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Throughout my career, I've had the pleasure of working with creative agencies from a number of disciplines, including public relations (PR), digital and advertising. In a competitive sector like ours, we are constantly challenged to capture the attention of a wide range of consumers, and it can be difficult to consistently succeed with your marketing efforts over a long period of time. For a company or a brand to stand out, you need to take risks and push the boundaries. Some of it works, and some of it falls flat.
Through the years, I've been wowed and I've been underwhelmed by the results of our campaigns. Yes, we use agencies, but that doesn't mean that the responsibility for success or failure rests solely on their shoulders. I've asked myself what, if anything, was in our control? As the client, how did our efforts contribute to shape both the positive and negative outcomes?
Each of the creative disciplines has its own characteristics, and each has its own approach to tackling creative challenges. As the vice-president of corporate affairs, public relations is of high interest to me, particularly as it relates to the image and reputation of our company and brands. From this perspective, I'll share my experience specifically as it relates to public relations, as PR tends to touch most of the outward communications marketing that we do.
Let's start with what didn't work. When I look back at the work we've done that did not meet my expectations, I found three common issues that had more to do with us, the client, than they did with the agency.
The first is jumping the gun. We have been guilty of beginning the creative process too early, before we have fully nailed down our strategy and defined our business objectives. Trying to accelerate the PR program development by challenging the creative agency to fill in the blanks before the overall marketing strategy is defined is an all-too-common mistake. Our partners need clear direction and well-defined objectives if we hope to receive their best work. We will get better outcomes at a lower price if we are patient and get our objectives and expected metrics nailed down first.
The second mistake is cherry picking. It has happened several times where we say yes to the parts of the strategy that we like best, usually the exciting or sexier parts, while discarding the less-interesting but still important foundational work. We want to land a big feature story on television, or to talk with interesting influencers, but then decide we aren't so crazy about the idea of spending time and money on briefings or direct outreach to our networks.
But effective marketing communications can't be limited to just a series of stand-alone executions. By looking at it as a series of tactics and not as a strategy, the plan often falls apart, and you don't see the results you were hoping for. Often, it's the less exciting parts of the campaign that hold it all together. So instead of self-selecting the best bits, try instead to provide the agency with solid feedback on what you like and why, and what you didn't like and why. And then send them back to adjust the plan as opposed to just whittling it down yourself.
The third area that has led to disappointment were the times where we, the clients, detached from the project. While no one wants to be micromanaged, there is a big difference between constantly peering over your agency's shoulder and simply leaving them with a mandate of "surprise me."
In those instances where I have become disengaged from a project, it has been because I felt very comfortable with the plan and had full confidence in the agency team. But if things don't go perfectly, trying to jump back in after your expectations haven't been met is too late. What works best is a balanced approached with regular updates and check-ins. This will help ensure all partners are delivering on expectations and that tweaks can be made along the way as needed.
On the other side, when I look at campaigns that were a smashing success, there are also common elements.
First, I saw a great benefit when all of our creative partners worked together seamlessly. As the lines between different types of marketing blur in our digital world, creative agencies of all stripes are expanding the types of services and specialties they provide. To prevent confusion, it is critical that clients provide clear direction about work and budget allocations. Don't leave it to the agencies to try to figure out who's doing what and how much budget should go to which projects. It's unfair and too often a desire for a bigger budget wins out over what's going to produce the best results. Also, if you have more than one creative agency, let each one do what they do best. Don't buy in to the pitch that one agency can do it all.
Second, spend more time up front talking with your agency lead. Share as much as you can and leave plenty of time for questions. Chances are your partners will each see the marketing opportunity from a different perspective and their feedback often makes things clearer. This process also helps to determine which part of the mix will get the most attention – is it a PR-driven campaign, or is more about stakeholder communications or the consumer experience at retail? This often determines which agency is most appropriate to lead the integrated agency team.
Finally, set realistic expectations and metrics up front. Having discussions with all the agency partners before you execute will ensure targets are ambitious, but achievable. You need to understand how these metrics are interrelated among the different marketing tactics, and ensure all the partners understand that too. Also, make sure that the metrics for your campaign line up with your overarching business goals. Don't create metrics for the sake of having something to measure – make sure that they are meaningful.
The end goal should always be to have your creative partners feel like an extension of your team – in sync with your business priorities and delivering work that sets your brand apart. Setting them up for success or failure rests with you.
Charlie Angelakos (@c_angelakos) is vice-president of corporate affairs for Labatt Breweries of Canada.