Managing multiple agencies

With many advertisers employing more than one agency, the challenge is to ensure they work well together. Nene Harrison, head of digital media at Ebiquity UK, offers some advice for productive harmony.

There are very few agencies with all the skills and knowledge needed to deliver solutions across today’s media and marketing landscape. The answer for many clients has been to employ multiple agencies, assembling a team of dedicated specialists to meet their needs.

The problem is that advertisers can then find they spend too much time managing the relationships with and between agencies that are supposed to be working for them. This can include refereeing in-fighting between agencies or pushing agency teams to take responsibility for tasks.

The challenge – one that many of the advertisers we work with often struggle with – is to create a structure and rules of engagement that allow each agency to do its best work within a mutually beneficial and trusting environment.

Here are three steps that will help make this a reality:

1. Clarify each agency’s roles and responsibilities.

For every task, you should look to define clearly which agency is responsible for what. There should be no ‘grey areas’ and no potential for competition; let each team know at the outset that muscling in on another agency’s territory will not be tolerated. Agencies need to understand not just their role in the ecosystem but how their behaviour might affect the other teams involved.

You’ll also need to be involved in establishing inter-agency processes and communication. And you’ll have to be specific – this will require you to have a thorough understanding of how your agencies operate and what their day-today responsibilities are.

2. Set an example.

Demonstrate to your agencies that you value collaborative working, by keeping the lines of communication open. Do you develop an integrated brief that includes all your agencies, across all disciplines? Is it delivered to each agency at the same time? And do you share results with each team in regular status meetings?

Bear in mind that having a preferred partner who has privileged access to your time and information may create mistrust with other agencies.

3. Create incentives.

Establish a payment scheme that rewards your agencies for acting collaboratively, as well as delivering results for your business. This requires careful thought, as you don’t want to create a situation where one agency’s efforts can be scuppered by another’s weak performance.

Consider the role that each party plays in the marketing ecosystem, and how their fee structures can be built around this.

Addressing each of these areas will not only save time and reduce stress, but should also lead to better work. Additionally, advertisers get the benefit of having a team of agencies whose efforts are focused on the business, rather than on playing political games.

Ultimately, agencies that work well together will usually create more cohesive and better thought-out strategies.