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DRTV Best Practices Primer: Choosing a Marketing Partner: Consultants and Agencies
1 Jul, 2003 By: Rick Petry ResponseHow do you make your selection? Asking for references and understanding whom the principals are can guide you through the labyrinth.
If there are six degrees of separation in the world, newcomers to the direct marketing industry will find out very quickly that, in this industry, there are zero degrees. Whether you're an inventor, an entrepreneur or a marketer who works directly for a client or their agency, once you've decided to use this most powerful of advertising tools, you might feel like you've wandered into something that's a cross between a tent revival meeting and the Cantina Bar scene from the original Star Wars.
How then do you navigate your way through the maze and select the right partners to help you succeed? Essentially there are three options and your choice will be influenced most by whether or not you've got the money to market the product yourself or not. If you do, then choosing a consultant or agency - the focus of this month's article - will make the most sense. If not, then aligning yourself with a marketing company that specializes in DRTV may be the most prudent route.
Aunt Nettie Said She'd Buy 2
Consultants are experts who are conversant in the ways of DRTV and can help hook you up with best-in-class service providers for research, creative, production, media planning and buying, telemarketing and fulfillment, and ancillary marketing channels. Good consultants are valued for their objectivity and ability to help select the optimal mix of people and services that will address the unique needs of your program.Often times, they will act as an account manager who will help shepherd your campaign throughout the process. They may work in concert with appropriate vendors in each area identified above or together with an agency for all or part of the services required to bring your DRTV initiative to fruition.
An agency, on the other hand, is essentially one-stop shopping, and a solid agency will have assembled a superior team of experts in all of the aspects of DRTV to help you achieve your goals. In rare instances, access to some of the best minds in the business - whether it is a marketer, writer or director of photography - are only available through an agency because they are employed by and work through them on an exclusive basis.
The whole of the best agencies are better than the sum of the parts and, as DRTV has matured and media rates have risen, the idea of having a smart team of professionals dedicated to every aspect of the program - from product positioning to offer configuration to media management - is appealing. For one, that team becomes accountable and committed to the program's success, and the marketer can avoid the blame game that may occur when services are unbundled - and it's also easier for a production company to blame failure on a media company or vice versa.
But just because an agency exists doesn't mean that the people working there are imbued with better intelligence. In fact, only a handful of agencies can truly be considered "full service." Hence, some homework is in order.
On a similar note, beware of consultants who claim they have done the work for you. They may claim that they have ferreted out the best alternatives, but they will only be offering you one choice. One reason may be they are compensated to refer business and if that is the case, you have a right to be aware of the particulars of such an arrangement and comfortable that such agreements are not clouding their ability to provide objective guidance.
Just as many government and Fortune 1000 companies will seek out three prospective vendors to consider in any bidding situation, solid consultants should provide you with multiple options. Since you are hiring them for their expert counsel, they should be able to cut through the morass and save you time and money be reducing the consideration set, but not at the exclusion of a healthy due-diligence process.
Do the 'Due'
Whether you are employing a consultant to identify appropriate vendors or an agency to run your campaign or a combination of both, there is a due-diligence process that is highly recommended that will demand time and effort on your part. However, doing the groundwork up front can save you significant money and energy in the long run. Here are six keys to consider as you embark on this process:1. Do not rely on salespeople alone to make your decision. Effective salespeople - whether they are principals of the company you are considering or hired guns - can be among the most intelligent and charismatic individuals in this business, but often they will have little to do with your project once the job has been sold. While they can be good barometers of the companies they represent, a meeting in your offices with Prince Charming in an Italian suit in and of itself should not tip the decision.
2. Meet your team. If you've been favorably impressed by the initial meeting with a business development representative, ask to meet the team of people who will actually work on your business on a day-to-day basis. Find out what kind of relevant experience they have in your category. Break bread with them over lunch or dinner and find out whether or not the right chemistry is there. What does your "gut" tell you? Can you trust them? Are these people you can work closely and collaborate effectively with?
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