Learn how to get the best creative work out of your agency -- and why an agency is only as good as its clients.

1. POSITION PAPER
Best practices for getting the best
creative from your agency.
Or, why an agency is only as good as its clients.

2. Want to get the best possible creative product from your agency?
Of course you do. Good creative can work wonders for the effectiveness of your marketing
programs. Bad creative surely dooms them.
That said, an agency — and more to the point, the work it produces — is only as good
as its clients.
For over 16 years now, McBru has worked with dozens of high-tech companies. Our
staff has many more collective years of experience in the business. We’ve seen the
creative process work well, and sometimes not so well. We have come to understand and
evangelize the process that unlocks the potential of a good creative team. We measure
that potential by how effectively the work delivers on business objectives.
Of course, you want to get the best possible outcome from your marketing communications.
Your agency wants that too. Applying simple best practices can ensure that everyone
involved pulls together towards that goal. You’ll be proud of the end result, and hopefully
even manage to have fun getting there.
1. Define your objectives
A critical initial step is for you to get as clear as possible on the objectives your
communications must serve. Without clear objectives, you can’t hope for a creative solution
that supports your business goals. These objectives must be ones that communications
can affect. Short, clear, razor-sharp: “I need this audience to learn or do that.”
To begin, identify and define your target audience with as much detail as possible. It
may seem obvious, but you can’t assume that the creative team knows exactly who you
are trying to reach.
Next, define the primary outcome you’re seeking. For example, is it awareness you’re
after, or are you primarily looking to generate leads? You may end up doing both, but you
have to pick one if you hope for focused and effective creative concepts.
Establish metrics. While there will always be a certain amount of subjectivity involved
with creative work, having a specific, measurable outcome — clearly defined from the
outset — takes some interpretation out of the equation. Which, ironically, in turn provides
the solid foundation and confidence an agency needs to take risks creatively.

3. A lack of clearly defined objectives — or worse yet, shifting objectives — will absolutely
doom the creative process. They form the map and compass for creative execution;
without them, a creative team is rudderless.
Clear objectives keep the creative energy focused and effective.
2. Lock in your strategy
With your ultimate objectives defined, you and your agency should collaborate on a
strategy to achieve them. It’s important to document the strategy in a creative platform
or brief.
This document serves two purposes that are extremely important for optimal creative
output. First, it squeezes out any room for miscommunication or separate interpretations
amongst the team. Every subsequent step can be more accurate and add to the value of
the program.
Secondly, your strategy document is a well-oiled tool for building understanding and
consensus within your own organization. Use the document to bring your peers on board.
Share it with any stakeholder who has a role or decision-making authority on your project.
Listen to their comments or concerns, and explain your rationale. You’ve now made
these coworkers ready to understand the outcome of your project and provide prompt,
constructive feedback when needed, throughout the process (more on this point later).
3. Know your brand. Know your organization.
The tone of any piece of marketing communications needs to properly reflect your
company’s brand. Define those primary brand attributes that should be reinforced by the
creative execution. If your company must appear reliable and steady, you should receive
very different creative ideas than you would if your company wanted to emphasize its
cutting-edge innovation.
On the flip side of your company’s external brand attributes are its internal organizational
dynamics. Don’t set your agency up for potential failure by not alerting it to any internal
philosophy or struggles that may influence the reception of creative concepts. Does your
company have any pet peeves or idiosyncrasies that your agency should be mindful of?

4. If your VP of sales or CEO believes that, for example, a “good” ad must use product as
its primary imagery then tell your agency that up front. You aren’t doing it any favors
by keeping it in the dark. That said, a good agency isn’t doing its job if it isn’t pushing
against predispositions. An important part of marketing communications is exploring
new ways to connect with your audiences. But if the agency is aware of internal biases
heading into the review process it stands a better chance of managing reactions. At the
very least, you and the agency aren’t going to be blind-sided in a conference room full of
people with no explanation of why none of the ad concepts being presented “looks like
one of our ads.”
4. Refine – really refine – your key message
The tone of any piece of marketing communications needs to properly reflect your
company’s brand. Define those primary brand attributes that should be reinforced by the
creative execution. If your company must appear reliable and steady, you should receive
very different creative ideas than you would if your company wanted to emphasize its
cutting-edge innovation.
On the flip side of your company’s external brand attributes are its internal organizational
dynamics. Don’t set your agency up for potential failure by not alerting it to any internal
philosophy or struggles that may influence the reception of creative concepts. Does your
company have any pet peeves or idiosyncrasies that your agency should be mindful of?
If your VP of sales or CEO believes that, for example, a “good” ad must use product as
its primary imagery then tell your agency that up front. You aren’t doing it any favors
by keeping it in the dark. That said, a good agency isn’t doing its job if it isn’t pushing
against predispositions. An important part of marketing communications is exploring
new ways to connect with your audiences. But if the agency is aware of internal biases
heading into the review process it stands a better chance of managing reactions. At the
very least, you and the agency aren’t going to be blind-sided in a conference room full of
people with no explanation of why none of the ad concepts being presented “looks like
one of our ads.”
5. Build consensus from key stakeholders
Haven’t we already mentioned this? Yes, but that’s because this part of the process is
too often overlooked. Now is the time to define your stakeholders and get buy-in. Get
feedback and make modifications to the objectives, strategy, and key message now,
rather than weeks and thousands of dollars later!

