Managing Agency Projects
"The role of the business communications professional is not simply to write a newsletter, or send a press release; we communicate to affect a business result or negate a threat. If your agency isn't up to date on your 'business', such as a new CRM system, revenue targets as well as marketing programs, how can they help you achieve your communication goals?"
Lynne Coles, Director of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, Jaguar Nickel
Once the agency has been selected and the measurement framework has been put in place, the communications work can finally begin.
Communications expert Lynne Coles says that a client's success in managing agencies and communications campaigns is dependent on the quality of the brief they create. Based on her extensive experience in various director of corporate communications roles over the past 15 years, Lynne states it is the client's job to give as detailed a brief as possible - outlining the business objectives, issues, opportunities, corporate history, etc - as clients are privy to a wealth of information often unavailable to the agency. Lynne says the approach she likes is to imagine the agency is a new employee and has to get it up to speed ASAP. This means that in managing an agency, one of the client's key roles is to summarize all available information into what the agency needs to know in order to effectively achieve the desired objectives and conquer any challenges in the process. In turn, the agency's role is to provide and integrate their recommendations and feedback into the plan, and then define the scope of work - to ensure everyone is working together to achieve the client's objectives and maximize results.
The communications brief should include:
The nature of the exact brief for each campaign will depend on the nature and length of your relationship with your agency. If you have an ongoing relationship - then you'll be able to jump right into the project objectives and specifics especially if you've been keeping the agency up-to-date on all the latest news. If it's a first time project or at the beginning of the relationship - then you'll likely want to empower the agency with as much corporate background information as they'll need to make the project a success.
Once the brief is set, there are numerous other techniques that can be employed to get the best value and results from your agency team. The most common tip both clients and agency professionals have shared with me on how to get the best results from an agency - which I agree with 110 per cent - is to treat your agency as a partner and not a supplier. Other agency management tips and techniques include:
Treat your agency as extension of your team - I like to think of agencies as an extension of the client's team - the only difference is that we don't share office space with you - so treat agencies as you would one of your colleagues or employees. This includes sharing information, congratulating them on a job well done, inviting them to relevant team meetings and including them on relevant departmental emails.
Sharing information is crucial - Just as you would someone on your internal team, share information with your agency - whether it's comments from your CEO, product rollout and marketing plans, or new business developments. Your agency should have signed a confidentiality agreement - so you're safe to give them the same information you give your internal team so they'll feel engaged and have all the information they need to provide timely counsel.
Advanced planning is key - Agencies are well known for being able to spring into action and pull off fantastic feats at the last minute. But where you have information in advance - share it. Advanced planning and information ultimately results in a better use of the budget as last minute projects always require more time and money then when they're carefully planned in advance.
Involve your agency in marketing and business planning - Along those lines, invite your PR agency to contribute to your overall marketing plan. The most effective and successful marketers I have worked with over the past decade have involved both their PR and advertising agencies in developing an integrated marketing communications plan. For example, one client invited me to participate in their brand development session with their advertising agency - to contribute a PR perspective - but also so I could take the established brand positioning back to the PR team to ensure our messaging would be consistent with the advertising and reinforce the same core messages. This resulted in a more powerful overall marketing campaign - where the advertising and PR messages reinforced each other - but also resulted in the PR team feeling more empowered and engaged as a member of the team - which always creates better results.
Assign one client and one agency point person with authority and time - On both sides of the relationship there should be one assigned point person responsible and accountable for managing the relationship and deliverables. There will likely be several other people involved - but at the end of day there needs to be one decision-maker or point person on both sides who is the main go-to person who can make decisions and oversees all the initiatives in order for the process to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. The assigned point people - on both the client and agency sides - can make or break the value equation. On the agency side I've had the opportunity to work with every type of client contact - from very junior to very senior, from very, very busy to not so busy. And while it's important to appoint someone who has time to give the agency feedback, respond to questions, give briefings, etc - it's even more important to appoint someone who has the authority and trust of senior management within the organization and understands the company's goals and desired marketing direction.
Give constant feedback - The person responsible for day-to-day contact should be a good communicator and should be prepared to give daily feedback to the agency to make sure everything's moving in the right direction. A simple "great idea - I appreciate your initiative." or "this is good, but I'd like to rework X." or "I'm disappointed with." are good ways to make sure you're communicating what you want from your agency.
Published in PR Canada in 2005
