Just finishing up a search for a new agency for one of the nation’s largest credit unions.

It’s been a great search.  Found a solid number of very capable agencies that met the criteria of what the bank was looking for: a new agency that could meet their very challenging business needs and at the same time, satisfy their hefty technical requirements.

The agencies we presented all had the experience.  They had the expertise.  They had the resources and personnel to go beyond and deliver very effectively for this client.

But there were a couple things that made this search (and other financial institution searches) unique compared to others we’ve run.

One component was the nature of the organization behind the search.

Typically in financial institution searches, there are many constituents involved and they all have to carefully be managed through the process.  In this particular case, the credit union did the smart job of assigning one person internally as the shepherd.

So between the work that she did, and the work that we did to help us keep everything organized…the search went off without a hitch.

The other part of this search that is unique to banking/credit unions (and likely also part of any financial service search) is the degree of due diligence that each agency had to go through to make certain they met the technical and other security requirements of the credit union’s technical team.

Finding agencies that have the ability to not only possess the know-how and technical chops to play in the financial space, but also the people in the agency that can go head-to-head with the CTOs and CIOs of companies is no easy task…but we did it.

I tell agencies all the time (and not just those in the financial space) that they have to find smart, technically savvy talent that can stand alongside the CIO and CTO  in organizations – as it’s a growing phenomena that isn’t going away.

In our latest New Year Outlook survey report, more and more of you marketers and your companies are bringing CIO/CTO talent on board and giving them a seat at the table when it comes to setting and guiding marketing strategy.

Leading the way.

Industries like banking and hi tech (among others) are leading the way when it comes to going the extra mile when bringing on a new firm.  But eventually, more industries will need to do the same.

As security risks grow and the need to protect your company’s data and your customer’s data, the need to find well-prepared agencies will become more and more critical.

No longer will a marketing agency having the right platforms and resources available be the only thing that is important.

In fact today, it is also critically important to find an agency with the human capital that can look at your business objectives and translate them into meaningful, technically sound and secure marketing deliverables.

So if you’re a company that is feeling the need to carry your due diligence a bit further when looking for your next marketing agency – regardless of the type of firm you are – give us a call.  Happy to talk you through it – or help get you to where you need to be.