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Marketing Agency Exposed Podcast

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Ep 102: Do big brands only hire big agencies?

Mar 16, 2022

Subtitle:

And the myth-busting continues! On this week’s episode, we continue to analyze and debunk some of the most common myths in the agency world. We break down RFP’s, hiring, size, Cancun, creativity, trendsetting, and more in this week’s episode!

 

Summary:

On today’s episode, we discuss some of the top myths in the agency world, from an agency’s perspective, and the client’s. We believe that it’s important to debunk these myths not only to expose the truth about agency life but also to dig deeper and understand the reasoning behind the myths and how they influence businesses today. Keep in mind, this episode is all about our personal opinions and experiences with these myths. The goal of these mythbusting episodes is to help our listeners form their own opinions about the validity of these myths, and help them achieve success.

 

Top 3 Curtain Pulls in this episode: 

  • RFP’s are not the best ways to find an agency. We personally don’t believe that RFP’s are the smartest or best way to find an agency. Think of hiring an agency like hiring an employee. While their experience and education do play a part in the hiring decision, their personality and ability to do the specific job does even more. Having a competition between agencies won’t help you hire the agency you’re most compatible with, and the relationship with the agency you end up hiring can often be awkward due to how the relationship started. We’ve dedicated a whole episode to  RFP’s here, so if you missed it, go check it out! “There's a lot of waste in RFPs.”
  • Size of your agency can matter but often doesn’t. The old corporate adage, “No one ever got fired for hiring IBM” is where we believe the myth that “big agencies are the only ones that big brands hire” came from. Because of this saying, many businesses associate large size and high price with high quality work and valuable experience. While some large companies truly need large agencies to help them with their projects, leaner agencies do have a chance too. The thing companies are looking for is trust and confidence in the team they hire, and size is only one way to judge that.  “Instead of focusing on the size of an agency, I think you need to be focusing on what's the best fit, and the best solution for my problem.”
  • Creativity isn’t limited to one geographic area. Although NYC, LA, and Chicago may traditionally be known for their creative design, creativity is everywhere. If you’re looking for someone to help with design, don’t just look for people in large cities; look for the person that you will work well with and will do the job you need them to do best. “You’re not really limited to a geographic area.”

 

For more tips, discussion, and behind the scenes:

 

About The Guys: 

Bob Hutchins: Founder of BuzzPlant, a digital agency that he ran from from 2000 -2017. He is also the author of 3 books. More on Bob: 

Brad Ayres: Founder of Anthem Republic, an award-winning ad agency. Brad’s knowledge has led some of the biggest brands in the world. Originally from Detroit, Brad is an OG in the ad agency world and has the wisdom and scars to prove it. Currently that knowledge is being applied to his boutique agency. More on Brad:

Ken Ott: Co-Founder and Chief Growth Rebel of Metacake, an Ecommerce Growth Team for some of the world’s most influential brands with a mission to Grow Brands That Matter. Ken is also an author, speaker, and was nominated for an Emmy for his acting on the Metacake Youtube Channel (not really). More on Ken: 

 

Show Notes:

[0:45] Bob opens this week’s episode by announcing Brad’s new youtube crypto channel, RADMAX Crypto.

[2:31] Brad talks about how crypto will get hit by the Ukraine-Russia tension.

[5:41] Ken discusses how the guys are, “going to do a bunch of episodes where we collect myths that people send in or that we find, that we hear, that we know of, and we're just gonna see if they’re true or not.”

[6:01] Bob brings up the first myth, “An RFP, request for proposal, is the best way to find an agency.”

[6:56] Brad talks about how he’s seen and experienced the negative side of RFP’s. “There's a lot of waste in RFPs.”

[12:22] Bob asks the guys, “If the myth is “an RFP is the best way to find an agency”, what is our opinion on a better way?”

[16:35] Ken discusses how he believes that agencies should be hired in the way employees are hired rather than through RFPs. “An RFP doesn't let you know if you like them.”

[20:19] Bob begins the discussion about the next myth, “Only big agencies can really provide and do a good job and what I need.”

[20:42] Ken says that the size of the agency can matter when it comes to certain size companies, but more often than not, clients associate size with reliability and experience. 

[22:30] Bob proposes an alternative perspective for clients to consider. “Instead of focusing on the size of an agency, I think you need to be focusing on what's the best fit, and the best solution for my problem.”

[26:53] Brad talks about how he teams up with other agencies in order to win bigger clients and a few of the advantages of being a larger agency.

[28:12] Bob mentions the next myth, “the best creative only comes from LA, New York, or Chicago.”

[29:02] Brad discusses how there are differences in agencies in different cities but how when he moved to Nashville, he saw a lot of creativity here. “It's like creativity meets corporate.”

[31:20]  Brad talks about how the improvements to and accessibility of technology has made it easier to compete with larger agencies.

[32:26] Ken asks, “Where do you get the trendsetting creativity?”

[34:23] Bob talks about how he believes trends were made previously and how technology and culture have reversed the trendsetting process. 

[37:12] Ken says that busting these myths is important because not only can you express the true nature of agency life, but also, “digging into the reason behind them is where you can learn some things.”

[37:30] Bob summarizes the agency myths and the truth. 

[38:09] Brad closes this episode by reminding the listeners to “Go to Agency Exposed on YouTube, slap up the likes and subscribe. There's a little notification button. If you click that you'll get all of the latest videos from Agency Exposed.”