Vanilla Ice hit the nail on the head with that opening line!
I was out at dinner a couple of months ago with some friends. We were talking about the huge number agencies some companies have working for them!
One brilliant solution that Steve, a friend, has implemented in his Telco business is to run an ‘All Agency WIP’. They had been doing it for about 3 months, when we spoke, and meetings were coupled with the sharing of info between the agencies during the week, via an FTP site. This helped maintain communication and momentum between meetings. They found the meetings quite a challenge, however, there have been massive improvements in communication and innovation in Steve’s business!
Steve realised that within his company he has access to an additional 20 full time employees (within his agencies). And just as he would have a weekly update and brainstorm with his direct line managers together, he believed that he should do the same with all the key agency staff. This happens regularly, not just on projects where the agencies are forced to work together.
Steve’s company currently has 6 agencies (Media, PR, Brand, Point of Sale & Collateral, Merchandise & Distribution, Promotion, DM Agency) …..they’re still trying to work on what the optimum size group is to make the meetings effective. …..Currently they have all department heads from his company’s marketing & brand teams plus 1 - 2 from each agency (Group Account Director, Account Director/Manager) so its generally a largish group. They clearly require some management.
You see, he’s doing something that is the same as the norm - a boring old WIP. But it’s a little bit different. He is thinking outside of the square. It might be a little hard to get all the [competitive] agencies engaging in a meeting together, but the outcomes are fantastic!
No longer to different agencies do parallel projects that double up on budgets, making it harder to drive profitability. Now the initiatives are being aligned to drive further sales success and manage consistent brand messaging.
In order to make the most of the meetings he set out some high level objectives:
Marketing Objectives
- Drive brand and challenge the market
- Get customers to buy stuff, spend more money & stay with us
Why have an all agency, all company marketing WIP?
- increase communication (internally and between agencies)
- better planning
- increase consistency
- reduce costs
- accountability
- challenge each other for best ideas
In order to execute it you need a good leader, a lot of will-power and openness to new experiences on the part of participants. And, of course, you need some metrics that put people’s balls on the line. That will make sure the all agency WIP is successful!