by Miriam Hara | Apr 24, 2015 | Advertising, Agency, Business Success, Latest, Management, Marketing
For those of us in the service industry, we know too well the ins and outs of a request for proposal (RFP) – and what it really means for an agency. I have come to view an RFP as comparable to entering a beauty contest. The potential client asks multiple agencies to show them what they can produce – then they’ll think about it.
From experience, when first invited to be part of an RFP, the immediate feeling is exhilaration – this is quickly followed by dread. The amount of work required to develop a quality RFP is phenomenal. The time and energy that is devoted to this non-profitable account adds an unnatural amount of stress to the agency business. Gone are the days when companies would compensate businesses to be included in an RFP – long gone!
What is the real purpose of an RFP?
Having worked in agencies for over a quarter of a century, I have often seen RFPs go out in an effort to simply validate the client’s current agency. In my opinion, this is quite disrespectful. It takes away valuable hours from the agencies invited to participate. Hours are what service agencies base their profitably on. Asking outside agencies to be part of an RFP, when there is actually no intent to change the current agency, is unethical.
If the RFP is genuinely for the purpose of garnering a new agency, why is this approach taken? Is it to determine “the fit” of the team within the group? If that’s the case, why not simply meet up over a series of dinners or lunches? Law firms hire interns this way. The potential intern is taken to dinner and interviewed in a group setting. It works and it’s fun. More importantly it allows the team players on both sides to get to know one another. The client/agency partnership needs to be based on positive relationships in order to achieve a successful collaboration.
What if the request for proposal is to determine how creative an agency can be? For those of us in the world of branding and advertising, clients can determine this from viewing our previous work and hearing about what was given as the brief. If that isn’t sufficient, perhaps it would be more advantageous to provide the agency with an actual project, complete with delivery requirements and timelines? This would allow the business team to assess how the agency actually works – if the agency is able to deliver on time and provide the necessary added value required by the team and the brand. This approach can be implemented by asking two or three chosen agencies to each complete a different project.
In recent years, procurement has often spearheaded the RFP process – assessing services similar to securing a print provider. The amount of input they have in the final selection is not always clear or consistent. However, the services provided by an agency cannot be compared to printing. Therefore, nothing is equal. It’s not about the hourly rate, it’s about the idea, the strategy, the commitment, and the partnership the agency can provide. No two agencies are alike. Service businesses often build their model on value. The value agencies deliver is quite different, making it difficult to assess them in equal terms.
What are you thoughts on the RFP process? Any idea how businesses can move away from this model of assessing agencies? I’d like to hear about them.
by Miriam Hara | Apr 7, 2015 | Agency, Business Success, Creative, Latest
Here’s a quiz that will help you to see if you have what it takes to work in the creative field. There are so many ways to make a living in the creative field. How do you determine if you’re cut out for heading up the ranks in the business of creative?
With the introduction of computers to the creative and advertising industries (Thanks Steve Jobs!) the definition of being creative has somewhat changed. Computers have made the business of creative easier by allowing us to push the envelope further.
However, many people today think that being creative simply involves the the ability to navigate a computer and its software, such as Photoshop or InDesign. That is not true. The mystery of being a creative goes much deeper than that. It is my genuine belief that a computer does everything for a bad designer and nothing for a good one – except provide the means for more exploration, make them quicker and of course creatively stronger!
So what are some of the common skills and characteristics of individuals that succeed to become a creative director, art director, conceptual thinker or graphic designer?
Simply answer yes or no to these 8 questions to determine your level of creative.
Don’t think about it, just answer instinctively.
1. Yes or No: You like puzzles. In fact, you excel at seeing how things fit together in a way that goes beyond just the shape of the pieces.
2. Yes or No: You are naturally inquisitive. You’re usually seeking to understand a new subject. You never grew out of the “Why?” stage from childhood.
3. Yes or No: You like doodling. You like taking pen to paper or screen and moving it about. It helps you to think and follow your thought pattern.
4. Yes or No: You can draw without the help of a computer. In fact, you usually have a sketch book with you just in case you see or experience something that inspires you.
5. Yes or No: You are an origami guru. You love understanding how a series of certain folds can lead to a beautiful paper sculpture.
6. Yes or No: Problem solving is in your nature. You like to fix things. You thrive from the challenge of taking complex problems and simplifying them. Deep down you don’t really understand how many people can’t see the solution that’s usually right there in front of them saying, “Here I am!”
7. Yes or No: You like words. From their subtle meanings, their true meanings, their double meanings, right down to the letters that make up the words. Words are a thing of beauty and joy to you.
8. Yes or No: Learning is just as necessary as breathing for you. You strive to keep up with what’s new. You like to learn about new trends, new software or new procedures. Learning means “new”, and new keeps you on your toes, creatively!
If you have answered YES to 5 or more of the above questions, then you definitely have what it takes to be creative, professionally. Now go for it, and welcome to the club!
What other characteristics do you know of that are indicative of a creative mind. Let me know!
by Miriam Hara | Mar 10, 2015 | Advertising, Agency, Branding, Business Success, Communications, Latest
How do you determine if your branding and advertising agency is your true soul mate?
In today’s fast-paced market conditions it’s important for your agency to be part of your marketing team. What makes a branding and advertising agency a true partner? In order to come up with a good answer, what needs to be established is: What are your expectations of an agency? Is it great creative? Is it thinking outside of the box?
It goes without saying that every relationship takes two parties to come together and it’s based on both parties’ willingness to make it work. The basis of this article however, is about the degree of difficulty to making the relationship work.
