Christi Stahl's Blog

Benefits of Agency Collaboration

2008-03-10T05:06:00Z

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.

To Microsite or Not to Microsite

2007-11-30T01:14:00Z

I often have calls with potential clients and they say, “We’d like to create a Microsite”. After asking several questions about the purpose it becomes clear that they are really looking for a new section or a few new pages added to the existing website. It seems that microsite has become sort of a meaningless buzz word. Same with a “viral site” (but that’s another subject). Everyone wants one but they don’t really know why. Perhaps it’s just a misunderstanding of the word but here is an attempt to help clarify.

There are several reasons why a brand might benefit from using a microsite versus integrating the content and information into their current website.

The look & feel or voice is different from the overall brand site.
Information is going to live for a short amount of time and needs to be taken down
You want the user to focus on one specific topic or product and not be distracted by other information and navigate to other sections of your site.
Targeting a specific segment of your audience

Creating a microsite for one of the above reasons is a great idea. They definitely have their purpose and can be great ways to market to individuals. Just because you want a particular URL name doesn’t mean it has to be a microsite. Offline advertising can give a URL and have that redirect to the actual page within the site.

Communication the Old Fashioned Way

2007-10-29T23:17:00Z

The world is busy. The agency world is even busier. The client services team spends a lot of time communicating goals, constraints, and timelines of projects across departments. We have lots of great tools in place to help manage the workflow: Project websites, Basecamp, Microsoft project, emails to the team and clients, etc. All of these tools can aid in the success of our projects but I want to remind people of the efficiency and impact that a simple conversation can have. Sharing our minds with each other is what will allow us to work tightly together and continue to improve our work.

Of all the tools that we have at our fingertips sometimes a trip across the office is the most powerful. One of the most important things that a Project Manager can have is the relationship that he/she has with their team. Just as an Account Manager needs to have a mutually respected relationship with their clients. Many times we might not want to disturb someone who looks deep in thought in front of their computer, or risk that we might have to explain details to 4 different people on the team… but the risk that information might get lost in a simple email (or even overlooked) is much greater.

I’ve found that by talking with designers, writers, and developers I’ve learned more about their disciplines and what challenges they might be facing. And they also respect the fact that I’m taking the time to learn and understand their perspective. Having an open dialogue about a project allows us to see opportunities and generate ideas that may not have been uncovered in an electronic format or discussion.

Of course I believe that email communications and project sharing applications are still extremely valuable. They simply need to be used in conjunction with the face-to-face communication. Having an electronic place to document conversations, project goals, or next steps is vital to keep projects moving and everyone on the same page. Team members need to have a central place to refer back to and document our progress. We just need to be careful to not rely on that for all of our project needs.

The next time you sit down to write an email that’s more than a few paragraphs long think about walking over or picking up the phone first to explain it. Or, the next time you have a question – go ask! You might just get an immediate answer and learn something new.