Know-How Exchange : Research/Metrics

As background, I work for a full-service ad agency and have worked on client-side marketing for over a dozen years and dealt with many different agencies from small boutique shops to three of the top ten ad shops, as well as various design, research, PR and other agencies.

There are a host of general metrics or criteria that could be used to select a marcom agency. For example:

- Relevant / similar category experience (i.e., luxury goods, retail, consumer package goods, durables, B2B, sports, etc.)

- Number of clients / size of clients (many clients want to be important enough to command management attention, but not so big that the agency is dependent upon them or isn’t used to dealing with clients of like size and needs)

- Recent client additions and turnover plus references

- Activities/capabilities desired (creative, production, media planning, media buying, marketing analysis, research, strategy, web development, trade shows, POP/sales materials, promotions, PR, packaging/design, events, and the like)

- Media types (TV, radio, SEM, SEO, digital/banners, out-of-home, mobile, magazine, newspaper, etc.)

- Number of employees

- Key contacts and their information

- Location(s)

- Compensation type(s) (project fee-based, retainer, commission, percentage of media placed, and various combinations thereof – many of these are not standard, but customized to the individual client situations/needs however)

- Creative portfolios and client/project case studies are key

While the above would be a good starting point for screening a laundry list of agencies down to a manageable RFP set, the bottom line is it usually comes down to the pitch process, the creative or planning ideas presented therein, the agency culture and ‘fit’.

As a reference point, you might check out some RFPs for more details/ideas, look into some industry organizations like AdWeek and AdAge, talk to the 4As www.aaaa.org and contact some search consultants (a good partner opportunity).

Also be aware that there are industry references (read “competitors”) like the Agency Red Book www.redbook.com

Best of luck!