According to the 2013 RSW/US agency-marketer business report, regarding issues related to agency selection criteria used by marketers, though agencies would like to think that most, if not all marketers only think about price and other less meaningful measures, it appears that how agencies think marketers SHOULD judge them, is at least close to how marketers actually are judging them.
What Agencies think marketers SHOULD use and what agencies think marketers ARE using to evaluate them are two different things. Agencies think Strategic Insights and Creative Ideas should be most important, but believe that marketers are actually placing equal emphasis on category experience, chemistry, and creative ideas.
| Agencies: How Marketers SHOULD Judge Agencies | |
| Judgement | Importance (1=Most Important; 6=Least) |
| Strategic insights |
1.64 |
| Creative ideas |
2.84 |
| Chemistry |
2.89 |
| Category experience |
3.93 |
| Account management skills |
4.36 |
| Cost |
5.34 |
| Source: RSW/US, August 2013 | |
Agencies also think marketers should place the least amount of emphasis on cost, but believe they are actually placing the least amount of emphasis on account services.
| Agencies: How Agencies THINK Marketers are Judging Agencies | |
| Judgement | Importance (1=Most Important; 6=Least) |
| Strategic insights |
2.94 |
| Creative ideas |
3.24 |
| Chemistry |
2.88 |
| Category experience |
2.98 |
| Cost |
3.84 |
| Account management skills |
5.12 |
| Source: RSW/US, August 2013 | |
Interestingly, what agencies think marketers SHOULD use as criteria when evaluating agencies is very close to what marketers ARE using as their ranking criteria.
| Agencies: How Marketers SHOULD Judge Agencies | |
| Judgement | Importance (1=Most Important; 6=Least) |
| Strategic insights |
1.64 |
| Creative ideas |
2.84 |
| Chemistry |
2.89 |
| Category experience |
3.93 |
| Account management skills |
4.36 |
| Cost |
5.34 |
| Source: RSW/US, August 2013 | |
Marketers are evaluating agencies the way agencies want them to. While agencies would potentially like to think that most, if not all marketers only think about price and other less meaningful measures, it appears that how agencies think marketers SHOULD judge them, is exactly (or at least close to) how marketers actually are judging them. At the end of the day, says the report, marketers are buying strategic thinking and creativity from agencies.
| Marketers: What they ARE Using to Judge Agencies | |
| Judgement | Importance (1=Most Important; 6=Least) |
| Strategic insights |
2.52 |
| Creative ideas |
2.73 |
| Chemistry |
3.59 |
| Cost |
3.67 |
| Category experience |
4.05 |
| Account management skills |
4.44 |
| Source: RSW/US, August 2013 | |
77% of marketers state that it is either somewhat or very important to hire an agency that has some degree of specialization, though 59% of marketers state that agencies only need to have 50% or less of their agency focused on their category in order to be considered a specialist in their field. 62% of agencies believe specialization is more important today than 3-4 years ago.
| Agencies: Less or More important to have a specialty today than 3-4 years ago | |
| Importance | % of Respondents |
| More |
61.5 |
| Less |
6.8 |
| No different |
31.6 |
| Source: RSW/US, August 2013 | |
There are fewer marketers that feel the need for specialization is greater today, than it was 3-4 years ago. This is likely a function of marketer needs not changing, but Agencies realizing that as things get more competitive, they need the category experience to help just “get them to the table” in a review or conversation, says the report.
| Marketers: Less or More important to have a specialty today than 3-4 years ago | |
| Importance | % of Respondents |
| More |
47.1 |
| Less |
12.5 |
| No different |
40.4 |
| Source: RSW/US, August 2013 | |
59% of marketers state that agencies only need to have 50% or less of their Agency focused on their category in order to be considered a specialist in their field.
Agencies frequently ask, says the report, “If a prospect comes to my site and sees that I’m not 100% focused on their space, will I lose out on an opportunity?” According to the study results, the answer is “no”.
| Amount Of Agency’s Business Focused On Industry To Consider It A “Specialist” | |
| % of Focus Expected | % of Respondents |
| 10-25% |
14.3% |
| 26-50 |
44.8 |
| 51-75 |
31.4 |
| 76-99 |
8.6 |
| 100% |
1.0 |
| Source: RSW/US, August 2013 | |
The report concludes by suggesting that the business investment outlook still feels pretty good to both marketers and agencies. 87% of Agencies expect to drive more investment in their business, and while the numbers are lower for Marketers (57%), the fact that there is an air of re-investment bodes well for the advertising community and economy as a whole.
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