A Few Steps to Help Your Challenger Agency Thrive

Think Big, Show Off Your Creatives and Share the Hate

Posted by Milan Martin on 02.18.09 @ 11:10 AM

Milan Martin

I promise I won't waste anyone's time talking about how bad the market is. We all know it's a tough year ahead. The difference is that "tough" in no way must equate to "bad." Let's talk about how we as challenger agencies can do more than survive. Let's talk about how this economic crisis becomes the pivotal opportunity that will enable us to accelerate our growth, to get in front of the clients we want to work with and show a new agency model -- a better experience and simply better results. Forget survive. Let's talk thrive.

At our agency, there are several principles that we embrace -- that every challenger agency should embrace -- in order to turn this proverbial lemon in to sweet, sweet lemonade:

Be better suited to create big ideas. Many of us are faced regularly with the challenge that some of the larger clients look to the larger agencies because of a perception that to get big ideas you need to go to a big agency. And, hey, the big agencies have done a good job building their own brands in this sense, so kudos to Mr. Burnett, Mr. Ogilvy and Mr. Bernbach. But last I checked the big boys don't have a monopoly on big ideas (Apple started in a garage in Cupertino, didn't it?). My opinion is simply that the challenger agency is better suited to create game-changing, business building ideas for our clients and more effectively execute them across the appropriate media. The big boys with 2,000 people in the New York office find it very difficult to focus on a client's core problem, solve it and execute across traditional, direct and interactive media (probably because the digital guys are in a different building and have a separate P&L). I know, I've been there; I spent the first 12 years of my career working for them.

In our agency, the term "integrated" actually means that we surround the client's objective with smart people from each discipline. I'm sure you do the same. After all, it's your size that enables this approach and that it is very much aimed at gaining a better result for your client.

And don't be afraid to let prospects know this when you're up-against the big boys; throw a few grenades in your pitch (in your most charming way). Clients need to know that the old "nobody ever got fired for hiring (insert big agency name here)" just doesn't apply anymore. In fact, if you look at the average CMO tenure these days, I'd argue that some have been!
Don't hide your creative people. Again, the big boys like to send suits to take the brief and keep the creative teams locked up at the agency. It's simply an antiquated approach. If you're anything like Gyro, you hire creatives that are as strategically savvy and presentable as any account person. So here's the plain truth (coming from an account guy at heart): Clients love working directly with good creative people! Our approach is that client engagements are lead by a joint team of a senior account person and a creative director. Clients love it. It's a much more collaborative relationship when the agency team walks in the door and can start to riff ideas with the client on the spot. This is the kind of nimble approach clients these days are craving.
Offer skin in the game. I'm sorry to say but when your client is bleeding red and you walk in with Forrester reports and case studies as to why they should not reduce spending, they're thinking about kicking you somewhere sensitive. It's actually a bit rude on our part. That said, if we can sit there eye to eye with our clients, understand the stress and risk they're personally facing, and counsel them to take a risk by spending on an initiative that may otherwise have been cut by sharing some of that risk? Now that's something different. Propose a break-even cost for you with bonus for success. Work with your media partners and suppliers to do the same. This, my friends, will increase the chances of them saying yes and will form relationships with long-lasting strength.
Share the hatred. If your clients are invested in their brand, they have an arch enemy -- a nemesis maybe -- that is the focus of their toil. Every brand has one: Microsoft has Apple; American Express has Visa; The Eagles have the Giants (I'm a Philly boy at heart!). If we can show them sincerely that we want nothing else but to help them kick their competitor while he's down, a bond will form. More importantly, show that you have the process and the tools to help identify weaknesses in their competitor's defenses and put together aggressive programs that enable your clients to prosper from them.

Relevant consumer insights are as important as ever but ensuring that you help your client "know thine enemy" takes the top spot in this market. Set a common goal. Helping them steal even the smallest share percentage will not only bring confidence to spend more but will weave you into the fabric and the heart of that client. This has been a huge element behind our growth here at Gyro.

All in all, it's business as usual for us challenger agencies. These are the things we do in good times, as well as bad, to show our clients that there is a better way. As we would tell our clients, from crisis comes innovation and change. Let's give them a taste of our sweet, refreshing lemonade.

~ ~ ~
Milan Martin, exec VP-general manager, Gyro International, New York.

10 Comments

By PHILIP | CAMBRIDGE, MA February 18, 2009 11:40:55 am:

Milan. Nicely done. Good to see you here. Enjoy New York.

Permalink

By snyders1 | Philadelphia, PA February 18, 2009 02:16:58 pm:

Great post. Someone who "gets it."

