Time for a switch?

Have you ever considered a switch, at least for some of your agencies, to a deliverable-first model? I recently had a chance to dive deep into what considerations to make when choosing between which agency model is best for you.

Click above to read the full article but I wanted to share the tips here as well:

1. Consider is your comfort level with lack of transparency in how agencies work. Marketers are naturally accustomed to evaluating how agencies staff their account. Deliverables-first models are about what agencies produce.

2. Ability to brief well and make timely decisions. The marketing organization must be willing to put greater emphasis on the quality of input and output, and overall guidance to agencies. Both staffing and deliverable-first models benefit from strong briefs and scopes of work. 

3. Capacity to develop a solid taxonomy. For either model – staffing or deliverable-first – to work effectively (while also allowing internal and external benchmarking), consider requiring a robust taxonomy developed jointly with your agency(s). If you are yet tracking deliverables, even as a secondary focus under a staffing-first model, you must first develop a baseline taxonomy to allow consistency, transparency and data analysis.

4. Work requirements are about open-ended exploration vs. specific deliverables. If requirements are open-ended a retainer-based model provides flexibility. If your work can be defined in tangibles then a deliverables-first model can provide optimal accountability.

5. The agency’s willingness to focus on “deliverables.” If the agency previously operated under a retainer, moving to a deliverable-first model may create a bit of nervousness at first. Clients should also evaluate costs in the context of how agencies deliver on other variables. 

For the full article visit: https://www.adweek.com/agencies/5-considerations-to-keep-in-mind-when-choosing-between-retainer-and-deliverable-first/