Choosing an ad agency: How should it be done?
Choosing an ad agency: How should it be done?
JAKARTA (JP): From an agency's perspective, pitching for a campaign is always a risky option. They have to devote a large number of man hours to preparing their presentation. They may also have to invest in materials. Then there is no guarantee that they will win the business. For them, it is preferable to be in a situation where the prospective advertiser invites them to give a credential presentation.
In that manner, they will be able to demonstrate their capabilities to the potential client without having to risk too much time, energy and resources. There is always the possibility that this will happen, since word of mouth and references from other clients also play a major role in getting a new client interested in them.
However, from the advertisers point of view, pitching can be the most effective and fair method of choosing an agency to work with. During the pitch, the advertiser will select a number of agencies that they think will be able to provide them with the right services.
They would then invite these agencies to participate and, once the latter agree to take part, a brief on the product or program to be promoted would be passed on. Based on this brief, the participating agencies will then prepare their own presentations and show them to the advertiser. The advertiser then picks the one that it thinks will be the most effective ad campaign.
Because of the huge amount of resources that have to be spent in the preparation of the presentation, an agency will, usually, first evaluate the potential size of the client's billing before deciding to participate in the competition. If the client is big, the agency may be eager to take part. On the other hand, if the client is obscure and does not show the potential for bringing them a large billing, agencies usually reject the invitation. The bigger ones usually do this.
Factors
On the part of the client, however, there are a couple of factors that they need to take into consideration when deciding which agencies they should consider doing business with.
First, according to Alfonso Rahardja, from Inter Admark, clients have to ask themselves whether or not they need the assistance of a full-service agency, an agency that offers "one- stop shopping". It will cost more, naturally, but it will free the advertiser from the hassles of conducting the market research on their own, for example.
Second, they also have to be honest with themselves and ask whether their billing will become one of the major ones among the accounts that the agency they have in mind already has. They have to keep in mind that, if they become only a minor client, chances are they will not receive the agency's full attention.
Like many other businesses, agencies will always do their best to satisfy the 20 percent of their clients who give them 80 percent of their revenues. Therefore, they will tend to concentrate on their major clients only and could ignore the minor ones. Consequently, it is not advisable for a small advertiser to seek services from the top 10 agencies in the country.
They should narrow down their selection to a group of smaller agencies, with the hope that they may become the agency's major client. Being a major client, they will be able to demand more attention and better services from the people in the agency.
Third, the advertiser should also choose from among agencies that they think will have compatible cultures. "The chemicals must match," Alfonso Rahardja said. For instance, if the advertiser is Japanese oriented, in all likelihood they will be better off choosing an agency with a strong Japanese background and ties.
They may have a lot of difficulties if they use the services of a Western-oriented agency. The styles will be different, the cultures will not be similar, and their ideas may not be compatible with each other at all. Keep in mind, too, that the judgment of the creative work is very subjective, and, therefore, two people from two different cultural background will most probably value the same artifact totally differently.
People
Fourth, the advertiser should also think carefully about the people who will serve their interests as the account executives. They should try to find out as much as they can about the client service department of the agencies they have in mind, to make sure that they will have strong and capable contact persons. Incompetent account executives will just drive them crazy. On the other hand, arrogant account executives, who think they know everything, may give recommendations based on wrong assumptions.
Fifth, the advertiser should evaluate themselves and determine whether they belong to the "rush" or to the "well-planned" category. Some agencies are flexible enough to accommodate rush jobs and last minute changes. Most agencies, however, would like their clients to be more organized and to plan well ahead of time. If the advertiser knows that they belong to the unorganized, or that they always want something done tomorrow instead of next week, they should not choose an agency that always follows their own strict work schedules.
Finally, the advertiser should also check whether any of the agencies they have in mind have had any problem with the media. Some agencies may have been put on the media's black list because they fail to pay their bills.
The client will find themselves swimming in deep molasses if they use the services of an agency that cannot buy the media for them because of the agency's black listing. (zia)