6 Mistakes Companies Make in Selecting anInteractive Agency – and How to Avoid Them.

This white paper provides an experienced look at the unique challenges marketers face in choosing the best interactive agency for their company’s needs. Authored by experts who have witnessed searches from both client and agency perspectives for brand leaders like Apple and P&G, and for creative powerhouses like BBDO and Euro RSCG, the paper provides practical advice for companies seeking the right agency match for their digital marketing requirements.

6 Mistakes Companies Make in Selecting an Interactive Agency– and How to Avoid Them.

For most businesses, selecting the right agency with which to dance as a marketing partner can be a highly subjective process, whether it’s choosing an advertising agency, a PR firm, a direct marketing expert or a digital resource. On average, agency/client relationships last no more than 3 years. At worst, the process – presuming there is a process -- is capricious. The fault is often on both sides – agency and client. But becausethe client company initiates the search and controls the outcome, its commitment to a clear, fair and transparent process must be at the top of the consideration list.How can companies improve their batting average in choosing a long-term agency partner? Rather than simply trying to eliminate risk in choosing an agency, companies,also known as “clients” in relation to agencies, should lean toward motivating agency participants to demonstrate the great thinking and great work they give to their best clients. Too often the search process is opaque or subject to mid-course corrections,making agencies fish for answers and piquing clients to question agency motives.Finding the right agency will always require hard work. Working smarter can make hard work much easier and more satisfying. So, how can the agency search process beimproved? This white paper examines 6 mistakes that companies often make in choosing an agency and recommends 6 best practices that client-side companies should adopt toavoid them. These best practices can be applied in whole or in part to the search for most any kind of agency. However, for purposes of this paper, the focus is on searching for the right “interactive” agency. With the explosive growth of the digital economy selecting a superlative interactive agency is more critical to a company’s business success than ever before. “Digital” requires new ways of thinking. New business demands. New management responsibilities. And new ways of marketing. It also demands a new way of thinking about choosing an interactive agency.

Mistake:The Client Cowboy

The cattle call can be heard from one end of the company’s hallway to the other: “Yeeeee—ha! Round ‘em up and fence ‘em in!” Are there really 50 agencies eligible for a client’s business – or 25 or even 10? Yet it’s not uncommon for companies to solicit agency participation indiscriminately. The “all comers’ ” invitation is often assumed by clients tobe the fairest approach to getting the most motivated -- or “hot but hidden” -- agencies tosolicit their account. Sorting through the 80 responses received in this approach

generally yields the same agencies of which the client was already aware. After all,foreknowledge is the easiest filter to use. As a consequence, agencies are given false hopeby the all comers’ invitation and, just as important, company time is wasted sifting through candidates that were never genuinely in the running from the start -- or overlooking highly qualified agencies which didn’t respond to the cattle call for any reasonin the first place.Just as egregious is including agencies in the search process that are current client incumbents as mere courtesy candidates. If a non-performing client agency has beenfairly advised of their shortcomings over a reasonable timeframe during which they had anopportunity to demonstrate improvement, nothing is going to change the company’smind about their capabilities -- no matter how well the agency performed at the end of thesearch process. Be honest and terminate them before you initiate your search for their replacement. Similarly, don’t include agencies that may periodically handle projects for you to simply give them a good feeling about being included in the process. If you don’t believe they have the resources to be your agency of record from the outset, explain thereasons to them before the search is initiated. Again, honesty counts. No agency likes tobe patronized.

Best Practice:

Cull the herd. If you don’t believe you have the knowledge or resources to do this inside your company, turn to outside resources – other marketers you may respect, industry associations and specialized search consultants are some the of resources you may wish to consider in creating a short, highly pre-qualified list of agency prospects.

Mistake:Avoid Eye Contact

Agency brands are important. They provide an indication of consistent agency performance for multiple clients over time. And, based on their performance, agency brands can provide a short cut to selecting an initial list of agencies that may be right for the company’s brand. However, the most important criterion in selecting the right agency is not the agency brand -- but the people within the agency who will be working on your account. Too often companies rush directly to a Request for Proposal (RFP) without a sense of whom they’re dealing with. Is the agency passionate about your business? Are they easy to talk with? Do they listen well? Can they think on their feet? Are their ideas stimulating? Do they share your business beliefs and standards? And soon . . . remember, these are the folks to whom you’re going to entrust your brand. Pauseand get them to personally introduce themselves at the beginning of the search. Makesure they have one or perhaps even two chances to present their work during the searchprocess. If ultimately selected, they will be extensions of your marketing family. Make