Benefits of Agency Collaboration

Last week I attended a Portland Ad Federation seminar where the topic was “Integration Collaboration”.  The main conversation surrounded how to get agencies and vendors to work together better to serve their customers needs.  Ultimately this will create a more successful campaign when talent from print, interactive, event marketing, etc. come together.  I thought I’d recap some of the highlights as well as add some of my own thoughts.  Every week I’m working with other vendors and unfortunately, most of the time we could all be collaborating better.  This includes the client better utilizing their agencies as well.

Putting an effort toward really collaborating can make us feel vulnerable, and can feel risky.  What if agency X takes our ideas and implements them instead?  Even if I have the clients’ goals and needs first and foremost in mind, who’s to say a paycheck isn’t going to get in the way of someone else’s vision?  None of this will work unless we can start by trusting each other and being open and transparent.  Building these relationships with each other is key.  Long term the client will become more successful only making ourselves more successful.

The larger the agency the harder it is to collaborate with others outside our walls.  Why partner with a development shop if you already have that talent on staff?  If an agency already has a niche than it’s likely they’ll be very open to collaborating with other agencies with complimentary niches.  When clients are working with several firms that have overlapping competencies or talents, that’s when things can get tricky.  And that is when the client can step in to help provide initial direction and get the most out of their vendors.

Clients will get the most for their money when they present a problem to a group of vendors and ask for a solution.  Ask for the agencies to work together to come up with the best campaign.  Perhaps a leader will be established as the brainstorming evolves.  If the agencies are lucky enough the client may set boundaries of who is doing what work.  If not, the team may need to figure that out on their own.  A leader is essential to keeping on track and keeping the end user in mind versus the territory we should all be playing in.

If a client is starting on a major initiative it sets everyone off on the right step if an initial strategy meeting happens right away.  Soon after, roles should be developed for execution and regular checkpoint meetings should continue as the project progresses.  Employees from various agencies should also reach out to each other.  Plan a casual lunch to discuss the account and how you could work better together.  Build trust with each other.  If no one ever opens the lines of transparent communication then it’s likely that the brief touch points that do happen during project will offer fairly guarded conversations.