When You Choose An Agency, Find Out How It Really Works

An expert tells how to get inside an advertising agency to make sure it's right for you.

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Selecting an advertising agency is often difficult because you are buying "soft goods" -- not only creative thinking and problem-solving ability, but also compatibility, people you can work with closely and well. The selection process, however, doesn't have to be based solely on intuition. Julian Sloan, an advertising consultant based in New Canaan, Conn., suggests some systematic ways to evaluate the abilities of your prospective agency.

"The final presentation is the most important part of the selection process," says Sloan. "You should be able to learn three things from it: How capable the agency's people are, how well it has responded to your particular problems, and how well you'll get along with the people you'll be working with."

But before you can judge the agency, you have to give it a proper briefing about your needs. Tell the agency everything you can about your company, its products, its markets, and the specific marketing or advertising challenge you think you face. Don't hold anything back, within the bounds of common sense. With this sort of direction, three weeks should be enough time for almost any agency to prepare a presentation for you.

One of the best ways to test an agency's flexibility and creativity is to give it a specific problem to consider. A small liquor importer, for example, asked prospective agencies to wrestle with low consumer recognition of his product. Customers usually liked the product when they tried it, but apparently they weren't familiar enough with it to ask for it regularly in bars or stores.

"The importer wanted to see if the agency would come up with a different approach," recalls Sloan, "or if it would simply give him a stock answer, like 'Spend more money on TV." Most agencies did just that, but one suggested a far less expensive method: point-of-sale displays for bars and package stores. The agency described how the displays might look and how it would introduce them to outlets. The importer signed the agency.

The liquor importer, Sloan points out, did not ask for speculative work -- actual copy or illustrations in rough form -- and didn't receive it. But most agencies produce work "on spec" almost automatically, and as Sloan points out, "It's almost the only time you can have three or four creative teams all working on your problem at the same time." He suggests, however, that you make arrangements with the agency to pay a nominal fee for their efforts if speculative work is to be done. "If you pay for it," Sloan says, "it's no longer speculative, it's yours to use."

Where you see a final presentation is as important as what you see. "Always go to the agency for the presentation," recommends Sloan. "You'll learn much more from seeing the people and their work at their office than you will by having them come to yours." Plan to spend about half a day at the agency, he says, and to finish your meetings in a social situation, usually lunch or dinner. Bring your decision team with you -- your sales manager, marketing director, your partner -- any and all people who will be directly affected by the agency you select.

Sloan also suggests the following checklist as you go through the presentation at the agency:

* First impressions are important, but don't be over-impressed by a lavish office. It should be businesslike, and its people should look involved and interested in their work. Notice how well the agency has prepared for your visit: Are you given an agenda and a list of the people you'll meet, with a description of what each person does? Are you provided with written summaries of all suggestions, recommendations, and proposals so you don't have to take notes, except to record personal observations?

* Be sure you meet everyone who will work on your account. One way to do this is to ask that each part of the presentation take place in the department responsible for that aspect of your advertising campaign. The discussion of media, for example, would be held in the media department, with everyone involved crowded around. It may not be comfortable, but you'll learn more about the agency than you would sitting in its conference room watching people file through.

* As you meet the agency's people, ask questions that challenge them and show you how they approach problems. Don't expect fully researched and thought-out answers, of course.

* Check to see how much the agency has bothered to learn about your business. Is it familiar with publicly available trade information and research? Has it made informal calls to dealers or suppliers? Has it monitored your competition's advertising? Has it tried to develop a feeling for your market?

* Try to sense whether the firm is enthusiastic about working on your account. One small advertiser chose an agency to handle the company's sales newsletter because it outlined six future issues for her. Every other agency she visited only critiqued what the company had already done.

* Listen carefully to the formal presentation. A well-run agency is coordinating all its efforts to produce advertising that works, but too often the research department has one idea, while the creative department has others. Beware if the one recommends a straightforward approach while the other comes up with a whimsical campaign.

When the presentation is over, go out to lunch or dinner with the key agency people you'll work with. Quality work is important, of course, but without a rapport between client and agency the finished product is unlikely to meet your needs. A quiet talk in a social situation is a good way to judge how well you'll get along.

If all of the evidence adds up, and if you feel comfortable with the agency's suggestions and its people, it's likely you've found your agency.