Eliminate marketing agency choices and you will run the risk of destroying your agency-client relationship. Agency-client relationships are no different than personal relationships.  When there is trust…things are good.  When trust breaks down, the relationship has a higher likelihood of...

It’s one thing when agencies recognize their shortcomings and try to address them…but it’s a completely different story when marketers see the holes for the agencies.  It’s what seems to be happening today. We recently released our latest survey report:...

Some agencies have deficiencies in media planning and buying. Some have deficiencies in PR. Others have deficiencies in programmatic buying. All of these things can be reasonably supplemented with outside resources/strategic partnerships that can allow an agency to overcome a...

Marketer mistakes when searching for a new marketing agency isn’t something that happens regularly…but it does happen and they can be avoided. Searching for an agency is no easy task. So many to choose from. So little time. So difficult...

Going at it alone can be a good thing under certain sets of circumstances. Going at it alone when looking for a new marketing agency isn’t always the best way to go. In our latest survey (to be released soon)...

Establishing strategic agency partnerships can be a great thing… If they’re done and presented in the right way. I’ve seen plenty of RFIs where it looks like the partner is really just an add-on to “check the box” of having...

Just had the opportunity to sit through a final pitch presentation for a hospital in Florida and experienced first-hand where hospital marketing needs to go. Consumers are grabbing greater and greater control of the decision making process in healthcare and...

Recently finished an agency search for two food companies and something very interesting happened in both final pitch presentations. Usually when I run searches for clients, whether it be a hospital search for Mercy Health, a spirits search for Sazerac,...

The marketing agency game is changing rapidly. And everybody’s got an opinion.   Some good, some predictable, and some just operating on not so sound ground. As an example, I recently saw a couple of reports – one in WSJ and...

What wins in a marketing agency search? Was sitting at a bar last week while on vacation (what a surprise)…and sitting next to me was John Dooner, the former CEO of McCann WorldGroup (another, this time, real surprise)! We got...