Brand Central Station

Business marketers are constantly under pressure to find ways to do more with less. That’s not just a feeling or an “educated guess.” It’s a documented fact.

The squeeze is coming from all directions. Small, nimble, niche players are finding ways to nibble away at profitable business segments while large, multi-national competitors are constantly trying to comoditize products in order to take advantage of their manufacturing scale. On the other hand, many businesses are operating on short purse strings that could significantly change their prospects for the future if inflation and/or interest rates don’t remain in check.

Somehow, all of this pressure seems to land in the marketing department first.

Maybe a “soft” area like marketing seems to be ready for belt tightening every year because many marketing managers are unable to succinctly explain their spending plans or justify their past purchases through some kind of ROI demonstration. We’re not sure. But we do know that many ad agencies and PR firms do not do their clients any favors with what is usually perceived as loose operating standards, a general lack of process and in the worst cases, a complete inability to manage projects according to approved budgets.

There are options. Clients don’t have to suffer through this alone. In many cases, agency principals just need the encouragement to bite the bullet and champion some internal change. In many cases, an agency president or managing director may be reluctant to create more internal structure because of the internal resistance that is assumed. In reality, once people inside the agency realize the client needs the change in order to achieve greater satisfaction with the agency’s performance, everyone from creatives to account management are usually happy to accommodate.

It seems job security is a concept that hasn’t been lost on agency folks.

On the other hand, many business marketing managers don’t feel comfortable making management suggestions to their agencies. A primary reason for this may be the relative seniority of the different players involved – a junior level client would certainly feel out of place making management recommendations to an older, more experienced agency principal. There are options, however:

Suggest the agency contact their trade association to investigate best practices in areas where the agency is not performing acceptably. Whether it’s billing practices, brainstorming, media relations measurement, etc. – trade associations from the AAAA’s to the Council for Public Relations can provide useful information to member firms.

If your service provider is not a member of a national trade association, they may try purchasing related research from services like Second Wind or others. These services conduct annual research studies into agency operations and best practices.

Sometimes agencies can’t or won’t change on their own. In those cases, business marketers find it helpful to engage an outside consultant to conduct a performance evaluation and help develop a program to improve the operating relationship between client and agency. Brand Central Station provides this kind of service for clients with prices starting at $7,500. If you’re interested in learning more, let us know.

Finally, there are times when marketers find it necessary to change their service provider. It’s important to carefully evaluate your needs and expectations first – and that is best done under the review of an independent consultant. An experienced search consultant will help the marketer develop a clear set of criteria for the evaluation of prospective agencies and will accompany the marketer when they tour qualified agencies and conduct meetings to discuss critical performance issues.

The search process used by Brand Central Station may prove useful in understanding this process.

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