As the Covid-19 period has expanded, so business uncertainty has increased. McDowell and Botha shared some thoughts around the importance of recreating certainty in the workplace in ways that are in your control.
Listen to Johanna McDowell as she shares her thoughts on the AdForum Global Worldwide Summit
Johanna McDowell chats to Bryan Hattingh from Radio Today outlining the role of the IAS in the Marketing/Agency space. A recent area of need is the management of the marketing ecosystem, suppliers and agencies, for best results. The IAS has a wealth of experience and is able to advise in this area.
Glenda Neville from The Media Online interviews Johanna McDowell, CEO and founder of IAS and Cesar Vacchiano, CEO and President of SCOPEN global, giving insight into the new SOPEN Ratings.
THE IMPACTS FOR AGENCIES IN TIMES OF CHALLENGE
Although prospecting for new business might be the least likely priority on your agency agenda, the time is right to sharpen your new business skills and build your prospect data base in order to be attracting new clients post Covid-19 lockdown and beyond.
With such uncertainty everywhere - locally and globally - it is the ideal time to build some certainty into your own new business drive and to develop those skills for the future
Real business value has always been on a marketer’s radar when choosing service providers, but with Covid-19 adding a potential global recession to the mix, there’s also never been a more important time for agencies to offer value – and credibility. Here’s what marketers will expect through the turbulence...
As one of South Africa’s foremost intermediary consultancies, the Independent Agency Search and Selection Company (IAS) specialises in match-making that produces an effective marketer-agency relationship that meets the current and future needs of both parties.
“We are seeing a wave of restructuring for optimal B-BBEE compliance, as well as for the diversity the industry needs to keep up with global marketing and creativity levels,” says IAS Managing Director Johanna McDowell. “We’ve recently been approached by several agencies
seeking suitable business partners with whom to structure new entities or create exclusive contracts that may lead to a merger or an acquisition in the future.”
In the digital space, McDowell says, there are firms of various sizes looking to form associations with black-owned agencies, where their clients’ products or services must speak to a specific demographic.
“It’s important to note, though,” she says, “that successful agency partnerships start and end with the softer issues. For the IAS, this means determining whether two companies can work together based on their innate culture, chemistry and values.
“Our partnership with SCOPEN Africa that produced Agency Scope 2017/2018 has expanded the way we see these softer issues, based on SCOPEN’s involvement in so many other countries giving the IAS a real-time view into markets across the globe.”
So, why would agencies need the “most recommended pitch consultants” in South Africa? McDowell says creating a working partnership isn’t as simple as it sounds. “Every deal is different, from the ATL agency in Cape Town that needs a digital or outdoor specialist in Johannesburg to the in-house marketing division that requires a specialist film production team, the number of boxes that must be ticked is substantial.”
With more consumers and businesses looking to support economic inclusivity, it makes sense for a successful organisation to acquire or engage with another successful one that has the skills they require. “The IAS is acutely aware of the importance cultural matching and chemistry that must be there from the start if the partnership is going to be successful,” McDowell asserts.
“Finding a perfect fit is largely an intuitive process. The basics, such as size of agency, core skills and client type, is the easy part,” she says. “When it comes to the chemistry, potential skill-swapping and how both partners will adapt to each other’s standards, we need to delve deeper into how each works; their agility in producing the goods and the effort each puts in to ensure client satisfaction.”
The Independent Agency Search and Selection Company (IAS) will be hosting an interactive panel discussion with highly experienced marketing professionals in order to inform, discuss, debate, give tips, share experiences and views on the very important topic of Agency Collaboration.
Collaborating with your competitors might have been counterintuitive years ago, but today it's a necessity for a successful business. Apart from the slight - though significant - differences between the definitions of collaboration, cooperation and coordination, what is really happening between clients and agencies in terms of agency collaboration? Are agencies collaborating often? And what does good collaboration look like?
The Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS) will be hosting an interactive panel discussion with highly experienced marketing professionals in order to inform, discuss, debate, give tips, share experiences and views on the very important topic of Agency Collaboration.
