Hired or fired? How to respond to the brief and win new business
Bryan Scott, marketing communications director at Metro and a speaker at today's Brief Encounters event hosted by The Drum, offers agencies some advice on how to get on the right side of clients.
Bryan Scott
While I wouldn't profess to being a new business expert, I have been fortunate enough to see from many angles the tangible benefit of an open, constructive and trusting partnership; in almost every way the client/agency interplay is just like any other personal relationship.
Over the years I have encountered individuals who believe in a more traditional supplier relationship, which inevitably ends with the agency 'getting a kicking' when things don't go according to plan.
My opposing view to this stems from my very first role at Leo Burnett where I worked on the McDonald's account. Despite being a global FMCG firm and one of the UK's largest advertisers, our brand team lived and breathed the McDonald's ethos, facing their goals and challenges alongside the client team. Even as a junior planner on the business, I felt that my contribution was worthwhile and always taken on board, even if that path wasn't followed.
Fast forward 15 years, and we live in a world where we are all learning everyday. The pace of technology change, coupled with its impact on the broader media landscape, means that I rely even more so on the advice and counsel of my agency partners.
A first date... when Metro was looking to appoint a lead creative partner we worked with ISBA and followed their 'Good Pitch Guide' that they created with the IPA. The first part of the process was to really focus in on what our business needed, and therefore what we would expect from a partner in this space. At Metro, we're never short on great executional ideas, so finding an agency that had exceptional planning capabilities was integral to my brief (we appointed Dare in the end, who from the outset demonstrated an incredibly clear understanding of our audience and brand).
It was the agencies that listened to what we needed, and responded accordingly, that got through the first round. At this stage I wasn't particularly interested in the great executions they had delivered - to be honest they wouldn't have been on the shortlist if I didn't like their work.
Flexibility is critical... never assume that things will continue as they were yesterday. Life is never a straight road, so why would business be? Agencies have to be prepared to adapt and reconfigure to meet the clients' needs at that time. Only this week, I have had conversations with one of our agencies about refocusing resource and attention in line with Metro's goals. Had they not responded positively to this, I would certainly be questioning our relationship (needless to say they did and without question!).
As a media owner, I also get to see the flip side of this equation. The clients that trust in us to know what's right for our audience and who work with us in true partnership always get the best out of us. It's a constant reminder to me as to how we should treat our agencies.