Those of us who have been in the marketing and shopper marketing world for a while know how important shopper marketing agency relationships are. Agencies come in lots of different shapes and sizes. Some are competent, some are helpful, some excel in execution: many are average. But every now and then you get a great relationship – one that works for both parties, a real partnership. Those client/agency relationships are worth their weight in gold. What makes it happen? What is the secret sauce that makes a shopper marketing client/agency relationship work?
This article is a little different. It’s based on conversations I’ve had with Henda van der Walt at Tilda, and Mia Tello at Shopmium, as well as conversations with many clients over the years, and my own personal experience. Note that I am not endorsing Shopmium (though there is much to commend them, depending on what you are looking for). I’m not endorsing Tilda either, by the way (though I do like their rice!) OK – disclaimers out of the way: let’s get on with the article!
Great shopper marketing campaigns begin with a shopper-centric strategy
I was drawn to speak with Henda and Mia when I saw an execution (via Shopmium), bringing together Tilda rice and Apetina paneer. It was simple (but so much of the best shopper marketing is), but clever, and so I wanted to understand more about the campaign. As we discussed the campaign’s genesis, it became clear that one of the things that made this campaign possible was the relationship between client and agency.
A great client/agency relationship without a great strategy isn’t worth much
But that wasn’t the starting point. The starting point was, and always is, a clear, shopper-centric strategy. A strategy that is based on an understanding of who the target shopper is for the brand; where growth is going to come from, and what shoppers need to do differently to drive brand growth.
Without a strategy, the best client/agency relationship will fail. Or more likely, just be average. Before you blame your agency for generic campaigns or communications, check that you really have an insight-based strategy in place.
Clients know their strategy, and select agencies based on that
Without a clear strategy, without a clear understanding of which shoppers we are targeting, what they do, how they shop, how they engage – we are working in the dark. Simply put, you can’t select an agency partner until you know your strategy. One of your main selection criteria will be an agency’s ability to connect and influence your target shoppers. If they can’t, then it doesn’t matter how smart or wonderful or helpful they are – they can’t help you. Be tough. Use your strategy to create selection criteria for your agency selection process.
Great client/agency relationships happen when clients share their strategy
I’ve known some brand teams who are reluctant to share their strategy. Many in fact. In our time training both agency and client teams, I’ve seen hundreds of shopper marketing briefs, and a scary percentage of them basically ask the agency to work in the dark.
If you only tell the agencies the basics of what you want to achieve, then you’ll get a generic response.
If you allow the agency in, however, you see different things. The Tilda team had a clear strategy for their brand, and a clear understanding of the shopper they were targeting. This was shared with Shopmium, allowing the Shopmium team to take a step back and think! There is nothing more frustrating than a smart agency team who aren’t allowed to think. A smart agency team can take your strategy and challenge it, work it, and build a clear plan, showing how they can deliver against your strategy. If they can’t do that, then you’re with the wrong agency. But best to find out now rather than during or after the campaign.
Client shopper and brand teams need to share more insight and information
This is a point that lots of client teams miss. Firstly, you need to share relevant data with your agencies. The more the better. Agencies can’t work in a vacuum, and its crazy to assume that they already know everything that you know. Ask them what they need to know. If they don’t know, then that’s a warning sign.
Agencies – make sure you visibly use the data
But at the same time, clients should expect two things back from the agency. Firstly, the agency should, in every response that they make (every meeting, every proposal) demonstrate that they have read, reviewed, and understood the data that has been shared.
Agencies need to bring data and insight to the table too
Buy beyond this, if you are looking for a strategic partner agency, brands should expect their agency to bring data to the table. Great creative isn’t enough. We should seek agencies who can ADD to our understanding of the world. Whatever it might be, partnerships come from sharing. And insight often comes from putting different data sets together. If one party can’t add anything to the insight pool, then they aren’t adding maximum value.
Agencies who build a plan for the client (client strategic plan)
Some clients (and agencies too!) seem to think that all the strategy and planning is done by the client: agencies are focused on execution. If you have this mindset, you’ll not get full strategic value from your client/agency relationship. Smart agencies have a client strategic plan. Really smart agencies share it with their client.
Agencies making difficult things easy
One thing that struck me about the Tilda/Shopmium relationship was the added value that Shopmium brought to the party. They identified the partner brand (Apetina). They made the contacts. They facilitated the meetings. Things that are hard for a brand team to do are made easy by a great partner. Most decisions in life are driven as much by how easy it is as by how valuable it is. Campaign selection is no exception. If you want a client to buy into your idea, identify the pain points and make it easy (as well as valuable, of course!)
Sharing performance data during and after the activation (review and tweak)
Data again. In this digital world data is everywhere. But timely provision of data, combined with advice or recommendations about what to do about it, is really high value. A good agency will share data to show how they performed against YOUR KPIS. A great agency will share data during the campaign and recommend tweaks and changes to optimize performance. Note that they should be reporting on your KPIs (which of course can only happen if you shared them with the agency in the first place!)
Great shopper marketing agencies help their clients to sell internally and externally.
Continuing with the theme of making difficult things easy, great agencies will help you sell them internally and externally. Taking on a new agency, or trying a new campaign, is risky. There are internal stakeholders that need to be brought on board. And in the shopper marketing sphere, retailers need to be convinced too. If you want a client to use your services, help them sell it to their key stakeholders. That requires case studies, data, a proven ability to deliver returns on investment, as well as marketing value.
Great shopper marketing agencies demonstrate retail understanding
And of course, that means there needs to be an understanding of shoppers (see next item) but also of retailers. Even solutions such as Shopmium’s, which operate outside retail stores, need cognisance of retail, and of the impact their solutions have on retailers. Shopper marketing agencies need to ‘get’ retailers as well as shoppers and their clients. When we run training workshops with agency teams (or with combined client/agency teams) the sessions around understanding retail are still the part where agency jaws hit the ground (as well as a fair few clients!).
A great shopper marketing client/agency relationship is based on shopper-centricity
At the heart of all of this is a mutual shopper-centric culture. Can you see the shopper at the heart of the proposal, or is it more about the mechanic, or the creative? Agency people are just like brand teams: they fall in love with their own offer (which is totally understandable). But that isn’t what is important. A great agency will show why their campaign works for the brand, for the retailer, but most importantly the shopper. Make sure the shopper doesn’t get squeezed out in our excitement at a new media, a cool creative, or a sexy new mechanic. Shopper first, every time.
(All relationships require) Proactivity, Consistency, Communication, and Trust
These last four all go together, they are the foundations of most relationships, and they are key to client/agency relationships for shopper marketing. No need for any further explanation, I feel.
There are of course many distinct types of agency/client relationship, but in my experience, those that really add value are built on many of the factors described here. And at the heart of all of this is a clear, shopper-centric strategy. Without that, it is impossible to build a relationship that adds value.
If you work for an agency, or a brand team, and want help getting better value out of your client/agency relationships, book one of our workshops now. We have a range of solutions which we can tailor to meet your needs, anywhere in the world. Get in touch now and let’s start creating better shopper marketing together!