What talents and services become critical when finances are limited, options are plentiful, and the dynamic with agency partners is in flux?
It’s a difficult and time-consuming effort for budget-conscious small businesses and mid-sized marketing enterprises to find agency partners. When you add in the evolving connection between marketers and agencies, the problem becomes even worse.
According to some marketers the (kind of) skills and services that impress them, as well as the obstacles of navigating a world where the relationship between marketers and agencies is always changing.
The firms that give and pre-empt solutions stand out for Jeet Ghosh, marketing manager at Hiranandani Communities, a famous real estate developer specializing in integrated townships, residential, commercial, healthcare, and more.
His must-haves for an agency include a stable of long-term clients who can be reached via both physical and online channels. A thorough understanding of the digital world, including product-by-product audience targeting. Strong ORM capabilities, including dashboards, to monitor and respond to consumers continuously.
The readiness to try out the product and ask inquiries ahead of time. Also, a thorough understanding of the real estate industry.
Other qualities Ghosh is looking for include the ability to constantly build concepts around the brand’s fundamental characteristics, in addition to clutter-breaking creatives, originality, and a good blend of copy and content capabilities.
Quick turnarounds on current events and trends. The capacity to keep an eye on the ‘environment,’ which includes clients, competitors, and the target market. Also, a proclivity to go above and beyond what has been promised or planned.
“Levels have grown too complicated,” Ghosh, who normally works with a single agency for two years, says of the evolving agency-marketer relationship.
As a result, there is some dilution by the time the brief reaches the individuals who are working on it. This can lead to a lot of back-and-forths, which can lead to things being “taken for granted” or “last-minute solutions.”
Surprisingly, he believes that working on a tight budget brings out the best in an agency. What do you mean by that? “Because we have aims that are simple to meet with minimum resources…” “At the back end, we go for cost-effective solutions that offer us an edge over others,” Ghosh insists.
Adding that a shoestring budget helps sharpen the targeting and keeps agency teams savvy and “right on the buck.” We don’t mind experimenting with smaller players and giving them an equal chance in this regard…”
“Agencies lack the power of localized treatment,” says Soniya Ramdas, director of Kaustubha Mediaworks, a media outsourcing service that gives an alternative solution to various corporations to outsource their advertising sales. Because national agencies have a smaller local presence, regionalization has yet to take hold in India.”
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