In the world of agencies , there is an unscrupulous lot that is known to influence the onboarding process . They tend to be very generous with “ fungu la kumi ”. In their culture , kickbacks are treated as a business cost and a widely accepted norm for influencing procurement decisions . This lot dictates the project cost in cahoots with their in-house team . It is rampant and has since turned out to be the order of business . Unfortunately , it is difficult to be a straight shooter . You either play ball or quit altogether .
“
The other culprit is the duplication of roles within the marketing functions . You might find within the same organization there are marketing managers , brand managers , and trade marketing managers with each trying to outshine the other mostly resulting in sabotage .
And being a small new player in the marketing agency world is not a walk in the park . You need to develop a thick skin because the game is already rigged against you from onset . I ’ m sure if we were to start a YouTube channel and share our experiences with clients and agencies , it would form an interesting playlist . We once bid for a contract with one of the leading corporates . At the face value , everything looked above reproach . So , during the prequalification stage , we submitted all the prerequisite documents from company registration to audited accounts and past customer testimonials . Everything was in order .
The bidding process was so rigorous that we were even subjected to a dry run which was being scored . The panel was composed of employees from different departments , you could liken the process to military recruitment . When the evaluation results were to be released , hell broke loose , just a few days before the moment of reckoning . We received a phone call from a third party representing the committee . The thirdparty requested we meet in some secluded location along Mombasa Road within thirty minutes .
We arrived as ordered and without mincing words , he told us our firm was position two overall , and we were one foot in all that remained was that we give “ the committee ” five million Kenya shillings equivalent in cash and preferably in USD . But this was not the worst part : we were given three days to raise the amount . We made frantic calls to friends , family , and associates , but we could not raise the amount demanded and that is how the cookie crumbled . The contract was lucrative and long-term . Our pleading to pay once we got onboard fell on deaf ears , we never got the contract ! The funny bit is the companies that finally got the job used to sub-contract us to execute the assignments on their behalf !
Here is one more anecdote . While working as a marketing assistant in one firm in which the marketing budget was well funded , I sent out a creative brief to a leading marketing agency . The quotation we received was ridiculously high . But that was not the strangest thing . The same guys who had represented their employers called me in the evening and presented a revised bid from their own private company , which could do the same job at a quarter the price . Talk about placing multi-bet ! Saints are only found in churches .
County Governments and Local Authorities
If your organization does outdoor marketing activities , you must have interacted with County Government in one way or the other , since their major sources of revenue are from outdoor activities . The kind of monkey business you will interact with in this group is insane . From unstandardized rates to totally non-existent rate cards from some individuals within the local authorities whose word is the law . You mess with them , and you forget doing any business in that county . In Nairobi County for example one individual is synonymous with all outdoor advertisements .
The most common mysterious cost within the different counties is branding cost . Did you know that putting on a branded t-shirt within Nairobi City County attracts a license known as a sandwich men license , which costs Ksh 2,000 per day ? The licensing fee quadruples the cost of producing the said merchandise t-shirt .
The other thing is that if you have a branded car , and you travel within different counties , you will need to have multiple licenses or risk having your employee arrested and your vehicle impounded . The staff in Nairobi County are especially hawk-eyed . A random sweeper can stop you and ask for non-existent permits when it comes to branding . If you do not know your way around , you will not proceed with your brand activation . From experience , the friendliest county for marketers is Makueni and the worst is Mombasa . When dealing with the County government , you will have to grease the right hands or nothing moves , literally .
In Conclusion
When it comes to in-house teams , I believe there are clearly laid out manuals and job descriptions to guide different employees ’ roles . Organizations can commission baseline research to aid them in forming their own rate cards , which will serve as their basis of procuring for marketing services .
Some organizations have gone a step further to have anti-bribery clauses within their contracts , which is only a formality . If all the employees pull in the same direction and have their company ’ s interest at heart , productivity will increase substantially . And by having competitive recruitment of agencies , organizations will get value for money .
Unscrupulous agencies need to be put on notice by being blacklisted from doing business . If the marketing society act is passed into law , it will be able to curb some of these challenges .
The best way to handle County government ’ s discrepancies in cost is by lobbying the Council of Governors to have standard rates across all counties .
Geoffrey Sirumba is the founder of Green Mobility Solutions , an innovative Micromobility Solutions Provider . You can commune with him vide email at : Geoffsirumba @ gmail . com .