When it comes to agency partners, size matters

Does this sound familiar? You’re a busy, fast growing company with strong sales and huge upside potential. You decide it’s time for a trusted agency partner that can help you with your marketing and media planning/buying strategies. Maybe you’ve got $10-20 Million (not inconsiderable) in the war chest so you take meetings with suitors – big, heavyweight firms with reputations to match. But soon after all of the speed dating, the handshaking and promises from corner office agency leaders, you’re left wondering what happened. Perhaps your newly-minted account team looks suspiciously junior or your calls and emails aren’t met with the kind of urgency you’d expect from a multi-million dollar program. The cold, hard truth is you’ve been outsized by your chosen global agency.?

This happens all the time, but if you’re a marketer about to embark on an agency partner search, or you’re feeling forgotten after the ink dries on last year’s agreement, there are some precautionary questions to ask that can help you find a partner that pays you the attention you really deserve. Here’s the short list.

Does my partner really know me?

The ten thousand dollar question: can a global agency with 5,000 employees in markets all over the world, truly invest the granular attention and even nonbillable hours needed to understand your business, let alone the many nuances that makes your brand unique? Highly unlikely. But without that understanding then the hours they do expend on developing strategies necessary to meet your business objectives are pointless, burned and simply subtractions from your budget’s real spending power. Don’t get me wrong there’s absolutely a place for global agencies - but it’s with global brands. In other words, companies with many moving parts, over countries and continents that are best suited to agencies with similar worldwide reach.

While those firms are perfect for global brands, unfortunately, thanks to their vast client bases and operational scale, for anything less – smaller budgets of, say, less than $50,000,000 – the story is very different. When marketers feel like they need a large, global agency it’s like when a young kid thinks it’s cool to wear their parent’s shoes – just not effective, or comfortable, in the long term. For those that do end up in that partnership, you can expect a lack of personalization that will quickly blunt insights, produce cookie cutter strategies and less impactful brand creative. Couple this with the higher rates of many publicly traded agencies driven by their higher lease, talent, and operational costs, and very quickly any brand with a more modest budget, becomes both outsized by their agency and undervalued on the priority list.

Can a midsize shop deliver the impact of a global agency brand?

The largest ad agency in the world, WPP, posted profits of more than $17.8 billion and there are plenty of others not far behind. Each global agency is vying for the same high-profile, portfolio-making, multi-million or billion dollar clients. It’s true, a global agency has deep resources when it comes to creative products and very likely a wide cross section of talent to bring to a business.? But marketers with budgets under $50 million need to consider whether global firms are the right choice and if they are properly positioned to really assist a non-global brand-especially one with primarily local and regional media buying needs.

As you begin to pursue a safer, more attentive home for your business, consider the many benefits of finding a truer fit for your brand and business with an agency that can provide both the attention and reach to optimize any kind of expenditure you make. A mid-size agency will likely have hundreds of highly skilled employees; robust strategy, media and creative capabilities as well as? multiple locations.? Additionally, you’ll find that your multi-million dollar budget is going to put you near the top of your account lead’s priority list; and second, you’ll receive the kind of focus that enables true relationship building and customized program planning that your business demands.

It’s also important to note here, that we’re definitely not talking about small agencies - firms with less than 100 employees, for example. While your budget would be extremely attractive, managing it would swamp their personnel, and the demands of deploying media at that scale would be beyond their reach. As you zero in on a mid-size partner, look for agencies that have a few hundred employees, perhaps multiple locations and revenues which would put your spend in their priority client list.?

How do I go about right-sizing my agency for my business?

A typical RFP and agency selection process will examine and then thoroughly check the boxes on big picture items like strategic capabilities, media buying strength? and overall track record, among countless other metrics and variables. But rarely do they ask the most important questions below the surface that matter to you: “are you too big for my brand right now?”, “are you able to focus appropriate resources on my business?” and “what will our relationship look like day to day?”?

As your team evaluates candidates or re-evaluates current relationships do these three things to level set and view potential partners through a more realistic lens:

·? Revamp the RFP – ask for specifics in terms of account representative seniority and fee hours focused on your program; benchmark your business against the agency’s client roster – where will you sit in terms of priority? And gain a clear understanding of the agency’s client roster and their priorities.? Determine where your company will fit in their overall portfolio relative to size.??

·? Increase the number of mid size agencies in your consideration set – many will have truly valuable attributes - from national and local media buying capabilities to robust strategy and data analytics necessary for your business’ success

·? Place a priority on independence – independent, mid-size agencies can operate with an agility, flexibility and non-traditional problem-solving approach that can drive real results more efficiently and effectively than their larger multi-national and corporate-owned counterparts hemmed in by standardized global policies, practices and procedures.

?Happy hunting.