During the masterclass, taking place on 13 June in Sandton, insights from AGENCY SCOPE 2017/18 will be unpacked, which will highlight the levels of disciplined integration that marketers require along with the reality of services that marketers are building inside their own organization. Who does what among the marketing communications disciplines will be revealed.
Panelists include:
• Hein Kaiser, general manager of marketing and communications Fastjet;
• Anoshi Saretzi, Jacobs Douwe Egberts;
• Candice de Bruin, Head of Marketing & Business Development Werksmans Attorneys;
• Carla de Quintal, Marketing Professional, formerly with Simba PepsiCo;
• Peter Pretorius, Eskom and
• Rita Fernandes, Jacobs Douwe Egberts
ABOUT THE IAS MASTERCLASSES
The IAS Masterclass is aimed at subscribing agencies and their staff. All names and titles of staff members must be registered with IAS before attendance is approved. There are no costs for any subscriber to attend the IAS Masterclasses.
Delegates are encouraged to confirm their attendance by contacting Hlamazi Mabunda at the IAS for more information about and to register for the masterclass.
Date: 13 June 2018
Time: 13:30 - 17:00
Venue: IoD (Institute of Directors), Sandton
Cost: R3000,00 ex VAT per Agency for non-subscribers
Contact: Hlamazi Mabunda
Company name: Independent Agency Search & Selection Company
Email address Hlamazi@agencyselection.co.za
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Collaborating with your competitors might have been counter-intuitive years ago, but today it’s a necessity for a successful business. Apart from the slight — though significant — differences between the definitions of collaboration, cooperation and coordination, what is really happening between clients and agencies in terms of agency collaboration? Are agencies collaborating often? And what does good collaboration look like?
The Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS) will be hosting an interactive panel discussion with highly experienced marketing professionals in order to inform, discuss, debate, give tips, share experiences and views on the very important topic of Agency Collaboration.
“It’s never been more important for Clients that their Agencies work well together, yet collaboration continues to be an ongoing challenge with no simple solution in sight. But it is a challenge that is well worth focusing on to help and inform on how best to collaborate at even higher levels to achieve the desired results”, comments Johanna McDowell managing director of the IAS and Partner SCOPEN Africa.
Insights obtained from agency scope 2017/2018 indicate that 42% of marketers would prefer to work with specialised agencies that would solve needs in different disciplines and areas. What this means is that collaboration among different types of agencies is essential. Collaboration also extends to marketers’ in-house marketing services and how they work with agencies and other service providers.
During the masterclass, taking place on 13 June in Sandton, insights from AGENCY SCOPE 2017/18 will be unpacked, which will highlight the levels of disciplined integration that marketers require along with the reality of services that marketers are building inside their own organization. Who does what among the marketing communications disciplines will be revealed.
ABOUT THE IAS MASTERCLASSES
The IAS Masterclass is aimed at subscribing agencies and their staff. All names and titles of staff members must be registered with IAS before attendance is approved. There are no costs for any subscriber to attend the IAS Masterclasses.
Delegates are encouraged to confirm their attendance by contacting Hlamazi Mabunda at the IAS on Hlamazi@agencyselection.co.za for more information about and to register for the masterclass.
Click here to read this article online
Having recently attended the AdForum Worldwide Summit in New York, Johanna McDowell managing director of The Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS) and Partner SCOPEN Africa will be presenting detailed and in-depth reports and case studies on global trends and up-to-date information on agencies at a Masterclass Session aimed at IAS subscribing agencies that will take place on the 9th May 2018 at the Institute of Directors in Sandton and on the 17th May 2018 at the Winchester Mansions Hotel in Cape Town.
The AdForum Summit took place in New York, between 23rd and 27th April 2018, providing Johanna McDowell, the IAS and Scopen Africa and over 30 global consultants with the opportunity to attend 26 agency meetings with more than20 world-wide agency CEO’s.
“It was interesting to meet some of the international agencies on that side of the fence, with some of the legendary agencies in the city, covering a series of intricate and complex industry issues and challenges. The summit unpacked the global trends in industry disciplines such advertising, creative, media, digital, public relations, direct, and indirect marketing services. However, there was much more to it and all will be revealed at the masterclass where I will provide in-depth feedback,” concludes McDowell.
