Agency Relationships PART 1: Finding the Right Partner

We asked experienced marketers to explore the lifecycle of client-agency relationships from their client perspective. Join us as we delve into topics like Finding the Right Agency, Collaborating Effectively, and yes, even Parting Ways (the dreaded breakup).

Meet Cathy

First up, the courting phase. We had the pleasure of chatting with Cathy Nyce, Director, Communications and Corporate Relations Maryland Auto Insurance. With 20+ years of in-house marketing under her belt, Cathy is no stranger to the game of agency selection.

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Q #1:

Tell us about yourself and how you got here, Cathy. And, what's your background working with agencies?

Whew! I’m old, so lotta background.

Although my undergrad degree is in Journalism, I took a less-than-direct path to a career in Marketing and Communications.

I’ve been in the insurance industry for nearly 40 years—working in claims for many years before becoming a Lobbyist/Federal Affairs Liaison, Communications Strategist, and finally Marketing Manager for the East Coast at State Farm. 10 years ago, I came to Maryland Auto to lead the organization’s rebrand and to build our marketing and communications team.

Q #2:

What conversations should a business have before deciding to hire an agency, and who should be involved in those discussions?

So, there are a few things you want to consider. Ultimately, the decision to hire an agency should be part of the overall strategic planning process, involving the whole cast and crew of senior leadership—CEO, COO, CFO, CMO, CIO…all the Cs.

Truth be told, you should be prepared to spend a considerable amount of time understanding your needs before you even go into agency selection.

Here are some convos your team should be having:

✨What are you looking for in an agency? What’s the goal of engaging an outside team?

✨How will the success of your agency be measured? (VERY important)

✨Discuss the level of commitment you’re willing to make​​…from budget and resources to timeline. For example, you should establish how long your team is comfortable committing to an agency so nobody tries pulling the plug early before getting the chance to see ROI.

✨Who is going to lead the agency search process? (*cough cough* should be the CMO) What is the level of involvement by other C-Suite members? Set clear boundaries!

Q #3:

Once you know you need an agency partner, where do you start your search and what factors do you consider?

Well, it probably looks a little different for everyone.

Here’s what we did:

1. As a quasi-state agency ourselves, a Maryland-based agency made sense. So we started there!

2. We looked at agency websites. We wanted to understand who they were (their mission, focus, diversity) and who their clients were (Are they in similar industries? Do they have similar missions?) We also took a close look at their case studies, creative, and took note of any awards or recognition.

3. We phoned a few friends. We reached out to marketing execs in the area, and to existing and prior clients of the agencies directly to get their thoughts and general impressions.

Q #4:

Once you've narrowed your search to a few prospective partners, how do you choose the right agency?

My two cents? Meeting in person is imperative…if it’s possible.

Our most recent search was in 2020, peak pandemic times, so it was all remote. This made things challenging–I think more so for the agencies because it was just difficult for us to get to know them. We actually ended up selecting an agency where we already knew the Account Exec, because that relationship piece was so important.

Back when I was at Maryland Auto doing a rebranding effort, I remember meeting Sarah Quackenbush for the first time (you may have heard of her.) We immediately connected. And it made a big difference. It set the tone.

As for the rest of the agency being a fit, I think their focus and mission are really important–not just what’s stated on the website, but how they actually DO. How do they show up? You’ll see that in their agency events, the way everyone interacts with each other, and you’ll feel the overall vibe. You’ll know.

Q #5:

What's biggest mistake businesses make in choosing an agency partner?

OK not specifically related to the selection, but more on the internal side—not looping in IT soon enough!! Especially if you're doing a rebrand or other work involving the brand’s website, an e-commerce portal, etc.

No matter how great your advertising strategy and content are, you need IT to launch it. And they’ll have much more buy-in if they’re involved (to an appropriate degree) during the selection and planning process.

We didn’t bring in IT until after selecting an agency and had already gone far into the rebranding process. Thankfully it worked out because our agency had team members who could “speak IT” with our internal team, but it could have gone more smoothly had we connected them earlier.

Q #6:

In the next part of our series, we discuss how clients can effectively work with their agency partners. What advice would you give a client going into a new agency relationship?

1. Get clarity around the process and the people who will be involved. Be sure that your internal team knows who the agency point of contact is and how feedback and questions should be communicated. For example, you probably don’t want every member of your internal team feeling free to send feedback directly to the agency’s creative team 🙂

2. Get clarity around the timeline! Including the number of revisions and timeline for providing feedback.

3. Be clear about budget & billing terms! Loop in whoever in your fiscal department that will be handling billing— a monthly billing schedule that your agency partner provides can save SO much time and stress!

4. Most importantly, communication—both ways. I’ve always communicated very directly and pushed hard on our agency partners, and I’ve appreciated how they’ve been able to accommodate. I’ve also always respected when they’ve pushed back—it’s a partnership!

Q #7:

Before we go—any other learnings you’d like to share? We love a good story.

Yes! Involving your internal team into the creative process is SUCH an energizer, and so important.

Internal marketing teams don’t often get the opportunity to do the cool stuff—like being on-site for filming TV spots, in-studio for recording radio, or even finalizing content and layout for digital ads. It’s way more fun than our normal day-to-day work, so when an agency can accommodate the client’s team on these “big, fun days” (without disrupting the process) it really makes an impact.

A few years ago, we were able to have our team on set for the filming of a TV spot. It was in a warehouse at the Fairgrounds on a freezing winter day. The script required blasting the actors with (cold) water, using a leaf blower to blast coffee out of a cup, and throwing eggs and other grocery items into the air. We still talk about that day, and it’s a reminder of how important it is to engage folks in the FUN parts of the process—they’re in marketing (even on the client-side) because they like that stuff.

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✨ Stay tuned for Part 2, where we sit down with an agency veteran turned in-house digital strategist, Lauren Gallagher ✨