Here are a few indicators to determine if the branding and advertising agency you have on board really is your business soul mate.
Adding value: The sign of a good agency is that it acts as your partner. Your agency should also always have the brand’s or business’s best interest at heart. In order to do that, they need to anticipate the needs of the brand and bring forward any issues they foresee. They need to take the brief you provided and expand on it – adding alternatives that you as a brand manager may not have thought of.
Attention to detail: When time is of the essence and turnarounds are quick, team players must all do their part to make sure that details are accurately addressed. Regardless of the relationship you have, “My bad.” shouldn’t cut it as an excuse.
Meeting budgets: Your agency needs to be in control of projects and their budgets, not the other way around. One sure way of knowing if an agency does exercise control, is if they have the ability to raise a flag at the precise time that a project’s budget starts going north.
Delivery on timelines: Let’s face it, an agency’s role is to help make the brand team look good. One of the easiest ways to do so is by meeting timelines. The agency world is all about deadlines, does your agency meet yours?
Creative relevance: It’s important for any brand initiative that the communications set forth have creative relevance. It’s not about pretty pictures, or creative awards. It’s about strategy and resonating with the consumer base. If you find that you constantly have to wrestle with your agency about what your brand is about and meeting requirements, maybe they are not the “one”.
Do you agree? What are some issues you have come across when dealing with your branding and advertising agency?
by Miriam Hara | Nov 11, 2014 | Agency, Communications, Interactive, Latest
The holiday season is fast approaching and with it comes the decade old question, at least the biggest question around our boardroom table: Should business’ send out traditional paper or digital holiday cards? Believe it or not, it has been a decade (at least!) since digital greeting cards first made their debut.
Over the last three years, at approximately the same time every year, I have written a post about digital holiday cards. It’s a hot topic for me. There is much debate in our office about which direction to take. After all, we are a full service agency with high involvement in both the traditional and digital space.
Digital holiday cards aren’t really new, so does that take the heat off of businesses having to go that route? There was a time when it was perceived that businesses sending traditional paper cards through snail mail was not keeping in step with the changing times. But now, is that still the case? Like everything that goes up, it must come down. And everything new, becomes normal – if not old. Digital used to be called new media and now it’s not new. It’s just another media channel.
So does that open things up for businesses to embrace the traditional holiday greeting card? Will the old paper card have a come back in 2014? Can businesses go retro this holiday season? At 3H Communications, we have always sent out paper holiday cards. We design our own and it’s a project of love. Over the last decade, our cards have been one of the only ones at the table, or more accurately, on our clients’ desks. We have enjoyed this space and the exposure and hope that we will continue to enjoy such vast, open spaces!
That doesn’t mean, for one minute that we don’t embrace the digital – far from it. We have always had a digital component to our paper greeting cards. We ask our clients to go online with a QR code (when they were launched) or a web address prompting engagement to participate in a contest or charity fund raising initiative. This year will be no different.
By combining traditional with digital, we have demonstrated through the years that we are strategic thinkers. We embrace the new yet understand when and when not to use it. We also know what will resonate with our clients. This has shown our clients that we are indeed in step with trends and slightly ahead of the curve. Being a leader means knowing when not to jump on the band wagon when everyone else has. And, knowing to take advantage of the quiet space they’ve left behind.
Over the last three years, email communications have reached an all time high in quantity. I believe the last thing a client wants is to receive another email, even if it’s jam-packed with well wishes. I’m sorry to say that I don’t usually open digital holiday cards sent to me – I am too swamped with other emails. But I do open my paper mail during the holiday season. I love traditional holiday greeting cards and during the month of December, I take the time to open them. There are so few of them now, so each one gets my undivided attention.
So this holiday season are you going traditional or digital? Let me know!
by Felicitas Ritter | Feb 26, 2014 | Agency, Latest
Are you a believer in the necessity of a true blue in-house corporate marketing team, or do you prefer working with easy-going agency types? How different do you think is the kind of creative developed by the people who sit closest to the source, versus those looking in from the outside? And is there a benefit to collaboration? Having experienced working for both sides, it is my opinion that it is always best to mix things up.
There are definite benefits to having marketing experts on-site: in-depth product knowledge and understanding of corporate brands; access to merchandising teams and approving authority; ability to facilitate quick turnaround… and when you’re really under pressure to meet a deadline, you can just stand behind your writer or designer and direct… but please don’t. No one appreciates that and I promise you, it won’t make the process go any faster!
Corporate marketers from experience and proximity know better what senior management is looking for and what is most likely to be rubber-stamped. And there is no doubt that the trend toward in-house resources is growing, mainly because of the need for cost saving. But there are ways to maintain brand integrity and still get interesting, strategic creative without sacrificing the whole budget. And sometimes it really does take input from key creative people from elsewhere to be able to steer a company in a better direction.
Outside agencies naturally come armed with a broader perspective on current trends
simply from having worked with so many different types of clients, and on a wide variety of projects. They are true innovators because their jobs depend on it. If an ad agency offered their clients the same cookie-cutter ideas they certainly wouldn’t be in business for long.
Ultimately, understanding first what the strengths are of the in-house marketers, and then looking toward an agency to supplement whatever might be lacking, is the best way to utilize resources. For example, if you have a great strategic corporate team, but lack the production capability, than that’s what you need to look for in an agency. Marketing with a mind to bring varied experiences and skill-sets to the party allows for everyone to mix and mingle to collective advantage.
