Killian & Company Advertising
 

You’d think it would be fun.

The word leaks out that you’re reviewing your account. Within a week you’ve collected coffee mugs, gimme caps, desk toys, and other Mysterious Things Beyond the Dreams of Avarice. You have a one-inch stack of phone messages. You are so popular.

By week two, you have a three-inch stack of phone messages, and a key customer has a nephew in the ad business. Your CEO wants you to include Safelee, Bland & Grey, an agency name his golf buddies would recognize, where you'd be, oh, 0.04% of their worldwide billings and attention.

How can you make clear choices in this pressure cooker?

To make it easy (well, maybe just easier) on yourself, follow these 10 time-tested strategies.

1. The opening round is for disqualifying "agencies."

This is the easy part. First, only include members of the American Association of Advertising Agencies. That will eliminate the insolvent, the unethical, and all the refrigerator-magnet peddlers. You'll eliminate more than 90% of the self-declared "agencies" in the Yellow Pages ... but plenty of genuine AAAA shops would remain. (For more about the AAAA's, click here.)

Also … sweep away anybody with a glaring weakness or superior attitude or slow response time. You’re not obliged to be courteous, or reasonable, or even rational. They don't return your call promptly? Ba-da-boom, ba-da-bing. Next!

2. But … after that opening round, look to qualify, not disqualify.

A lot trickier. It’s really hard work to find what an agency brings to the party, what positive contributions they can make. It’s recklessly easy to perceive a flaw, pull the chain, and wash your hands.

3. What are you buying? Creativity? Prestige? Methodologies? Independent objectivity? Strategic vision? Marketing expertise? Golfing partners?

If your answer is Creativity, read on. We’re on the same wavelength. Agencies offer lots of valuable services and disciplines, including all of the ones mentioned in the question, but Creativity Is Why Agencies Is. Don’t be dazzled by a delivery system, a sprig of parsley, or a capability you might not need.

4. Bigger ain’t better. Smaller ain’t better. Only better is better.

There is no economy of scale in the idea business.

Can an agency be too big for you? Possibly. Some won't return your phone call if your budget is under a zillion dollars. And beware the neglect factor: Make sure you'd be on their radar screen (try to be at least 5% of their total billings) or even important to them (10% to 25% of billings). Because if you're 1%, your work will be shuffled down to the B team the minute you turn your back.

Let's put it another way: at any given moment, in any agency anywhere, your account is in the hands of a small team of dedicated professionals. What the hell does it matter how many multitudes in the worldwide agency are NOT working on your business?



Can an agency be too small for you? Absolutely not. If you could get Jeff Goodby all by himself on a San Francisco park bench, you'd have a strategic, creative agency. Well, ok, if you're a multi-national conglomerate, and you think you need international capabilities, some places might seem too small. But if you want strategic creative power, go back two paragraphs, and read it again.

5. Don’t trust History …

Samples are the doctor’s old prescriptions, but less meaningful. Many agencies will show work created by people washed away two downsizing bloodbaths ago. Who will really be on your team? Key people or juniors? Will you see agency principals more than once a year, gladhanding at your sales meeting?

6. … trust Chemistry.

Do business with people you like. Seriously. It's a radical philosophy, but we've followed it for years, and it works. Life is too short to put up with Brilliant-but-Annoying Dweebs. We’re talking about marriage, and you don’t want to be stuck with people you can’t empathize with. Check our mission statement to see how serious we are about fun. (Suggestion: offer to buy beers and answer questions for each semi-finalist team, early on. You will learn more in 20 minutes in a saloon than in most two-hour capabilities presentations.) Also, when you put together a scorecard for the finals, make sure People Chemistry is at least 50% of the points. We're not kidding about this. A year from now, the problems may be different, the opportunities may have changed, the Cubs and Red Sox may have played each other in the World Series ... but the people you work with will probably still be there. Make Chemistry at least 50%.

7. Explore Brand Equity issues

It’s the single biggest profit lever for the next ten years. Does the Agency understand Brand Narrative? Can they conduct a Brand Asset Review? Do they know how vital SEO is to your visibility? Do they understand any branding disciplines other than advertising? Or are they just an ad agency?

8. Test assignments are unfair, but useful.

Nobody should actually use a campaign developed as a test assignment. Your challenges are not so simple that a campaign whipped together in a short time is going to be perfectly on target. On the other hand, test assignments let you evaluate something tangible. More important, you should interact with the agencies in the process ... because the process will be more telling than the results. Should you pay the finalists for their test work? Absolutely, if for no other reason than to own the legal rights to the contents.

9. As long as you’re going to be unfair … be very unfair.

A week or so before the agencies are scheduled to present to you, show up unannounced at their offices (Hi! I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop in) at 5:10 in the afternoon. If you can find anyone to talk to, ask to meet the people working on your presentation. You’ll learn something (maybe a lot) by how they respond. For starters, you’ll learn who’s really working on your business, as opposed to the polished brass you’re likely to see grinning at you in the formal presentation. Chat with the real foot soldiers. See what makes them tick.

10. Very, very unfair.

Give a test assignment, let the team get a good start, and then … 48 hours before the presentation, change the assignment. Apologize that, gee, some new research showed blah blah blah, and so the campaign now has to be magazine instead of newspaper, or we want to add an outdoor campaign, etc. Sneaky? Yes. Unfair? Yes. But last-minute, whipsaw changes like these (you know, like the ones that happen in the real world) test an agency’s character. Find out now whether you'll get workers or whiners on your squad.

We can’t guarantee that the process will be painless, but if you use those ten strategies, you’ll have a much better chance of finding great working partners.

Since the whole agency selection process is so dreary (and dicey, and distracting, and disruptive,) you might want to look into what we think of as a brilliantly-sensible alternative: hire Killian & Company, then get on with the rest of your life.

In fact several of our best accounts did just that: we were hired and put to work without a big, expensive, circus-of-the-stars slugfest. Naturally, we tend to think of these clients as insightful, decisive, and tasteful ... and they’re kind enough to think of us as a valuable resource.You would, too. Hear what our clients (and one ex-client) say, in their own words.

E-mail Bob Killian, Chief Creative Officer, or call his cellphone at 312.399.2894.

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