204 lines
8.4 KiB
Plaintext
204 lines
8.4 KiB
Plaintext
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CHOOSING AN ADVERTISING AGENCY
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By Don Kobes
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One of the most difficult decisions a business can make
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is selecting a "business partner" the advertising
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agency. A wrong choice can be expensive. It can set your
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marketing program back to the stone age. A right choice
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could propel you to field leadership. Here is a procedure
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and some practical tips and basic criteria to help you choose
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the "best" advertising agency for your needs and budget.
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From start to finish of this exercise allow at least six to
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eight weeks to run this program. Try to avoid any deadlines
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that may compromise your decision making.
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Philosophy
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Agency people often speak of the client-agency relationship
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as a "marriage". The relationship, like marriage calls for
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communication between partners, similar goals and no
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surprises. Additionally, each partner must be concerned
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about the needs, wishes and in this case the business
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success of the other.
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Successful marriage usually calls for mutual commitment.
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Without mutual commitment, success is unlikely. This means
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when you do find your "partner" you should be prepared to pay
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professional rates for professional services. Be prepared to
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negotiate a mutually beneficial client-agency contract.
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AGENCY SELECTION -2-
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One note of caution.
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If you now have an advertising manager, be certain he or she
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is directly involved in all steps of this process. Agencies
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will work best with those who can influence their future. If
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you don't handle it this way, expect a problematic situation.
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Getting Started
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To find the right advertising agency for your company you
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need to start with two important pieces of information: The
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first is the size of your advertising budget. The second is
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who wants the job? In other words, identify all possible
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candidate agencies in your geographical region.
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Keep It Confidential
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Surveying available agencies is best done confidentially,
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without revealing your hand. This is because agencies are in
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the business of selling their services and they're very good
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at it. You need remain in control of this decision-making
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process and not lose it to "personality games" of agency new
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business representatives.
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If, for example, you spoke of the need for an advertising
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agency to a media representative on Monday, you'd be swamped
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with phone calls and proposals by Friday. New business
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people at agencies get paid for aggressive pursuit of leads.
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Just what you want your own sales people to do. Many of
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these solicitations would be premature possibly irrelevant
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and time-wasting. Discretion is the better way to go.
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AGENCY SELECTION -3-
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Where do you look?
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The phone book is helpful. It will provide a local listing,
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but little else. Another source is identify those companies
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in and out of your field doing advertising you feel is
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effective. For example, look at the advertising in this
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publication. Then, find out who's doing this good work.
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Another source for agency names is a professional directory.
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A number of these exist, one is : "The Standard Directory Of
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Advertising Agencies", published by The National Register
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Publishing Company, 5201 Old Orchard Road, Skokie, IL 60076.
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You can write for more information or you may find this
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directory in your local library.
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The Standard Directory lists agencies both geographically and
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alphabetically and provides you with the size of the agency,
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names of the principals and a listing of current clients.
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Once you have a fairly comprehensive list, you begin
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narrowing down the candidates. All this can be done without
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leaving your office or running up your phone bill.
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A Big Fish In a Small Pond
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Remember, the size of your budget is a key governing factor.
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The size of your account must represent an important piece of
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business to an agency in order for you to get the attention
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you need to make the partnership successful. For example, if
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your business is ranked fourth in a shop, phone calls will be
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returned. If your business is ranked 400th in the shop--good
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luck--you'll need it.
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AGENCY SELECTION -4-
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Use this simple "size" approach to narrow your list to six
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or eight agency candidates. Hopefully, this will include
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some of the agencies whose work you noticed. Don't be to
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concerned with finding an agency who works in your field.
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You can bring that experience to the table. Creativity will
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come from fresh viewpoints, not stale ones. Agencies working
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in your field, if they are available at all, may give you
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advertising that looks and sounds like all the other work
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being done in the field.
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Assuming you have narrowed the list as much as you can, it's
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time to contact the candidates. The first contact should be
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as brief as possible, with the object of collecting data
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about the candidates. The objective is to get them to mail
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you this information. With each call, pay attention to how
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and how quickly your response is handled. This information,
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when it is received will provide you with resources to narrow
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your search further. Hopefully, to about three or four
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candidates.
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The next step is a round of mutual visits and discussions.
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Tell the agencies what you're looking for and learn from them
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how they work and even how they would like to be paid.
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Chances are, when you talk to these agencies you'll be
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dealing with a someone who graduated first in the class at
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charm school. Don't be swayed. You may never see this
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person again.
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AGENCY SELECTION -5-
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Candidates you consider to be serious contenders, should be
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asked present the account team that will be doing the day to
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day work on your account. These are the people who represent
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an agency's abilities. Get to know them and get to know how
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long they have been with the agency. A group of short-timers
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may signal personnel changes and lots of re-training in your
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future. An inconvenience worth avoiding.
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During these "client-agency" meetings, look carefully at the
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work they have done and find out, if you can, what it cost to
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produce this work. These meetings and the many discussions
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of advertising and advertising costs will let you narrow the
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list, hopefully to two candidates. Now, pick up the phone
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and speak to some of that agency's clients for a broader
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picture.
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The final stage may be the awarding of test assignments. Try
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to have the list narrowed to two when you reach this stage.
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Give each agency a similar briefing and assignment. Remember
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both agencies must be paid for their time, win or lose. Now
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you get some assignments completed. You also get a preview
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of their approach to your problems. Sometimes this is the
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"tie-breaker".
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Disclaimer
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This is not the whole story. It is a "schematic" that, if
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followed, will enhance your ability to make the right
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choices. Be certain the agency you select gets at least the
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same commitment from you as you expect from them. Finally,
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plan regular performance reviews to be certain all partners
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continue to share the same objectives. Based on what you
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have learned from your investigation and meetings you can now
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make a decision. (Nobody promised you it would be easy.)
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For more information on this or related subjects, you may
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contact the author, a marketing and advertising consultant,
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Donald Kobes, 23-1B Bloomingdale Drive, Hillsborough, NJ 08876
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Telephone or fax: (201) 281-7445.
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-30-
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Another file downloaded from: NIRVANAnet(tm)
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& the Temple of the Screaming Electron Jeff Hunter 510-935-5845
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Rat Head Ratsnatcher 510-524-3649
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Burn This Flag Zardoz 408-363-9766
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realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 415-567-7043
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Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 415-583-4102
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