Know-How Exchange : Research/Metrics

I've been a marketing consultant/agency for a lot of years now, and I can tell you that there is no reliable "scoring and evaluation system" that will lead you to an objective decision of which agency to select.

There are a number of factors to consider, of course ... things like reputation, track record, business acumen, creativity, and personal chemistry. But the mix of those, and the objective measures, are imprecise. And that means they can confuse as much as help you reach the right decision.

A few times we have been retained by clients to lead advertising agency searches, and they asked a similar question: What are the right criteria to use?

The response was the same each time: The agency whose skills will best match your needs. And the only way to know that a priori is to recognize the matching patterns from prior experience.

Catch-22?

Try building yourself a balanced scorecard covering all of the key factors that are important to you and your business, with appropriate weightings.

Picture a four box grid with a circle in the centre.

In the circle - 40% weighting - fit with your marketing strategy (can they deliver the donuts for you) - your top three measures that will confirm this for you, e.g. understanding of your industry/business/product, creativity based on previous work, capacity of the agency/account team to meet your objectives/deadlines

In box 1 - 15% weighting - fit with corporate strategy (nod to the big bosses) - top three measures

In box 2 - 15% - fit with your culture (can you work together) - top three measures

In box 3 - 15% - cost (can you afford them - don't forget that lowest rate card might not mean cheapest) - top three measures

In box 4 - 15% - differentiator (what's their USP or wow factor) - top three measures

- you should then have 15 measures, give each measure a maximum of 10 points, so 150 maximum points

- then add in the weightings, now 30 is the maximum

- you can change the content of each box, the weightings, the scores and the number of measures, e.g. two per box, to meet your exact needs

- then score each agency/pitch - don't worry, a simple spreadsheet takes the ache out of it

You then have a (more) objective scoring mechanism, and one that can be audited and defended if neccessary.