The rise of the intermediary

 

 

 

 

A guide to the best intermediaries – Holding a pitch is daunting, while winning new business can be time-consuming. Can intermediaries ride to the rescue, asks Suzy Bashford

Typically research has shown that PR firms are less focused on new business than other types of marcoms agency. However, according to co-founder of new business agency Reardon Smith Whittaker (RSW), Adam Whittaker, this is going to change. With today’s tricky economic climate, agencies will have to fight harder for work.

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Brief by name but not by nature

To avoid relationships going wrong from the very start, clients must find the balance between a rigid agency brief that stifles creativity and one that fails to clearly define the objectives. By Daney Parker

… The problem with leaving clients and agencies to learn about briefing on the job is that, according to RSW’s Whittaker, anecdotal evidence suggests that briefs are getting worse, which could help to explain why the average length of agency/client relationships is getting shorter (according to RSW’s quantitative research). Whittaker says that this indicates that not only briefs, but pitches are to blame. “Shortening tenures would indicate that maybe the wrong choice was made in the first place.” But he adds that this might not so much be a fault with poor briefing, as much as choosing the wrong agencies to pitch in the first place.

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Most marketers ignore industry guidelines

Melinda Varley: 03 December 2007 16:00

Nearly two thirds, 63 per cent, of advertisers claim to not be familiar with advice from the Communications Agencies Federation (CAF), which tells them how to deal with their incumbent advertising or media agency and also advices on confidentiality agreements during the pitch process, according to new research.

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Diary of a Doormat

 

News Focus – November 2007

Adam Whittaker is chief executive of Reardon Smith Whittaker. He lives in west London with his wife Sam and their children, Zac, five and Madeleine, nearly two.

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Direct and digital shops ‘under procurement cosh’

Gemma Hummerston

06 Nov 2007

Direct and digital agencies are under far greater scrutiny from client procurement departments than agencies in any other sector, according to study.

The study, conducted by Reardon Smith Whittaker among brand-owners across a range of companies, found that 32 per cent of those looking for a direct or digital agency involved procurement in the decision compared to 23 per cent across agencies as a whole.

It also found that direct agencies have their performance closely monitored. Thirty six per cent of direct appointments involve some form of payment by results, which 27 per cent of respondents believe will increase in the future.

Adam Whittaker, chief executive at Reardon Smith Whittaker, says: “These findings show how the measurability afforded by direct campaigns is increasingly translating into accountability for overall agency performance. To keep new business, and keep it profitable, agencies must ensure they practise what they preach.”

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Survey: Agencies See Glass as Half Full for ‘08

Survey: Agencies See Glass as Half Full for ‘08
October 22, 2007
By Andrew McMains

NEW YORK Considering that more than a few once high-flying agencies are struggling to make their numbers these days, it may come as a surprise that most agency leaders are optimistic about their prospects in 2008.

What may not be surprising at all is that the majority of those positive-thinking CEOs are primarily counting on two categories for growth: digital and healthcare.

Those are the key findings from a new survey released last week that shows that eighty-six percent of all respondents—CEOs, presidents and creative chiefs—believe they will grow their businesses next year, with the rest expecting to be flat (13 percent) or down (1 percent.) And looking forward five years, 84 percent think the business will be better than it had been during the past five years.

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Pitch is not popular – on either side’s part

Letters page

I read “Keeping the pitch at bay” (MW last week) by Stuart Pocock with great interest. Last October Reardon Smith Whittaker (RSW) published a survey of client attitudes towards agency relationships – and it endorsed much of what Stuart said about agency pitches.

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The Power of Persuasion

Monday 21.05.07

Advertisers are now looking to engage consumers rather than annoy them- so expect a wacky stunt soon in a street near you.

… A survey of 154 senior marketers by business development consultancy Reardon Smith Whittaker claims that 61% of marketing directors with a budget more than £1m are more interested in experiential than any other discipline. This compares with 36% who were mostly excited about search-engine marketing and the 13% who preferred mobile campaigns…

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OPINION Adam Whittaker: Experiential Marketing – Let’s get serious

Adam Whittaker, 18/05/07 08:38 GMT

Numerous recent surveys have shown experientialmarketing to be growing in both spend and client interest.

EVENTS:review reported on the MICE Group 2006 survey of senior brand marketers within the UK, Germany, France and the US. The survey concluded that experiential marketing will be the biggest growth area of the communications mix in the next five years.

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Beware the pitfalls of ’speed-dating’

Letters page March 2007

Recently we have noticed an increase in the number of so-called “speed-dating” events where agencies spend a few minutes pitching en masse to a gathering of client companies. I think it’s worth spending a little time exploring this subject.

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