By: Will Herman, Manufacturing Team Lead
In 2021, a piece of research was released that sparked months of debate among marketeers, PR and creative agencies alike. Focusing on the direction, or lack of, which marketeers’ briefs typically provided for their agencies, the research highlighted a serious disconnect between the two.
In fact, while more than 75% of marketeers thought their briefs provided clear strategic direction, a rather shocking number, if unsurprising to those working in the creative industry, of agencies disagreed. Just 5% of agencies it seemed, shared the view of their client base.
A few months after the research was published, in one of many PR agency blogs on the topic, someone noted that creatives were not magicians. Garbage in, garbage out, to paraphrase. I’m not sure that’s entirely true and like most in similar roles, I can recall pulling a few rabbits out of hats over the years. But if we acknowledge that the brief is often the starting point in an agency selection process, regardless of who is right or wrong in this debate – which it must be said, remains very much alive – this disconnect fundamentally undermines a marketeer’s ability to ensure they have the right team in place.
There are any number of pitfalls in the process when it comes to selecting a PR agency, and just as many sources of advice of the subject. Many of these sources will cover ground that is most likely familiar to all such as inviting too many agencies to pitch, a lack of clarity regarding who attends a pitch and who will deliver the campaign, the benefits of large PR companies versus specialist agencies … the list is long. The rather cliched scenario in which the marketeer acknowledges that they don’t yet know what they want, but they’ll know it when they see it, is hardly helpful for either party but remains all too common a hurdle.
And that brings us to the brief. Any good agency will pause when faced with a poor or non-existent brief and if the marketeer rules out so many capable players before the conversation begins, a sub-optimal result seems assured.
I have always believed selecting the right agency is very much like conducting an interview. You have three questions to ask:
Can they do the job?
Will they do the job?
And crucially, will they fit in?
By the time a pitch is being delivered, the marketeer should already be able to give a confident ‘Yes’, to that first question. And this is not just about the agency’s capability – the ability to do the job will also depend on the access they have to the company in question, the availability of expert insight and a clear understanding of that company’s value proposition. A clear strategy must precede the creative.
A confident ‘Yes’ to the second question will naturally follow if these things are in place. The proviso is that the marketeer’s expectation is realistic. A good PR agency can work quickly. They can also work quickly and effectively. But they can’t work quickly, effectively, and cheaply.
If budgets are tight, that doesn’t have to be the end of the conversation. Instead, consider investing the same budget over a shorter timeframe. Building a brand and raising a company’s profile should still be seen as a longer-term programme, but with the right strategy and effective tactics, many agencies will be able to offer greater ROI over six months, than with the same budget over 12 months.
As for the third question, ‘will they fit in’, this is where the right agency will add real value. Choosing the right agency for you means choosing a partner. The value of any relationship that is transactional will quickly reach a glass ceiling. The right agency however will rapidly absorb the nuances of their client’s business and respond like any other member of the in-house team.
In the end it is sometimes quite simply a case of serendipity. But even then, choosing the right PR agency requires time, an objective appraisal of the requirements, a realistic set of objectives, and clear parameters when it comes to the budget. Bring these things together, and a good brief will naturally follow. And with that, the marketeer is infinitely better placed to make an informed decision and select the right people for the job.