Agencies who would like to attend the session are invited to contact Hlamazi Mabunda on hlamazi@agencyselection.co.za or call 010 594 0281 to register.
The 2018 AdForum Summit, held biannually in selected cities across the globe, will feature Johanna McDowell and the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS) as part of an exclusive, captive audience of search consultants.
The 2018 AdForum summit will take place in New York between 23rd and 27th April 2018, providing Johanna McDowell and the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS) with the opportunity to assess and forecast global advertising industry trends; and, with up-to-date information constantly being exchanged, an exclusive forum to share ideas, challenges and opportunities.
The AdForum summit is an invitation only event that brings top players in the industry together, and offers them the chance to grow their business, network, and experience how they are shaping the future. The IAS is the only South African company that has consistently been participating in the summit for the past 11 years.
More than 20 participating agencies including big names like Dentsu Aegis Group, Havas Group, DDB Worldwide and Mullen Lowe Group will be visited during the summit week, where these participating agencies have set up private meetings with more than 35 search consultants from around the world at their respective offices in order to have 1-on-1 conversations about agency goals, strategies, key corporate messages and showcase their creative visions and talents with a focus on developing new business leads.
“The main reason we accept the invitation to attend is to ensure that the IAS continues to be at the forefront of global issues and trends facing the advertising and communication industry and the complex world of agency selection. AdForum offers us the chance to discuss the future of the marketing communications industry. This will be especially important this year with the rapid growth of alternative communication partners and management consultants with whom marketers are starting to engage,” says Johanna McDowell, managing director of IAS and partner for SCOPEN Africa.
SCOPEN Africa will also be represented by McDowell at the Summit along with other SCOPEN colleagues from around the world.
As a result of the issues mentioned above, the Independent Agency Search and Selection Company (IAS) has announced the launch of their Business Speed Dating Programme, a first in South Africa for Procurement and Communication Agencies. The first session will take place on 7 June in Johannesburg with plans to roll this out across the country depending on success and uptake.
The business speed dating programme has been specifically designed for Procurement Professionals and Black-Owned agencies, with the aim of offering Procurement Executives a dynamic, no strings attached opportunity to very efficiently meet a wide variety of 100% Black -Owned Communication Agencies that they may wish to know. The agencies will be from different disciplines such as advertising, digital, media, PR, events and activations.
Black-owned agencies, who wish to know more about this programme and other services offered by the IAS, are invited to be in touch with Hlamazi Mabunda on email hlamazi@agencyselection.co.za or Nikki Munsie on email nikki@agencyselection.co.za or contact the IAS on 010 594 0281.
The first of the Independent Agency Search and Selection Company's (IAS) Business Speed Dating Programmes will take place in Johannesburg on 7 June 2018. The programme is aimed at pairing procurement professionals and black-owned agencies, in an effort to offer procurement executives the opportunity to meet 100% black-owned communication agencies.
The agencies will be from different disciplines such as advertising, digital, media, PR, events, and activations. Black-owned agencies, that wish to know more about this programme and other services offered by the IAS, are invited to be in touch with Hlamazi Mabunda on email hlamazi@agencyselection.co.za or Nikki Munsie on email nikki@agencyselection.co.za or contact the IAS on 010 594 0281.
It is widely considered that while long term relationships between clients and their advertising agencies produce better results, the reality is that client/agency relationships do fail, and most often within two to three years of starting.
Cracks in the relationship start to appear because very often clients and agencies are not on the same wavelength and do not fully understand the dynamics and the day-to-day running of their respective business. A perfect match requires the agency to fully understand the client’s brand and brand ethos, while clients have to understand the creative dynamics of its agency.
Relationship breakdown
According to research conducted in 2017 by the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company and SCOPEN among 217 marketing professionals from different companies (clients) and 152 advertising agency professionals working in creative and media agencies, the perceptions and reasons behind the breakdown in the relationships often differed between the client and the agency. The research shows an interesting and sometimes surprising difference in opinions between clients and agencies and more importantly, offers clues as to how to avoid a breakdown.
