Working With Agencies: An Insider's Guide

WORKING WITH AGENCIES An Insider’s Guide......Page 3
CONTENTS......Page 9
INTRODUCTION......Page 13
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 15
1 AGENCIES: CAN’T LIVE WITH THEM, CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT THEM......Page 19
Understanding What you Want from an Agency......Page 21
Understanding the Nature of your Organization......Page 24
The Collaborative Spirit: The Essential Ingredient......Page 29
Starting off on the Right Foot......Page 32
Ensuring that the New Team Works Well Together......Page 35
2 HOW AN AGENCY WORKS BEHIND THE SCENES......Page 43
Understanding how an Agency is Structured......Page 44
Client Services......Page 45
Senior Management......Page 49
Account Planning......Page 50
The Creative Team......Page 51
Media/Data......Page 53
Artwork Studio/Digital Production......Page 54
Finance......Page 55
Understanding the Creative Development Process......Page 56
Strategic Planning......Page 57
Concept Execution......Page 58
Production/Distribution......Page 60
3 SELECTING AN AGENCY......Page 63
Preparation Before an Agency Review......Page 65
Working with Third-Party Specialists......Page 70
Guidelines on Agency Search and Selection......Page 72
Meeting the Agency Face-to-Face......Page 84
Post-Pitch Feedback......Page 86
4 BRIEFING AN AGENCY......Page 91
The Value of the Briefing Process......Page 92
The Role of the Different Briefing Stages......Page 93
The Key Elements to the Brief......Page 95
Four Principles for a Good Brief......Page 96
Understanding the Brand......Page 97
Achieving Clarity......Page 98
Creating Surprise......Page 99
The Hotspots of the Brief......Page 100
The Customers......Page 101
Developing a Challenging Communications Proposition......Page 103
Creating an Inspiring Briefing......Page 107
5 CHAMPIONING THE CREATIVE PRODUCT......Page 111
Preparing the Groundwork......Page 112
Determining your Evaluation Criteria......Page 113
Establishing the Right Mindset......Page 118
Providing Usable Feedback......Page 122
Creating a Creatively Receptive Environment......Page 124
Presenting Creative Effectively......Page 125
6 SMOOTHING THE WAY FOR EFFECTIVE CAMPAIGNS......Page 133
Clarity of Goals and Roles......Page 134
Project Management Team......Page 135
Project Management Procedures......Page 136
Project Administration......Page 137
Internal Communications......Page 138
Approval Procedures......Page 140
Checking the Legal Aspects......Page 141
Moving from Concepts to Campaign Execution Effectively......Page 143
Managing Problems with a Creative Concept......Page 144
7 TAKING CARE OF THE FINANCES OF THE RELATIONSHIP......Page 151
Commission......Page 152
Phased Fee......Page 153
Payment by Results......Page 155
Working with Procurement......Page 156
Contract or No Contract?......Page 159
Setting a Budget......Page 160
How an Agency Works in Terms of Finances......Page 161
Campaign Budgeting......Page 163
Issuing an Accurate Campaign Estimate......Page 165
Invoicing......Page 167
Final Reconciliations......Page 169
8 DEVELOPING A LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP......Page 175
Managing Creativity......Page 176
Time......Page 180
Creative Amends......Page 181
Attitude......Page 182
Getting your Portfolio of Agencies to Work Together......Page 183
Evaluating Agency Performance......Page 186
Defining the Agency Role and its Service Levels......Page 187
Creating Evaluation Procedures......Page 188
EPILOGUE......Page 197
REFERENCES......Page 199
USEFUL INFORMATION SOURCES......Page 201
ABOUT THE AUTHOR......Page 203
INDEX......Page 205