One of the most important decisions for an advertiser when launching an advertising campaign is choosing the agency. Not because there are better or worse, but because there are more appropriate agencies for a particular advertiser, for a particular company or a particular product or service.
Selection steps to follow:
- Definition: Defining the profile of each agency participating is the main process in this step. This enables to make a first selection among those agencies that best suits the client needs. Therefore, we must take into account of geographical needs, size and structure, experience, languages, specialization, etc.
- Analysis: In this step, detail information about the agencies are taken out from different sources and are then analyzed. Going through this step helps to short list (no more than five) in which they will encompass those of the market that meet the needs and respond to the desired profile. The information generally carved out are the work of the agency, its teams, its successes, its customers, etc. This complete process is either taken care by the client itself or is managed through a specialized consulting services.
- Selection: After short listing the agencies, then comes the selection process which generally comes up with three possibilities when finalizing one out of shortlisted one:
- Direct Election: This happens when the analysis results make them realize that the agency is a complete apt for their need.
- Other Parameters: Evaluation of other elements like personal relationship (size, number of employees, offices, management team, and lost accounts or won in recent years, services offered, related companies, complete list of clients and brands they work, etc. Although elements should not be paramount, but they do have a certain importance in finalizing the agency
- Contest: The third possibility could be the contest between the shortlisted agencies, the contest would be of both creative and strategy. Whoever wins the contest becomes the final agency
| True and false in the AGENCY SELECTION PROCESS | |
| False | Real |
| The more ideas you have on the table, the better. | The massive competition distract agencies from their usual work, and lowers the overall quality level of advertising. |
| The bigger the agency, the better. | The size of an agency does not guarantee their suitability for an account. |
| Faced with a problem, it is best to change agencies. | It is often more advisable to redirect the relationship with the agency to find a new one. The advertiser-agency relationship must have stability for best results. |
| The agency demonstrates its ability to different ideas. | The speculative creativity, unsolicited ideas and not complying with a briefing proves nothing good and devalue the profession. |
| I need it in two days. | No hasty decision as the agency selection process is too important to be urgent. Client must be thoughtful and clear before making the decision. If the calendar drowns, it is preferable to pose a delayed action before choosing a hastily agency. |