How to Find the 'Right Agency Fit' For Your Business
Which agency is the right fit for your business or brand? And does size really matter? CEO and founder of Trinity P3 Consulting Darren Woolley, speaks with Target Market host Athina Mallis about the complex agency ecosystem and reveals some key tips on finding the right agency 'fit' to add demonstrable value to your marketing mix.
How do you think agencies can reassure clients they’re not going to overcharge and underdeliver?
The counterpoint to this for agencies is to start to focus on growth and performance. They are open to considering getting paid for the result that you deliver, rather than just the cost of the services you provide. We've been talking about this for a long time, especially in a world where consumers are going more online and ecommerce is rampant today, agencies should be willing to put their money where their mouth is.
What do you think it takes for agencies to build a better trusting relationship with clients - especially when clients come to you with ‘loads of baggage’?
We often find that clients that have been burnt by agencies have usually gone into the relationship without their eyes wide open. Agencies don't naturally go around trying to burn their clients, it's such a short term strategy.
What I'd say to clients is that, first of all, if you're engaging with a new agency, sit down and have regular, honest conversations about what your expectations are. If you're an agency, be willing to sit down and ask the client, what it is that they need from you, and how are they going to measure your performance against their expectations? Because we often go into these relationships thinking it'll just work itself out.
Are you seeing a trend of large organisations turning to small boutique firms? Does size matter?
This is an interesting phenomenon that we noticed before the pandemic, which is even being more accelerated during the pandemic. I have to say that size doesn't matter. The idea that elephants only sleep with elephants is no longer the case.
The smart clients are starting to work out that cherry-picking the best people in the market is a much better way to go because you're going to get a dedicated team, independence, have more control about the way they meet a client's needs than a lot of the network agencies who have this hierarchy that they have to answer to.
Global clients wanting to enter the APAC market, what are the key things they should look for when engaging with an agency in the region?
First of all, the idea of entering the APAC market is quite a misnomer. I would say APAC, having worked in this region for 30 years is the most diversified region in the world compared to Europe or Latin America, APAC is such a diverse market.
What they need to think about is, first of all, their entry strategy, are they going to try and take on multiple markets, are they going to go and have a beachhead and expand from that? Whatever your strategy is you need to think about what the right agency is, for your needs to fulfill that strategy, not your short-term needs, but your long-term needs. Who's the agency that's going to be able to grow with you as you grow into the market.
I'll give you an example, often American clients will think APAC is either Singapore or China. They forget that the vast majority of APAC is Indonesia. It's hundreds of millions of people and a totally different culture to Thailand, and totally different from Malaysia. To understand the APAC region, you need agencies that can understand and have experience working with each of those markets and all of those different cultures and languages.
What’s a commonly held belief in marketing that you passionately disagree with?
There are so many commonly held beliefs that are just so wrong. Experience and data will often show how wrong they are. But one that particularly annoys me is when people keep talking about this practice. In regards to strategy, there is no one strategy that ever will suit every company, every brand, every market. You need to think about the complexity and have the best practice methodologies to come up with the right strategies for each market.
What should marketing agencies stop doing and what should marketing agencies start doing?
Agencies should be more confident in having conversations with the clients about what it is they need. It won't necessarily be the core things that you offer. But sit and listen, rather than be pitching yourself to them all the time or pitching the services you offer.
Tune into the full podcast episode here.
