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FindGood helps companies of all sizes to select the ‘right’ agency. And while we’d love an opportunity to help anyone in need, we realise that some would prefer to undertake the onerous task alone.

If you aim to select a PR Agency this year, download our complimentary Guide to Selecting a PR Agency here. Of course, the agency you choose is an important decision and the process necessary to find the right one is a lengthy one. So, if you decide to reach out for help, we’d love to be the first ones to receive your call…click here to submit your brief.

At times, we get calls for help from client-side marketers who have grown frustrated by hotshot agencies which won’t answer their calls or emails during the agency search and selection process. These client-side marketers will have started out by consulting the various agency award show winner listings when making up their agency shortlist, become enthusiastic about 5-10 of the regularly applauded firms and then subsequently have made contact only to then be disappointed when the award-winning firm(s) went silent.

We ran across this story in the Guardian yesterday which highlights that Tesco have bought into a new coffee shop concept chain which some feel is misleadingly branded as if it’s an independent. This struck us as particularly interesting as since starting up last year, we have received briefs from both small upstarts which are hoping to pass themselves off as more established brands, as well as larger corporate ones who are spinning off ‘independent concepts’ and selecting branding and design firms outside their normal stable so that no essence of their existing brands will taint the new firm’s.

This leads us to question which is the greater sin: appearing to be more, or less ‘corporate’ than in reality? Or is either mission sinful at all?

Like most firms, every day, we answer the question ‘Who are you; what do you do; what makes you different?’ And, of course, we have our elevator pitch prepped and ready to go. But, it always comes out slightly differently depending on who is speaking, whom they’re speaking to and what else is our minds. I suppose we have this in common with most other companies around.

So, just in case you were wondering and have landed on this page:

Back in 2000-01, I was working agency-side and just about every new brief was for a website pitch. At the time, we’d go into the client’s offices (or invite them into ours) and discuss our methodology for developing a great website, gather their brief, show them relevant examples of our work for others and provide a proposal and estimate thereafter. As ours was a small boutique creative agency and the average site build was less than $30,000, this was most often adequate to win the website pitch.

Now, in 2012, things have changed–obviously. As surfers today, our online behaviour patterns are ingrained and we now have access to much more sophisticated analytical tools to assess user’s actions. So then, why do so many small, boutique digital and integrated agencies still pitch in much the same way?

I recently read a thought-provoking article by Andrew Marr entitled ‘Can Good Design Save The Economy’. Upon reading the article, I was proud to be creative industry as the central premise of the article is that the thinkers and creators who play in the creative/design industry may drive the UK’s economy in the future. Apparently, the design/creative industry contributes roughly the same amount to the UK’s GDP as Financial Services. But the article goes further to state that the number of individuals working in the Creative and Design Industries is nearly double that of the Financial Services. To my mind, the natural assumption which flows from these stats is that those working in Design are less business savvy than those working in the financial services industry.

If we really take a moment to think, the central message within the article is common sense. It’s been well articulated by others much wiser than I that our future economy (ie the world’s) will be fuelled by thinkers, professionals doing and creating new things of value which serve a worthwhile purpose and command a fair price from consumers.

In many ways, selecting a PR firm is a lot like selecting a life partner. Companies must select a firm in which they have confidence to operate with good judgement as their proxy.

The typical marketing procurement manager within a big, global corporation faces many challenges. And in speaking with them, we’re regularly reminded of how tough their job can be. So, our aim here is to take a bit of a journey in their shoes.

Taking a step back for those unfamiliar, marketing procurement professionals work within large corporate firms. These individuals, if working for a firm which adopts an agency roster, may manage the selection of marketing and communications agencies full time. However, other marketing procurement professionals arent afforded the luxury of focus. Instead, they may be sourcing an accountancy firm one day (or worse, toilet roll!) and a marketing agency the next. So, the primary challenge of non-dedicated marketing procurement folks is lack of focus. And this lack of focus means that in many cases, procurers will have to start fresh in re-educating themselves on the industry whenever a new firm or agency network is required, as selection may occur just once ever three or more years. Of course, they’ll have their network of internal marketers’ ears whenever they need help or advice, but it can be a lonely world as they are in some cases feared (if not unpopular) amongst agency management.

There’s an old, trite saying which goes ‘there’s no such thing as a silly question’. However, in the case of the agency pitch process, I beg to differ. Questions, which drive a discussion forward are well appreciated by everyone, of course, but other questions which show ignorance are obviously best avoided.

As an agency intermediary, we chat with clients and marketing agencies daily in an effort to properly match firms to appropriate briefs. So, it’s not at all strange for us to be the conduit for questions and answers. Many of those questions are worthwhile and important. But, sadly, others are time-wasters and hurt rather than help the agency’s impression in the eyes of the client contact.