About 79% of interviewed clients mentioned they were satisfied with their current agencies, while 26% mentioned that although they were satisfied, they were still considering changing their agencies for various reasons.
Matching the personalities is essential to strike up the right chemistry in the first meeting. Chemistry in any relationship gets each party excited, the creative juices start to flow, and an environment of trust is formulated. While an emotional connection is not the only important factor to the relationship, the chemistry between the agency and client is a vital ingredient in the matchmaking process.
Another major factor expressed by clients as being the overriding cause of the breakdown was the timing issue and servicing by the agency.
Defining boundaries
Like any new or existing relationship defining boundaries and maintaining open healthy dialogue is key to a long-lasting client-agency relationship. Both parties have to understand what they are expecting from the relationship and have it formalised in writing.
The truth is while agencies would like their clients to engage more with them, senior marketing executives in general have become less engaged with the agency and probably only spend about 20%, at the most, of their time working with the agency. While the marketing director is responsible for directing the advertising strategy, this has become a very small part of what he or she now does on a daily basis within the company organisation.
It is important for the agency to take into account that they have been selected to handle the advertising campaign and to deliver effective marketing campaigns that meets the client’s objectives. The client does not have time to monitor an agency and very often, if the agency is unable to meet the deadlines, a divorce can be on the cards.
The expectations of the client and the agency need to be spelled out from the start. Sometimes rescuing the previous relationship is more beneficial because changing agencies can be disruptive.
The DNA of an agency
Choosing an advertising agency to take a brand to a new level is an important decision. However, understanding the DNA of an agency is essential to the success of the relationship. Clients need to gain a deeper understanding into the mechanics of an agency, to keep brand managers abreast with the latest changes and developments in the marketing communications industry.
Continuous feedback throughout the relationship ensures client and agency are able to develop and maintain a successful relationship.
Setting clear expectations and clearly defining roles is the best preventative measure. There has to be more effort at the start to establish working practices, because well-structured professional relationships are then more likely to last.
The International Public Relations Association (IPRA) board has resolved to honour its former President Johanna McDowell with the title of Member Emeritus of IPRA in recognition for her service to IPRA and the PR profession over many years.
“It is a great honour for me to be recognised with the prestigious title of Member Emeritus. IPRA has been my guiding light through the course of my PR career which followed on my earlier advertising career activities. They gave me access to other international professionals and I always felt that we were at the leading edge of communications,” says McDowell.
“I joined IPRA in 1994, as I wanted to be part of an international PR organization when I started my first agency and the past 24 years have been memorable for the amount of change and development that the PR industry worldwide has been through,” adds McDowell.
With an impressive background that includes being on the agency and client side of the fence, McDowell has built her career in marketing and advertising since 1974. McDowell previously served as a member of the International Advertising Association (IAA), before being elected to the position of IPRA President in 2012, a global responsibility.
As a long-term member of this international organization since the early 90’s, McDowell saw this as an ideal opportunity to promote Africa to the world: a cause close to her heart. This indeed became the case when she used her experience and knowledge of the industry as the local organiser of the 2015 IPRA World Congress in South Africa which was attended by over 300 delegates from 38 countries.
“It is always a pleasure to create a new Member Emeritus”, says IPRA Secretary General Philip Sheppard. “Up until today there are just 16 others across the globe, and in total there have been only 38 since IPRA’s creation in 1955. Johanna is a deserved recipient of the title and a PR professional who will be remembered for a spectacular Congress in 2015 in Johannesburg.”
About IPRA:
IPRA, the International Public Relations Association, is the leading global network for Public Relations professionals. Membership is individual not corporate. It aims to further the development of open communication and the ethical practice of public relations. IPRA fulfils this aim through networking opportunities, its code of conduct and intellectual leadership of the profession. IPRA is the organiser of the annual Golden World Awards for excellence – PR’s global awards scheme. With 60 years of experience, IPRA, recognised by the United Nations, is now present throughout the world wherever public relations are practised. IPRA welcomes all those within the profession who share its aim and who wish to be part of the IPRA worldwide fellowship. For more information please visit: www.ipra.org
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