Finding the ideal match

Finding the right agency is a lot like online dating. First off, expressing who you are and what you are looking for in a couple of hundred words isn’t easy. 5’8” and slightly chubby is simple enough, but are you adventurous? I’m more adventurous than Auntie Margaret, but not nearly as daring as Wild Sarah, so what do I put? Likewise, do you want an agency that pushes your creative or technological boundaries? And just like dating you might have to make compromises; the agency that produces the best visuals might not be very good at the logistics – of course two agencies are more likely to agree to a three-way relationship. But no matter how good a relationship looks on paper, how many boxes a potential partner ticks, there’s always that elusive “chemistry”. You can work at building rapport, but it will never be as good as those rare occasions when you meet somebody who is on the same wavelength.

So how do you wade through all the profiles out there and find the right agency for you? It’s fairly traditional to get a handful of agencies to pitch for a specific project. But is that really the best way? That approach is akin to speed dating, gambling everything on just a few minutes. And preparing for a pitch is a challenging and expensive process – for both the client and the suitors. Which is why I was interested to read about how Santander is approaching finding a new agency:

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/1008409/Santander-overhaul-UK-brand-positioning/

What do you think of this approach? Do you have any advice or horror stories about finding an agency that you’d like to share? We’d love to hear from you.

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