The process of selecting an agency might not be as casual as hooking up on Tinder, but research firm Gartner suggests marketing leaders need to put more effort into presenting themselves as suitable partners for a long-term relationship.
In a recent Webinar that looked at the evolution of agency requirements as more work moves into digital, Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner analysts drew analogies between courtship rituals and the sometimes-haphazard ways in which CMOs put out RFPs.
“When we were dating we were putting on lipstick and heels, or we dusted off our best suit and tie. It’s no different when you’re courting an agency and they’re courting you,” said Jennifer Polk, one of the firm’s research directors. “While marketers still hold a significant amount of power in the agency-client relationship, you’ll find that leading agencies have plenty of business, and they’re becoming increasingly selective about where they’re putting their time and energy.”
Part of putting your best foot forward as a brand includes being upfront about whether an RFP will simply be a one-off project or a potential starting point for more ongoing work, she suggested. Positioning an RFP with a solution in mind rather than simply describing your goals and objective, on the other hand, could be a turn-off, she warned.
“They take all the creativity out of the process. They handcuff the agency’s ability to bring forward innovative ideas and solutions,” she said, adding that few agencies want to be seen simply as an “execution arm” or order-taker.
Similar to the way it has helped CIOs evaluate technology vendors, Gartner has begun ranking agencies in what it calls a “Magic Quadrant,” which divides them between leaders, visionaries, challengers and niche players.
According to Jay Wilson, another of the firm’s research directors, those in the “leaders” area include OgilvyOne, Razorfish and Isobar. He also pointed to AKQA, whose work with Nissan is allowing customers to co-develop a car using the VR gear from Oculus Rift, as a model for those adept at new forms of experience design and setting direction. That said, the kind of firms vying for business is becoming much more varied.
“It’s no longer strange to be in a pitch session where you see an Ogilvy going up against a Deloitte, going up against an IBM,” he said. “When we talk to marketers, there’s really a quantifiable shift in what they’re outsourcing the agencies and what they’re looking for when they’re looking to hire new agencies.”
Recent Gartner surveys of CMOs indicate an 18% decline in those seeking traditional advertising ideation and campaign execution, for example. Areas on the rise include strategic services, product/service innovation, digital commerce, app development and technical architecture.
Unfortunately, this is where CMOs often fall down during agency selection, said Polk, because they fail to involve the CIO or other stakeholders early enough to figure out how technology will be integrated or what other needs might come up.
Like dating, Polk also said brands need to ensure they spend enough time getting to know their potential agencies, and not just the senior staff but those at the mid- or junior level who will wind up doing most of the actual work. CMOs should be careful not to be “serial daters,” she added.
“One person might move from the agnecy you strung along in the past to an agency you might really like to work with in the future,” she said. “They might remember that you were a really difficult client to work with, or that you weren’t really honest about what you hoped to get out of the RFP process.”