Permalink

By CHRIS | YORK, PA February 18, 2009 04:29:36 pm:

Milan, Nice to see that others share our approach

Permalink

By William | East Rockaway, NY February 18, 2009 07:57:57 pm:

All of this advice is great, but what good is it if you don't have a "real" audience, i.e., a new business prospect in your conference room? Short of that, this is just another puff piece where we are talking to ourselves. In today's agency environment, new opportunities to pitch is where it's at .... and that's where I come in if anyone is interested. bcrandallnyc@aol.com

Permalink

By DAN | SAINT LOUIS, MO February 19, 2009 09:30:36 am:

Milan - I never understood the "hide your creatives" mindset. I totally agree with your take that clients love working with the creative team......... Dan Curran / NGAGE / St. Louis

Permalink

By LARRY | LAKE MARY, FL February 19, 2009 10:52:57 am:

I agree - getting creatives out in the real world is the way its done on TV, right? "Trust Me" on this. But, that being said, I suggest have liquor or cigarettes in your office, as the last time I brought our CD into a client revision meeting, we needed it to coax him off the ledge.

Permalink

By getapowerplay | Costa Mesa, CA February 19, 2009 12:11:58 pm:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I decided to go independent not too long ago and I totally agree with the fact that big boys don't have the monopoly of big ideas, therefore, the importance for agencies to create stars with their staff.

See, what is common to Mr. Burnett, Ogilvy, Bernbach or even Poaster in Chicago is the emphasis they put on their name. Eventually, if you start showing off your creative wisely, they will end up selling for you, just like Brad Pitt staring on a movie or Hulk Hogan back in the days for a WWF event.

I am one those who now than ever see the value in putting creatives up front and use them to sell. Of course, it has its pros and cons since their fame can eventually play against you but who care.... you should manage your agency just like a sports team anyway....

Permalink

By Tim | Virginia Beach, VA February 19, 2009 12:14:23 pm:

General Patton would agree... help your client kick their fears with strong, clear ideas. Comparing the relative size or profile of your ageny to the "big boys," it's like the old adage, "it isn't the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog!"

I liked the quip about "throw in a few grenades!" Relative to this, my motivational "General Patton' has performed "pep rally" presentations for Sprint, Diageo Guinness, WalMart, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, GMC, Buick, Army Airforce Exchange (AAFES)Safety-Kleen USA . . These were "take the battle to the competitor and win" attitude adjustments for their sales forces. It's the same for agency presentations, present your weapons and your plan to take the enemy, then take the first step, initiate the attack, show no fear and your client will come to attention and want to join in the fight. As Patton would say, "a good plan executed today is better than an excellent plan executed too late." 'nuff said..........

Permalink

By dcsw | BELLINGHAM, WA February 19, 2009 12:40:01 pm:

Small to mid sized agencies are ideally sized to pivot and move with clients, offer counter-intuitive solutions, and embrace new marketing channels in ways that larger agencies just can't--either because they're too stubborn (thanks, Tim Hayden) too big, or optimized to work using old models.

The landscape is changing fast and more new business wins will go the the smart, streamlined shops who can react to these changes on their clients' behalf. A new breed of small but powerful agency is being created out of mis-steps (or should I say ashes) of the behemoths.

Well said. Reposting the entire article on my blog.

www.marketinghitch.com -- Connecting marketers + agencies

Permalink

By William | Newtown, PA February 20, 2009 10:33:44 am:

After reading this article, I was reminded of a wonderful movie that I had recently watched. "Flash of Genuis" is about a lone engineer working in his garage who had invented the variable speed windshield wiper and bested all the engineers who also had been working on this for years at all the big car manufacturers.
He had an insight that led to an idea that led to a big breakthrough. Of course according to the story, Ford stole his invention which led to his 12 year fight for recognition and fair compensation. I refer to this story not to highlight Dr. Kearns struggle for justice but to point out that most innovation comes not from the big players who are wedded to the status quo due to size and economics but to those "unreasonable" men who have looked at the world and have found a better way of doing things.

Which brings me back to the state of the agency business. The current business model is over 50 years old and has changed little. In the 30+ years of my career at agencies, media companies and on the client side, I have seen little fundamental change in the essential business practices, theories and services offered to clients. Its all geared toward executing and being paid to do so.

The entire advertising complex is breaking down for many reasons which are too numerous to detail here but are well known in the industry. I believe it is time for a dramatic overhaul of the entire agency model and the value proposition that agencies and the allied media businesses bring to clients. Rather than being compensated for performing tasks- ads, media buys, events, etc.-
agencies should strive to elevate the relationship on a par with the McKinseys of the world. They are high valued added consultants who take on the most important assignments for corporations by providing strategic advise across the entire spectrum of marketing concerns from product mix to pricing strategies to channel recommendations to promotional approaches. This is more of an outcomes based model and as such is more intrinsic to business strategy. The Walmart turnaround is a classic case of business need driving insight leading to a change in marketing strategy that produced a wholesale change in business strategy. McKinsey got it done working with the internal principals and not their ad agencies.

Which is why my partner and I have founded Brand Idiomatics, a consumer forecasting and strategic planning consultancy that offers a totally new and more dynamic alternative to account planning. We have developed the tools and processes that are predictive and not descriptive in our approach to understanding consumer behavior and are incorporated in an entirely new brand planning model.

We work directly with clients and agencies who seek to stake out new territory in a highly fractured and unstable environment. Check us out at www.brandidiomatics.com. If you would like to find out how we do it, contact us and we would be glad to

Permalink