equals, not subordinates?
- Did you make clear to the agencies that you do not expect comprehensive layouts for the presentation? If not, did you offer — or at least consider — to pay for all or a portion of their out-of-pocket costs?
- Have you made sure only your decision-oriented colleagues — no observers please — attend the presentation session?
- Did you have one person who was in charge of the selection process, and who really looked like and behaved like he was in charge?
- Did your own selection group perform as a team?
- At the presentation session, did you introduce, with a bit of background, all of the people from your office?
- Did the top agency management attend your briefing meeting? The presentation? How much time did they give it?
- Who from top management will take responsibility for your account?
- If the agency has to hire outsiders to serve your account, what kinds of people will these be?
- Did the agency knock their competition? If asked about your own current advertising, were they forthright in response?
- What’s the agency’s attitude about research? Are they tigers to get at the answers? Proof?
- Did you find excitement by the agency in the pursuit of your account, in questioning, in follow-up, in the presentation?
- Did the agency-presentation group perform as a team? Do they like, respect, get along with each other?
- Did the agency people at the presentation appear to enjoy the experience? How did you rate the atmosphere at the agency’s office? Stuffy, fun, informal, alive?
- Were the agency people comfortable with one another? Did you feel your group was comfortable with the agency group?
- Did all of the agency people at the presentation meeting contribute to the presentation and discussion?
- Did the agency describe the role and opportunity for services other than media advertising? (Public relations, promotion, direct response.) How professional were they in discussing these disciplines?
- Were the illustrations of experience and work, such as case histories, relevant to your industry and product?
- Did the agency spell out, prove and reinforce its unique positioning in the agency world?
- Did the agency pay any heed to creative excellence? Do you?
- Did the agency prove it is stable? What’s their record in income growth? In staff turn-over?
Big Tip
Despite the importance of all the suggestions and tips here, one consideration overrides all others: Would you like working with these people? Would your people get along with them in stormy weather as well as calm? Almost everything can be solved if the personal relationships are good.
—P.B.
