Agency selection: Forget everything you know about Tinder…

Source: © 123rf 123rf Finding the right fit between marketer and agency is not just a matter of swiping right or left, but more like an old-fashioned tinderbox - which could light your fire or burst into flames, writes Johanna McDowell, founder & CEO of Independent Agency Selection (IAS) and managing partner Scopen Africa

While the outcome of every pitch is generally the same, every pitch process is different.

One size does not fit all, and 18 years of experience will show there is more insight and instinct required to get the match right than what is revealed by checking an agency’s credentials.

Each pitch process is tailor-made for the particular client, given that each would have different requirements from various agencies. So, the start of the process is the most important part of the intermediary’s job.

It is here that they need to take a step back and thoroughly review how the client’s marketing team works and how it interacts with current agencies; what the history of these relationships has been; the number and frequency of changes of agencies over the years and the reasons for those and what the management process is like within their organisations.

This enables the deep dive that will ultimately highlight precisely what a marketer needs from agencies and how they ensure they get it. It is the cornerstone of a greater process of seeking, reviewing and long-listing agencies.

Talking to key clients

Importantly, the intermediary spends time talking to each of the marketer’s key clients, particularly in organisations where there are multiple divisions such as large financial institutions and FMCG companies, with multiple teams and several brands, all of which have different needs.

Here, the intermediary looks at what each division’s needs are and once all of this data is noted and thoroughly scrutinised, the process design can be created.

Here’s where it gets interesting: As you work to build the process, things change, often more than once. The agency credentials review which is part of the start of the process, is an opportunity to listen to what the client is looking for and pick up on clues.

It’s about hearing what the client is saying as they’re looking at the various submissions from agencies, which is when they are most likely to notice things they may not have thought about before - and suddenly they realise they need those capabilities.

It is not unusual for a client to see the bigger picture at this stage rather than at the initial briefing stage, and the process will need to pivot to meet new expectations.

Chemistry: More than a feeling

Then we get to chemistry, which is where experience and intuition meet. The interaction between the client and the agency when meeting is very important, but even more crucial are the learnings the intermediary gets during those initial sessions. That is when the client gets down to the nitty-gritty about what’s going on in their business and talks it through.

This must be heard and - if the agencies are smart and ask incisive, dig-deep questions - they will likely learn things about the business they might otherwise not have known. This enables the intermediary to “see” what the final pitch brief should be.

It’s paramount to note that chemistry is an eliminator and the path to choosing just three agencies that will finally pitch. It has been my experience through the past 18 years that there is no need for any more than three finalists.

With changes happening throughout the pitch-building process, those who hesitate are lost. By this, I mean intermediaries who look for the same solutions from every agency they deal with are unlikely to ultimately put forward the best three. Without the agility required to adapt to changing needs, fleeting opportunities for deeper insight may be lost.

Framework, timelines and ideal choices

It's great at the beginning of the process to be able to put the timeline together, to set the framework of dates and bookings for the various meetings in motion and to make sure we meet each step within the timeline.

However, the trick to getting this right is not only being agile but being responsive to a need that may arise at any point that hadn’t been identified before, and now needs to be slotted into the process.

All of this makes the processes interesting and reflective of the industry, as opposed to an RFP process that might be so bureaucratic that it doesn’t engage or attract the “swipe right” agency with the ideal capabilities.

Much of the IAS’s learnings come from closely following our UK partner, the AAR group, who are the original pitch consultants globally and now have some 50 years of experience.

The AAR captures the essence of the pitch procedure by noting: “Finding an agency isn’t difficult. Finding the right one requires a little more finesse, insight and expertise.”