The 3 questions you need to ask your ad/media agency before you work with them
Jonathan Sackett
For over 15 yrs, award winning executive storyteller and new business winner of fortune 50 brands - leading #Digital #Creative #Advertising #Marketing #Strategy #Analytics #New Business
I've been at this advertising thing for quite a while now. I've been a "Chief" of some independents, as well as the biggest/global agencies on the planet. You're on LinkedIn so look me up!
I know we're all in business to make money - agencies are no different. But how they make their money (and how much) needs to be properly governed. The typical agency model is about "run rates" and staffing plans. The run rate is the amount of markup on a person or team's time. Take their salaries and add a percentage to it. I've seen run rates as high as 40%. Typically, you should expect around 15%. The staffing plan is - well, whom and from what departments (and what % of their time) they are COMMITTING to allocate to your business.
Every agency has some level of creativity - of course. In most cases, in my experience, what is presented in the pitch never sees the light of day. There are a number of reasons for this, but keep this in mind when choosing your agency partner. Here are the questions that I haven’t been asked enough by clients:
1. What is your run rate? Ask your agency partner this in your first meeting. If/when you decide to work with them, make sure the contract and what they told you in your first meeting match up.
2. Will my allocated teams be on any new business pitches? Successful agencies are in constant pitch-mode. You want to make sure the time and people you’re paying for are focusing on your business. It’s unrealistic to think some of your people won’t help out on pitches, but you need to be their top priority.
3. How much and what types of work will your agency outsource? This is a tricky one. Most large agencies outsource Digital development and design as well as video production and direction. So, you’ll want to make sure the allocations of your agency teams don’t overlap too much with their production partners. Otherwise, you’re paying for people to essentially do nothing.
I hope this was helpful for you. I’ve always believed that transparency on both sides of the table (client and agency), makes for the best product AND relationship.
-Jonathan Sackett, President, CCO allscope (Former track star and Minneapolis rapper - no kidding?!!?)