Consider the time necessary
for response to the brief
Allow sufficient time for agencies to
have face-to-face meetings with you to
discuss the brief, ask questions, and to
talk through their initial thinking. Don’t
underestimate the value of informal
meetings with the competing agencies in
helping you to evaluate team ‘fit’.
Time must be allowed for development
of constructive ideas between brief and
presentation. Bearing in mind that full
proposals can take weeks or months to
develop in an ongoing relationship, four
weeks minimum is suggested for the
development of work for a full creative
pitch. Different pitch approaches,
such as extended credentials, ‘think-
pieces’, strategic recommendations, and
workshops, can take less time and still be
effective.
S
pecify the time allowed for meetings or
presentations. If pitches are to take place
at your premises, advise agencies on the
presentation facilities available, size and
nature of meeting rooms; and allow them
access ahead of the day itself.
Give background market
data, interpretation and
clarification
You should be willing to share, on a
confidential basis, your overall business/
corporate objectives, market data and
other relevant research and allow agency
personnel access to people in the company
with whom they would work, if appointed.
Make sure that there is always a specified
senior member of the client’s company
to handle all enquiries and meet requests
of the agency to ensure consistency of
response.
Avoid giving the answers to one
agency’s carefully considered questions
to all the competing agencies (unless
those questions highlight important
information which should have been
included in the original brief ).
Agree basic contractual
terms upfront
It is not usually in the interests of either
you or the agencies involved to spend time
and money on negotiating full contract
The selection and re-
tention of the right
agency is critical
for a client because
of the key role that
the communications
agencies are able to
play in promoting
the company and its
brands, thus enhanc-
ing its ultimate prof-
itability. Long-term
relationships bene-
fit the health of the
brand.
terms at this stage of the selection process,
but the fundamental terms of business
(such as budget, basic remuneration and
IP ownership) should be addressed.
However, should you have fixed terms
of business which are not open to
negotiation, then these should be put on
the table, upfront and in full, to make sure
the competing agencies are clear on the
terms under which the contract will be
awarded ultimately.
Ensure that all the decision makers
have been fully briefed and that they
are all present at each stage. Advise the
agencies of job titles and roles of those
attending for the client. Establish an
objective evaluation system for assessing
each presentation. Ensure that the agency
presentation teams include people who
will actually work on the business.
Decide and inform quickly
and fairly
Decide on the winning agency as soon as
possible, normally no more than one week
after all the agency presentations have
taken place (except in those special cases
where it has been agreed to put competing
creative work into research).
Ensure that all participating agencies
learn of the result on the same day. Once
you have established that your chosen
agency would accept the appointment
if selected, you should inform the
unsuccessful agencies before confirming
your decision with the successful one. This
is usually the best way to ensure that the
losers do not hear the bad news first from
someone other than the client.
Key guidelines on
implementation and
relationship management
After the review, give the losing agencies
the courtesy of a full ‘lost order’ meeting.
Any losing agency must return all
confidential material and information
provided - in whatever format - and
you, on request, must return the losing
agencies’ pitch presentations.
Honor the incumbent agency and ensure
that they co-operate fully in a hand-over
to the new agency, making sure that all
materials belonging to you are handed
back in accordance with the contract.
Commence formal negotiations, and
ensure final contracts are signed by all
parties. Allow sufficient, but not open-
ended, time for this negotiation to take
place.
Welcome the winning agency into the start
of a long-lasting and mutually satisfying
relationship. Arrange mutual induction
meetings to create familiarity between
client and agency, ensure understanding of
respective business processes, and manage
expectations for the working relationship
Client-agency relationships are valuable
and need active management: review and
reinvest regularly in the relationship by
the strategic use of brainstorms, ‘awaydays’
and refreshing the team with new people.
Agree on realistic objectives for brand or
corporate communications, put measures
of effectiveness in place and report key
metrics regularly at CEO/main board
level.
By searching and selecting your agency
in this way, you are on a good start to
ensuring marketing delivers on ROI.
Susan Makau is the Chief
Executive Officer, International
School of Advertising (ISA).
You can commune with her on this
or related matters vide email at:
Susan.M@isaafrica.education.