Finding the right ad agency to tell the story of your company at the 30,000-foot view, and yet bring customers to the ground where the rubber meets the road is obviously a challenge that extends… well, frankly, it’s about 30,000 feet. How do you find the ad agency that can give that 30,000-foot scope and back to the rubber on the road when you have a choice of agencies who can see to 50,000 feet, but miss the deck by 10,000 to agencies who are on the ground and can only see the fog at 100 feet?
Put the fear aside; there is a perfect agency for the scope you need, and finding them will be easier than you think. However, it’s not time for rose-colored goggles. This is not as easy as jumping out of a perfectly good airplane with a guaranteed parachute. There is some ground work you need to do before taking any agency on a tour of the company at the 30,000-foot view.
For now, you do not need to worry about the ground level; the rubber-on-the-road. That is the level of your customers and any agency worth its price of the ticket will purchase some samples of your product as part of their assessment of a proposal to give you.
First and last, (this is not going to be a long list), you need to prepare a request for proposal (RFP). This is not simply a maintenance list for your airplane. There is much more thought that must go into the RFP. In a brief summary, what are the company’s roots? Why and how was the airplane built? Where has it been flying? Does it land and take-off well. How many passengers does it carry? Is it flying a course that was intended?
Give enough background so the agencies you pitch with the RFP will have the broad scope of your company’s current operations and products. Yes, the RFP is a pitch in reverse. It needs to tell your story from inside the company with enough detail so the right ad agency will have the raw material to tell a creative story from an outside, broad scope view of the company for your customers.
Where is the airplane going? How many passengers do you want? Does it need retrofitting? Is it going to need to be completely replaced? Your story is a past-present-future scope of your business. The future piece is critical and must be accurate. While the past and present may only comprise a flight plan, the right ad agency is going to be a vehicle of its own to take the airplane to a destination to which it has never been – greater market share.
Distribute the RFP to a number of agencies. You will be entertaining a number of proposals from which to choose. Be prepared for some flat disappointment, but also expect to be blown sky-high. The proposals should tell which among them has the 30,000-foot scope and not only how land back on solid ground, but what you will reap when you get there. Bon voyage.
BIO:
Robert has written many article on ad agency. If you are based in Long Island area, you may visit the following website: Website Design Long Island