Perhaps you’re a small business owner who works with an equally small design shop. Maybe you’re a marketing manager at a medium-sized enterprise who continually interacts with a quiver of ad agencies regarding media plans, content calendars and integrated campaigns. But regardless of how often or infrequently you deal with your “agency-partner” (also, please stop calling us that), you have probably at some point left a meeting with them wondering just how you got involved with such an idiosyncratic lot of people. (And if you haven’t, you’re probably using the wrong agency.)
So in this edition of “The Brand Brief,” I’m going to give you some unsolicited advice (always the best kind) from one of those idiosyncratic agency folks about how to work with us. To avoid turning this column into a Buzzfeed-esque list of pilfered curated animated kitty GIFs that only, at best, tangentially relate to my chosen topic, I’ll refrain from going full listicle on you.
Assume the agency knows what it’s doing and they’ll return the favor. I assume you hired your agency of choice because something about their previous work and their current chemistry impressed you. And while they should undoubtedly strive to deepen your trust in them over time, you also must give them the freedom to do what they do best. (Which is different than giving them the freedom to do whatever they wish, but that’s a longer topic than space permits tackling right now.) If an agency abuses your trust – especially at the beginning – you need a different agency.
Bring your agency a problem that needs solving, not a tactic that needs executing. It’s true that sometimes you just need a banner ad or an invitation for an event the CEO forgot to tell you about. Agencies understand that. But good agencies also want to help solve your business problems, not just your marketing issues. They’d love to hear about the problem before a solution has been settled on. Maybe your first inclinations are correct, and the agency will (and should) concur. But maybe they’ll amaze you with all their fancy creative problem solving. You know, the stuff for which you hired them in the first place.
Let the agency fight for you. It’s easier for them to accept being tossed under the bus that way. Maybe you’re the decision maker when it comes to your company’s marketing. But if you’re not, let the agency help defend the work to those with the ultimate say. Telling the CMO “the agency said it would work” is just passing the buck. Letting the agency tell the CMO how and why it’ll work not only let’s them voluntarily share in the responsibility, it makes you their ally and banks goodwill on your behalf.
Don’t pretend you’re the audience. Even if, demographically and psychographically speaking, you are part of the audience, by virtue of being so close to the action, you really are not. If you can learn to shut off your corporate side and judge the work purely as a consumer, go for it. If not, trust the agency. They should already have that skill set. Similarly, don’t share concepts with coworkers and base decisions off their opinions. The phrase “everyone’s a critic” comes from showing things to Ralph in accounting.
The only direction you should push the agency in is to be better. You won’t like everything the agency shows you. That’s fine. But it’s not your job to solve whatever design, copy or conceptual issues exist (and do you really have time for that anyway)? Giving direction on what doesn’t work guides the agency without handcuffing them. And you’ll end up with better work because of it.
Speak plainly. Every industry has its own jargon. Work with an agency long enough, and they’ll eventually understand it all. But “eventually” could be a long way away, and conversational English keeps things as clear as possible.
Make sure we get paid. You know how Janice in Finance hassles you over invoices and POs? Feel free to return the favor. If you really value what the agency does, you’ll help make sure they get the monetary value assigned to it in a timely manner. Even if you work with a big agency that can handle the ebbing of cash flow on an invoice that won’t be paid for 90 days (and that wasn’t sent until 120 days after the project started), expeditious remuneration is always appreciated – and sometimes more necessary than smaller firms care to admit.
One could spend days in a LinkedIn discussion group trading tips about agency/client relations, but that sounds like a fate worse than proofreading legal on a pharmaceutical ad. So when in doubt, just do unto your agency as you would have them do unto you (and insist on reciprocity in this regard). You may be surprised at the lengths to which they’ll go to help you succeed.
—
This column originally appeared in the Winter 2015 edition of Omaha B2B magazine. How to Work with Your Ad Agency
Perhaps you’re a small business owner who works with an equally small design shop. Maybe you’re a marketing manager at a medium-sized enterprise who continually interacts with a quiver of ad agencies regarding media plans, content calendars and integrated campaigns. But regardless of how often or infrequently you deal with your “agency-partner” (also, please stop calling us that), you have probably at some point left a meeting with them wondering just how you got involved with such an idiosyncratic lot of people. (And if you haven’t, you’re probably using the wrong agency.)
So in this edition of “The Brand Brief,” I’m going to give you some unsolicited advice (always the best kind) from one of those idiosyncratic agency folks about how to work with us. To avoid turning this column into a Buzzfeed-esque list of pilfered curated animated kitty GIFs that only, at best, tangentially relate to my chosen topic, I’ll refrain from going full listicle on you.
Assume the agency knows what it’s doing and they’ll return the favor. I assume you hired your agency of choice because something about their previous work and their current chemistry impressed you. And while they should undoubtedly strive to deepen your trust in them over time, you also must give them the freedom to do what they do best. (Which is different than giving them the freedom to do whatever they wish, but that’s a longer topic than space permits tackling right now.) If an agency abuses your trust – especially at the beginning – you need a different agency.
Bring your agency a problem that needs solving, not a tactic that needs executing. It’s true that sometimes you just need a banner ad or an invitation for an event the CEO forgot to tell you about. Agencies understand that. But good agencies also want to help solve your business problems, not just your marketing issues. They’d love to hear about the problem before a solution has been settled on. Maybe your first inclinations are correct, and the agency will (and should) concur. But maybe they’ll amaze you with all their fancy creative problem solving. You know, the stuff for which you hired them in the first place.
Let the agency fight for you. It’s easier for them to accept being tossed under the bus that way. Maybe you’re the decision maker when it comes to your company’s marketing. But if you’re not, let the agency help defend the work to those with the ultimate say. Telling the CMO “the agency said it would work” is just passing the buck. Letting the agency tell the CMO how and why it’ll work not only let’s them voluntarily share in the responsibility, it makes you their ally and banks goodwill on your behalf.
Don’t pretend you’re the audience. Even if, demographically and psychographically speaking, you are part of the audience, by virtue of being so close to the action, you really are not. If you can learn to shut off your corporate side and judge the work purely as a consumer, go for it. If not, trust the agency. They should already have that skill set. Similarly, don’t share concepts with coworkers and base decisions off their opinions. The phrase “everyone’s a critic” comes from showing things to Ralph in accounting.
The only direction you should push the agency in is to be better. You won’t like everything the agency shows you. That’s fine. But it’s not your job to solve whatever design, copy or conceptual issues exist (and do you really have time for that anyway)? Giving direction on what doesn’t work guides the agency without handcuffing them. And you’ll end up with better work because of it.
Speak plainly. Every industry has its own jargon. Work with an agency long enough, and they’ll eventually understand it all. But “eventually” could be a long way away, and conversational English keeps things as clear as possible.
Make sure we get paid. You know how Janice in Finance hassles you over invoices and POs? Feel free to return the favor. If you really value what the agency does, you’ll help make sure they get the monetary value assigned to it in a timely manner. Even if you work with a big agency that can handle the ebbing of cash flow on an invoice that won’t be paid for 90 days (and that wasn’t sent until 120 days after the project started), expeditious remuneration is always appreciated – and sometimes more necessary than smaller firms care to admit.
One could spend days in a LinkedIn discussion group trading tips about agency/client relations, but that sounds like a fate worse than proofreading legal on a pharmaceutical ad. So when in doubt, just do unto your agency as you would have them do unto you (and insist on reciprocity in this regard). You may be surprised at the lengths to which they’ll go to help you succeed.
—
This column originally appeared in the Winter 2015 edition of Omaha B2B magazine.