5. Identify and engage those within your organization who need to buy in on this particular
piece of communications up front. When you return to them later, you can use the
agreed-upon strategy document to refresh their thinking and provide context. Tell them
you are “saving them time and reducing their risk” of making uninformed decisions by
getting them involved early in the process.
Plus, getting buy-in early frees you and your agency to execute on the objectives,
strategy and message. You can avoid working by committee and having someone in your
organization who may not understand the context or objectives catch a glimpse of the
developing creative product and sabotage it with the dreaded phrase “I don’t get it.” If
everyone has agreed to the objectives, strategy, and message up-front, and the creative
is delivering on those, then everyone should “get it.”
6. Let experts be experts
At this point, the creative process kicks off. The strategy document becomes the shared
platform for all the experts to stand on and for evaluating potential executions during the
collaborative creative process.
Now, let the experts be the experts.
If you’ve chosen your agency carefully — of course you have! — it will know how to
communicate with your target audiences most effectively: finding and selecting the right
media channels; knowing the industry influencers and what they prefer; branding and
identity, art direction, design and writing; and how to use the tools to track and report
success, or to refine a program in midstream. This is what you hired the agency for. Step
back and let them execute.
At the same time, your agency should respect and tap into your expertise to drive results.
You know how the stated objectives will help your company grow in the marketplace.
You know your company’s strengths and weaknesses, who your competitors are and the
players and steps in the sales cycle. You know what value promise you can make and
keep with customers. On a broad scale, you can explain how the program contributes to
your business goals and sales initiatives. Simply put, you can help nudge the creative
work to keep on strategy.
When each party respects the other, and lets the other do their jobs, the results are most
impressive.

6. 7. Know what your agency expects of you
It’s not always the most exciting part of the creative process, but a good agency should
rely on a solid workflow process. There is no creativity inherent in chaos. Any agency that
tells you that is either unwilling or unable to put the sort of process in place that will
allow a good creative team to thrive. Creativity should be reserved for design and writing
— not scheduling.
During this process, it is the agency’s responsibility to maintain the process and schedule.
At several milestones, you will be called upon to review work and offer guidance. Make
sure the agency defines very clearly what is expected of you at each stage of the process.
Are you evaluating conceptual ideas or reviewing the legal copy? If your responsibility at
each step is clear, you can make more accurate decisions more efficiently. You also give
your agency the best information to carry on.
Understanding your role during the process, you can see how important it is that you
meet your deadlines. Many resources are in motion within the agency. They depend on
your prompt feedback and approval at specific steps in the process.
Likewise, your agency must meet its deadlines. You similarly have many resources in
your company that must contribute at specific times.
Mutual respect of expertise is amplified by mutual respect of process.
8. Be proud of the work
At the end of the process, if the objectives were clear, if the strategy had been agreed
upon, if the key message remained singular, if the review steps were followed, you will
be proud of the work that comes out. All the experts will have put their best efforts into
it, and have done what they do best. And it will serve the objectives that will help your
company succeed.
Not an insignificant feat!
If you feel good about the result, don’t be shy. Say so. Share your enthusiasm with your
agency and, even more importantly, within your company. Building excitement around
your new ad campaign, brochure or Web site can only help enhance its effectiveness.
A good agency should be thrilled to make you look like a hero within your organization.
In the end, your success is their success. Because, after all, an agency is only as good
as its clients.

7. For further information or questions:
Jeff Hardison
503.546.1009
jeff@mcbru.com
CONTACT US
5331 Macadam Ave, Suite 220
Portland, OR 97239
503.546.1000
www.mcbru.com